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Vol. 21 NO. 49 S«owo»« Corp All righH rnarvod

December 4, 1985

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Jf|i^DU3IEST lyTi/ %%£ Freeholder Pay Hike COURT HOUSE - County freeholders last week approved first reading of an ordinance to give themselves a 5 percent pay hike next year Members would go from $15,750 a year to $16,538; the freeholder-director from $16,800 to $17,640. Public hearing on the pay increase will be held 7:30 p.m. Dec. 30 in the freeholder meeting room in the county library building. Last year the freeholders gave themselves a $750 increase. The year before they hiked their pay by $3,000. Raffa Pleads Guilty SEA ISLE CITY - Former Mayor Dominic C. Raffa pleaded guilty in Newark last week to a federal charge that he provided a convicted car thief with fraudulent titles to at least five stolen cars while Raffa ran the local Department of Motor Vehicles office here. Raffa. who was a Democrat before switching parties in an attempt to keep his job. faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. The resort community center building bears his name. (rood Ole Days WILDWOOD — Councilwoman Karen Dougherty last week questioned Mayor Victor DiSylvester's assertion that residents may be ready for a change back to the commission form of government. Dougherty, who was a member of the Charter Study Commission that recommended the change to a mayor-council system, cites savings made in lawyers' salaries. But the mayor feels the city may suffer because it may not get proper legal advice. Trash Wanted WOODBINE - Foundations and Structures wants to import trash to raise the estimated $2 million dollars needed to (Page 57 Please)

Ff Don* Ward CHECKING HER LIST — Jessica Vaughan. 2Vt, recites her holiday wish list to Santa during a Saturday visit to Jameswav in Court House. Jessica's the daughter of .Mr. & Mrs. Robert Vaughan of Cape May.

Jnside A REMINISCENCE of a bigamist Santa doll. Joyride, page 59. YOU can't ever have too many Christmas items. Antiques, page 6. OCEAN CITY beats Pleasantville (again). Sports, page 20. FREE FLU SHOTS, a thing of the past. Gregg Lawson, page 3.

Historical Museum Eyes S100K Addition

Bv JOE ZELNIK SWAINTON — The county Historical Museum has asked county freeholders to contribute $20,000 toward the estimated $100,000 cost of a new administration building north of the John Holmes House in which it is located. The 1.450-square-foot building would house the genealogy library, now in the museum, administrative offices, kitchenette. and reception area. A second floor would be used for storage. "We will raise all we can," said Palmer Way. museum vice president and chairman of a fund drive, "but $100,000 would be impossible. We are asking the county for a special appropriation. We hate to do it because you've been so good to us."

Freeholders indicated they should be able to come up with the money in their 1986 budget The county allocated the museum $72,800 in this year's budget. Of that amount. $66,400 went for salaries and $6,400 for operating expenses Salaried employes include two full-time secretaries, the curator, a part-time genealogist, and maintenance people Waysaid it also uses about 100 volunteers After the new building is completed and the library moved, the museum intends to restore the John Holmes House "to its original condition." Way said. There is no price tag for that restoration, he said, which will be "ongoing." "IT'S A UNIQUE BUILDING, he said. (Page 57 Please)

Bond Issue Would Finance 12 Public Works Projects

By JOE ZELNIK COURT HOUSE — County freeholders are considering a $2-million public works bond issue to pay their share of a dozen projects next year. Since state and federal grants pay up to 80 percent of some of the projects, their total cost is more than $10 million. The list, submitted Nov. 2 by CountyEngineer Neil Clarke, included work on seven bridges : The 25th Street bridge in Avalon. $30,000 ; 21st Street bridge in A\*lon. $50,000; Middle Thorofare Bridge in Upper

Township and Ocean City. $130,000; Glenwood Avenue bridge in Witdwood and West Wildwood. $190,000; Marshallville Bridge in Upper Township. $350,000; Paper Mill culvert in Dennis Township. $100,000; and Schellenger's Landing Bridge in Cape May and Lower Township, $ioo.ooo A project to extend Roosevelt Boulevard to the Tuckahoe Road extension spur in Upper Township would cost $440,000 Drainage projects included $20,000 for 46th Street in Ocean City. $50,000 lor Tyler Road in Upper Township. $550,000 for the Madison Avenue drainage project in Cape (Page 57 Please)

Disregard Consultant Freeholders Name Pessagno 'Broker'

By JOE ZELNIK COURT HOUSE — The county's selection of Charles Pessagno of Cape May as. its insurance "broker of record" apparently was not the recommendation of the independent consulting firm it hired to assist in the selection process. Pessagno is president of New Jersey National Associates Inc. Reliable sources told this newspaper that Insurance Buyers' Council <IBC> of Baltimore, paid $2,667 to assess potential insurance brokers, recommended the position go to Bayly. Martin and Fay of Ventnor. THE COUNTY REFUSED to make

public IBC's report, even though this newspaper argued that, as a taxpayerpaid document, it should be public information. Freeholder William E. Sturm Jr.. who heads the insurance department, at first said the report "should be available as public information." A few hours later, however, he said it "wouldn't be wise for us to release it" and referred questions to county Counsel Harry A. Delventhal Jr. Delventhal said he did not want the report released because it is "sensitive. It could affect the county's ability to get insurance. Revelation of the materials that may. have been supplied to us by IBC could (Page 57 Please)

Trash Train's Chug gin' Toward a County Study

By GREGG LAWSON COURT HOUSE - The "trash train" keeps chugging along. The idea to use the abandoned Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore line to transport garbage to the county Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA) proposed resource recovery plant in Woodbine was given new life last Tuesday when countyfreeholders asked the county Planning Board to do a feasibility study. The board also will consider a suggestion to turn the rail bed into a bicycle path The action came in response to a Nov 19 letter from MUA Chairman William F X. Band. "We believe that, if this concept is reconsidered as part of an overall evaluation of

the county's transportation needs, it maybe found to be cost effective," he wrote. "Recognizing that the existing railroad right-of-way reaches many of the county's communities and may serve many different economical and recreational purposes. we believe restoration of rail service ... should be investigated on a regional basis by the county Planning board or the Economic Development Commission, in cooperation with local communities and state transportation agencies." he added. "The MUA would be willing to participate in such a county-wide investigation..." BAND RECOMMENDED freeholders "appointed an inter-agency and citizens' working group to assist the county Planning Board and the freeholder board in this (Page 57 Please)

^■l\v v w. I Doris Ward BOOK SIGNING — Joyce and Michele Veil of Sea Isle City, receive a personallyautographed copy of one of author Erma J. Fisk's wildlife books. Fisk of Massachusetts was the guest speaker at the Wetlands Institute's weekend "Holiday Hoopla" bazaar.