Herald - Lantern - Dispatch 2 October '85 2?

News Notes

(From Page 18) wayward sparks from the expolosive ignited the drying grass surrounding the sewage treatment plant. The smoldering grass soon became a large blaze visible several miles off-shore. Obviously the large fire was not part of the planned display, nor was it intended as a statement regarding the concern over the sewage situation on our Island. It just happened, and fortunately the rapid action of the local fire department stopped the blaze before it reached the disposal plant located precariously close to the edge of the brush fire. Imagine the problems had not the borough possessed the foresight to station fire-fighters on the sewage disposal island during the display. LAST WEEK, in my mention of fund-raising activities, I inadvertantly neglected to mention two "biggies." I heard from one group and would like to announce both this week. The very active Greater Wildwood Lions Club is again hosting its annual pancake breakfast at the Surf-side Restaurant, Lavender and Ocean Avenues, Wildwood Crest. The breakfast is slated for Oct. 13 and will be held 7 a.m. -noon. The menu is posted as juice, coffee/tea, sausage, and all the pancakes you can eat. Tickets are available at the restaurant. Tomorrow, Oct. 3, and Friday are the days that your presence is requested in North Wildwood. The N.W. United Methodist Church is planning a rummage sale at the church on Second and Central Avenues. The event will be held each day 10 a.m. -3 p.m. It will feature bargains galore, and of course an opportunity for locals to socialize and talk about how fast the summer went. THE FIVE MILE Beach business community is closely monitoring all the talk about the expansion of Convention Hall and the concurrent discussions regarding the construction of another convention facility, a la Lambert, in Diamond Beach. I won't belabor the subject in this column. Not that it doesn't warrant the coverage (no phone calls please), it is just that it warrants more detailed coverage than is possible in this column. Suffice it to say that once again discussions concerning the Hall's expansion have surfaced. This time, the twist is private funding of the proposed expansion. It's something new and perhaps plausible as each community involved is hesitant to increase the local tax burden that would result from municipal funding.

THE CATCH is again, as it always has been, cooperation from North Wildwood and Wildwood Crest. Currently, the facility is operated by Wildwood's Parking Authority and no representation is seated from either adjoining community. There is also no financial assistance from either adjoining community, which is probably why they don't sit on the decision making board. There was a time, a few years ago, when both North Wildwood and Wildwood Crest were invited to place representatives on the governing board. Mike Gentile was the chairman and now Mayor Vic DiSylvester was authority treasurer. Both adjoining communities responded with representatives and discussion of the expansion and participation began. AT THE SAME time as the invitation, Wildwood was undergoing a change of government review led by DiSylvester. In short, the old form of government was changed, a new form implemented and an entirely new governing body elected. At this point, the newly elected council was charged with the responsibility of appointing members to the governing body of Convention Hall. This task they accomplished, but the adjoining communities were "dis-invited". Again, only Wildwood sat on the parking authority. Now, just a few short years later, the expansion is being discussed anew and input and possible cooperation from the adjoining communities is being sought. WILDWOOD CREST has an old referendum on the books that suggests the residents' lack of desire to participate financially with the hall's operation. North Wildwood, under the present tenure of Mayor Lewis Vinci, seems to have adopted a wait and see attitude. Interestingly, when the adjoining communities were first asked to send representation to the hall, Vinci was there representing North Wildwood at the request of then Mayor Anthony Catanoso. He attended a few meetings, then resigned when permanent representatives were placed. If memory serves me correctly, it was a marathon discussion about the cost of hot dogs at the concession stand that was the straw that broke Vinci's back. IN ANY event, the expansion is a most promising discussion and it is with fervent hopes that the business community is watching. The impact of a larger hall would be tremendous. It would open up an entirely new segment of the hospitality industry. The possibilities would be endless; they always were.

One can't help but wonder what would have happened had the communities followed the initial feasibility study's recommendations at the , outset. The Barrington report, done in the 1960s, stated that every community should participate from the start, as the facility would impact upon every community. This astute observation 20 years ago, had it been followed, would certainly make a difference and most assuredly would have made this current expansion discussion a much more simple task for those charged with coordinating the necessary expansion and putting a halt to the declining convention industry in the Wild woods.

I MUST CLOSE for this week. As this particular column is being written Thursday, Sept. 26, other concerns require my attention. The latest weather bulletin suggested that Gloria has just made a more northerly twist and a stronger portion of the hurricane is expected locally. I have some windows to tape, a swing set to tie down, and an unbelievable amount of lawn furniture and toys to bring in from the back yard. Hopefully next week's column will include some tongue in cheek humor about how bad the storm was supposed to be and how really lucky we were it passed by with little notice of our fragile shoreline. Until then ...

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