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Vol. 1 NO. 51 19SS Saowov* Corp. AH right* rnarv«d

December 18, 1985

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A Part of Our Heritage Old Courthouse Rededicated

By GREGG LAWSON COURT HOUSE - County freeholders rededicated the old courthouse on Main Street last week, culminating a three-year, $49,000 restoration project. More than 75 people attended the Dec. 13 ceremony, which featured an historical presentation, remarks by Superior Court Judge Phillip A. Gruccio and several freeholders, and an open house tour. According to Somers Corson, curator of the Cape May County Museum, the building was completed in April 1850 at a cost of $6,284.33. It has been in continuous use longer than any courthouse in the state, he said. "Buildings like this old courthouse are a part of our heritage," said Freeholder Ralph Evans. "It is the duty of the Upper-Cut DENNISVILLE - Superior Court Judge John F. Callinan yesterday rejected three votes cast last month in the Dennis Township Committee race between Republican Harry L. Creamer and Democrat R. Wayne Tozer. That decision changes the final tally to 705-704 in Creamer's favor, giving the GOP a twoseat majority on the three-member Committee. The judge discounted one Creamer vote, cast from the Lutheran Home, Ocean View, and another cast by Charles Mears of Upper Township. Callinan also voided a vote Mears' wife, Florence, said she cast for Tozer. Also of Upper Township, she's a registered Republican and was a GOP-appointee to a county job. More Intrigue COURT HOUSE — Remember the successful presentation last spring of the courtroom murder drama, "Night of January 16," at the old court house? Freeholder James S. Kilpatrick Jr. 1 reports the same group. Jersey Cape Performing Arts Guild Sandpiper Players, intends to offer Agatha Christie's "Witness for the Prosecution" for three weekends in February and March. Nursing Home Advances COURT HOUSE - The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has approved a discharge permit for the wastewater treatment facility at the Court House Convalescent Center, according to George Klenk of the DEP Public Information Office. The permit allows for an average discharge of 8,000 gallons per day and maximum of 12,000. H os pi com m Inc., the home's owners, still (Page 57 Please) inside LEISURELY Christmas shopping! Antiques, page 44. SMtlE: What comes around goes around. Joyride, page 59. PHOTO highights ot CM Courthouse rededicition, page 52. CONSIDERED shaving with an ax! Outdoors with Lou Rodia, page 36.

freeholders to preserve this legacy." EVANS HAS PUSHED for renovation of the structure since being elected to the board eight years ago. His "pet project" finally began in 1983. Most of the renovation work was done by employees of the county Department of Facilities and Services, under the direction of Harry "Skip" Kehr, using county equipment. As part of restoration, county workers: • Repainted the entire building and replaced damaged trim. • Stripped ami refinished antique jury chairs. • Installed ceiling fans and new gutters. • Altered the dias so the judge and jury can see each other. • Replaced the floor and the rest room in the judges chamber.

• Replaced sidewalks with brick walkway, relocated street lamps, installed a sprinkler system and replaced sod outside the court house. OUTSIDE CONTRACTORS were hired to do 24-carat gold leaf work on the building's dome, install carpeting and a hot-water baseboard heating system. The system repleaced steam pipes that ran through the courtroom and violated the historic pressed-metal ceiling. Total cost of the project was $49,423.52 L and the biggest expenditure was I $32,279,000 for the heating system. The I total figure does not include county labor. I "I hate to think what it would have cost I us ( in labor) if we had to use a private con- I tractor." Evans said. "It's amazing what ■ Skip (Kehr) has accomplished with his I (Page 52 Please)

Original Cost: $6,284

Retrofit Dispute Smolders By E.J. DUFFY County firefighters' organizations have adopted a resolution urging the state to approve retrofit provisions of its new fire code "without further delay or weakening." In a joint resolution of the county Firemen's and Fire Chief's associations, they vowed to "fully support efforts to shift some of the responsibility of ensuring fire safety to the owners and operators of the properties recognized by the New Jersey Uniform Fire Safety Code. "Furthermore," the resolution continues, "we wish to state that, to continue to weaken the proposed retrofit provisions, would be to ignore the studies and findings of the New Jersey Fire Study Commission, the New Jersey Fire Safety Commission, its five advisory boards and the Bureau of Fire Safety." "THEY'VE ALL BUT chopped that right about out of there," Erma Fire Chief Robert McNulty complained Friday, citing one retrofit provision that would have required enclosed stairwells in many public-access buildings. "We're not asking for a lot of weird things in there , we're asking for what's reasonable," added the chief who drafted the resolution approved last Wednesday night by the two associations. That came a week after the Greater Cape May Chamber of Commerce passed a resolution, urging delay of the retrofit and more public hearings on it like the one this morning at The Flanders hotel, Ocean City. "It would seem.. .many people do not realize that these new provisions will im(Page 27 Please)

Mental Health Services Complex Includes Three Trailers. Ooru ward

P I B LB ■ Doris Ward TAKE ME HOME? — Michele De Cicco. 15. of Green Creek, holds two adoptable kittens at the Animal Welfare Society's Christmas party for animals last week. Michele does volunteer work at the shelter. Mental Health Addition Bids Still Too High By JOE ZELNIK CREST HAVEN - Freeholders last week for the second time rejected as too high bids for an addition to the Mental Health Services building. That opens the way for the county to negotiate with contractors for a lower price, according to county Solicitor Harry A. Delventhal Jr. In addition to two buildings Crest Haven Mental Health Complex is using three adjacent trailers which Executive Director Barry Keefe called "very undesireable. It looks like a mobile home park." FREEHOLDERS INDICATED they're in a hurry to get the project going because the already overcrowded private agency is suposed to take on next year the additional responsibility of evaluations for the county's criminal court system. That will add two more persons to the 35-member staff, Keefe said. Their evaluations will focus on mental health and drug and alcohol abuse, he said. The county has a $267,000 federal Community Development Block Grant administered by the State Department of (Page 4 Please)

Consultant Will Assist Ed. Study By JOE ZELNIK CREST HAVEN - The Community College Proposal Review Committee is expected this morning to hire consultant N. Dean Evans to advise how best to meet the county's higher education needs. The cost is $16,750. The committee postponed action Thursday night, apparently because only nine of its 15 members were present. Chairman James S. Kilpatrick Jr., freeholder in charge of education, said the committee wanted its other members to review the proposal The five-page proposal has been sent to the other five members (there also is an unfilled vacancy created by the resignation of Avalon Mayor Rachel Sloan) and the group is gathering at 8 a.m. today at the county vo-tech school. There is little doubt Evans' proposal will be accepted. The committee's need for professional guidance is acknowledged and he is the only consultant it approached. Evans, president of Foxhill Consultants in West Chester, Pa., has headed community colleges in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He would be assisted by Dr. Byron Rineihimer, president of the Warren County Community College Commission. THE COMMITTEE was appointed by the freeholders in July and held its first meeting Aug. 8. Originally, the idea was that it would study June proposals from Atlantic Community College (ACC) and Cumberland County College (CCC) to establish branch campuses here. But that responsibility was quickly widened to include several other higher (Page 57 Please) Early Deadlines COURT HOUSE - The ChristmasNew Year's holidays will play havoc with this newspaper's deadlines for the next two weeks. The Dec. 25 issue will be distributed on Monday, Dec. 23. Today is the fWHHw for ads and news. The Jan. 1 kne will be distributed on Monday, Dec. 3D. The deadline for ads r and news is Monday, Dec. 23. This newspaper's office will be dosed Dec. M and 25 and Dec: 30 and Jan. 1.