Herald - Lantern - Dispatch 8 January '86 37

tll^NEWS |ta|7 DIGEST II i / The Week's II II II Top ^°fies < From Page 1 ) continue his ungentlemanly attacks upon his opponent Warren added. Two Wrongs COURT HOUSE - State law requires municipalities to deposit funds or turn them over to the treasurer within two days of collection. But (4,245 in traffic ticket fines and court fines, collected Dec. 11 in Middle Township Municipal Court, was stolen Dec. 16 from a cash box in the city hall desk drawer of court clerk Dorothy Roberson, Mayor Michael Voll belatedly reported last week. Calling the burglary embarrassing and inexcusable, he vowed disciplinary ^ action. /

Bank Bag Stolen STONE HARBOR — An unattended bank deposit bag, containing about $6,000. was reported stolen from a 2nd Avenue gift shop Dec. 26. Sgt. Steven O'Connor said the suspect is believed to be a woman in her 30s who was wearing jeans and a brown coat. O'Connor declined to name the shop. Fine, Probation; Chisel? SEA ISLE CITY — Former Mayor Dominic C. Raffa, who received about $3,500 on bogus titles he ordered issued July 1981-December 1982 as head then of the state Division of Motor Vehicles office here, was sentenced to pay a $5,000 fine and serve five years' probation last week. He pleaded guilty Nov. 26 to federal conspiracy charges. Resort residents are circulating petitions to remove Raffa's name from Die community center.

McCall Nixes Aid of 'Crest Priority One' —

(From Page 1) hired by Crest Priority One to guide them in making technically and economically sound requests to the elected officials. THE GROUP RAISED enough money to allow a maximum $9,500 plus reports for the first stage of DeFalco's work, Greiner said. There have been no discussions beyond that, but Greiner said his group has $20,000 in money or pledges to mount a public awareness campaign, if needed. Members subscribe to the group, anu McCall said Greiner is a "pied piper" who led his people astray. "Harry, $20,000 is a big expense to people," the mayor said. "I'm not trying to be facetious, but if the people in the town are that concerned, they should apply that money directly to the problem." McCall said the borough has spent over $500,000 since 1981 to correct deficiencies in the system. MEMBERS OF the six-week old organization prefer to remain nameless, Griener said, because they fear reprisals. "They feel the commissioners can hurt them," he told this newspaper. "I'm the perfect front for the business people because I'm 75 years old. There's no way I can get hurt." 1 But the commissioners, and some ; members of the audience, had trouble ac- 1 cepting the members' anonymity. 1 "I have a problem with secret organizations; you don't know if you're dealing ' with just one person or 1,000," Commis- J sioner George Denham said. "I have no 1 respect for individuals who won't come J forward and speak their case." | Ed McGowan, of Pacific Avenue, spoke for sorrte members of the audience when i ■y

he said, "I have more confidence in three elected officials than in a secret organization." FOR HIS PART, Greiner complained that the borough hadn't made its plans "visible," noting that the borough has not notified the county Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA) of any certified progress. "The visibility presented tonight has not been here before." Greiner said. "Crest Priority One is looking for a basis of confidence." McCall said the MUA will receive documentation by Dec. 15. After the meeting, he said the committee will make more of an effort to keep residents posted on its progress. "It's interesting to see debate by people on the same side of an issue," said George Marinakis. executive director of the MUA. "I would like to see a detailed schedule (of the improvement work) and I think the sharing of information could relieve some of the communication problem we have * here." •BEFORE THE MEETING, I had the impression that nothing was being done." DeFalco said. "I'm overjoyed that a good deal of work is going on and that there are some plans to have a system that's going to be healthful and serve the communities interests." Still, Greiner is not entirely satisfied. He will continue to push the commission, he said, until improvements are completed. will complete phase one of his study, Greiner said, and a report will be presented in the first week of February. "I'm Irish; I never give up," he said with a laugh.

greiner: Watchdog Of Crest Sewage

WILDWOOD CREST - Who is this Harry Greiner, the se)f-appointed watchdog of this borough 'sjsewage system? "I'm a 75-year-old man naive enough to just want a nice town," he told this newspaper. "I don't own a business (that serves) Wildwood Crest, I have no ideas about running for office, and my children and grandchildren don't even vacation in Wildwood Crest," he added. ''I'm doing it for my selfsatisfaction and for my dream town, where I want to retire." Greiner is spokesman for Crest Priority One, an anonymous group of local residents and business people who want the borough to get moving on needed sewage system improvements. GREINER. WHO is president of Management Systems Analysis, a worldwide consulting firm, said years of hard work left little time for civic contributions. His current mission, he said, is an attempt to make up for what he hasn't done in the past. He said he has lived in the Crest for 42 years, the last 13 as a full-time resident, he has spent the last seven years "investigating" the borough's sewage facilities, he said. As part of his investigation, Greiner has been known to go out in the middle of a V N

heavy rainstorm to check for evidences of sewer overflows. His usual method is to wade toward submerged manholes, stick his hand into the puddle and see if anything is bubbling up. ^ Also, he originally spent much time^at the city's treatment facility near Sunset Lake. After wiping the grime off of the plant's parts, he logged the serial numbers and called the manufacturer about replacement parts. "BEING IN MANAGEMENT, the first thing I look at is; what's going to wear out , and how will we replace it?," he said. ^ The results of his replacement research were turned over to the borough. Greiner said the present administration has the best collection of replacement parts in the borough's history. Greiner said that the finger of blame for last summer's beach closings pointed northward, toward Wildwood and North Wildwood. As a result, few have taken a hard look at the Crest's sewage problems. Sewage systems, unlike bottles of fine burgundy, do not improve with age, he said. They simply deteriorate. "Unless we do something now, we're at a greater risk than last summer," he said. "This is a resort town with the world's finest beaches, but if it doesn't have an adequate sewage system, the tourists are going to stop coming."

» Twice As Much OCEAN CITY — Insuring this resort will cost more than twice as much this year as it did last year, city Business Administrator Mike Wood reports. Last, year, insurance cost the city $400,000; this year the projected jump is to $840,000, he said. Insurance for city properties, most of it for liability, will increase from $135.000-$296,000 while insurance for municipal vehicles goes from $55 ,000-$202 , 000 ; from $25.000-$75.000 for police liability and from $12,000-$22,000 for police professional coverage. « Hotel Fire Probe WILDWOOD - Police and the Fire Department Arson Squad were investigating Monday the cause of an early Sunday morning blaze that damaged the unoccupied Seville Hotel at 3010 Ocean Ave. According to the city fire chief, the fire apparently started next to a stairwell and had t>een burning for some time before it was reported at 1 : 14 a.m. Mayor Wants Raise OCEAN CITY — Jack Bittner plans to recommend a raise in his $10,000-a-year pay as part-time mayor, despite a projected hike in the 1986 local tax rate. He maintains that the job has become a full-time position. Council President Henry Knight agrees with Bittner and favors a pay raise for council members from $5,000-$7,500 a year, effective after the May elections. Knight observed that neither mayor nor council has received raises for six years. Opposing raises are Councilmembers William Meis and Jeanne Clunn. Uncommitted last week were Councilmen John Espisito and Mark Videtto. Fight 'em, Forget 'em , CtoURT HOUSE - The Middle Township Fire Department dispatched six men and a firetruck to extinguish a burning mattress laying in the middle of Magnolia Drive Dec. 27. Fire Chief i Calvin Back was at a loss to explain how the mattress got there or why it was in flames, but did say the crew doused it. dragged it off the road, and left it in front of the Leroy May Recreation Center Back said it is the job of another department to remove the burnt, soggy > carcass. "We just put the fires out," he explained. Car Hits School Bus SHAWCREST - Student aide Mary Figeroa, 29. of W. Lincoln Avenue, Wildwood. and an unidentified North Cape May boy. 8, were treated and released from Burdette Tqmlin Memorial Hospital after a Friday morning crash on Route 47 just west of the George Redding Bridge here. According to police, the axle broke on a 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle, driven by Robert Caulkins Jr., 19, of Stimpson Lane, Erma. His vehicle careened into a concrete barrier then collided with the Corbin City school bus driven by Rudolf Prate, 45, cf Primrose Road, Wildwood Crest The bus was slightly damaged, police said, while - Caulkins' car was totalled. Two Hurt in Crash DENNIS TOWNSHIP - Margaret Hull, 27, of Woodbine was admitted ir. fair t condition at Burdette Tomlin Memorial Hospital and Warren Gansert, 49, of Ocean View was treated and released after being injured in an accident at the intersection of Corson's Tavern Road and Woodbine-Ocean View Road Dec. 27. Karen LaRossa, who lives on the corner where the accident occurred, said. Gansert's Dodge Monaco collided with the front of Hull's Riviera, causing one vehicle to come to rest within five feet of her home. LaRossa said the flashing caution and stop lights at the intersection are inadequate and it is the site of frequent accidents. 2 Charged with Burglary NORTH CAPE MAY - Lower Township police charged Joseph Fulton,

25, and Michael Hubert. 19. of this community with burglary last week after a local resident alerted lawmen to a Whittier Avenue break-in. There, police allegedly saw Fulton breaking a window They caught him after a half-block chase, police reported. A further probe led to Hubert's arrest, police said. Both men were released on their own recognizance Burnishing Beacon ANGLESEA — Hanselman Inc. of Cologne has been awarded an $81,478 contract by* North Wildwood City Council for improvements to Hereford Lighthouse while Marsden Bros. Electric Inc. received a $10,653 contract for wiring the historic structure. Electrical work, paving, curbing, fencing, installation of benches and Victorian lampposts will be completed with Green Acres funds from the state. Mayor Lewis G. Vinci reported last week. Fund-raiser Arrested . NORTH WILDWOOD - Thomas R. Jackson, 51, former fund-raiser for the county Task Force on Drugs and brunken Driving, has been arrested and charged with five counts of issuing bad checks in November and December and twoWunts of theft. He was being held lasbweek in lieu of $1,250 cash bail Jackson, who lists his address as 2501 Atlantic Ave., allegedly used the task force name to further a company called the Citizens' Project, Directing Action on Substance Abuse. New Jersey Avenue. Wildwood. Band Disputes Prof. OCEAN CITY - County MUA Chairman William F X. Band last week called "totally inaccurate an<J irresponsible" a mid-west professor's speculation that the MUA's sewage discharge could be causing the "green tide" of algae here last summer. The unnamed educator's letter was recently printed in another weekly newspaper In a five-page reply, however. Band wrote that "we can't conclusively say that the effluent introduced into the ocean by the Ocean City (MUA) plant does not play a role in the development of algae blooms Two Men Arrested NORTH WILDWOOD - John Rivera. > 26. and Neil Bono. 28. both of the 100 block of East Maple Avenue, Wildwood. were arrested recently for allegedly robbing a storeroom on Morey's Pier here Dec. 23. The pair were charged with burglary, theft and receiving stolen property. Sgt. Michael Fitzgerald of the police department here said Bono once worked as an electrician at the pier and knew his way around the facility. Rivera was out on bail after being charged for a November robbery here. Both men are being held in Cape May County jail. Rivera on $15,000 cash bail and Bono on 10 percent of $15,000. ^ College , Frat Sued WILDWOOD - Michael F. Dunn, of the 300 block of West Taylor Avenue, is suing Rider College. Zeta Beta Tau fraternity, fraternity adviser David Mest and six fraterAity members for injuries ht allegedly received during a hazing incident Nov. 30, 1984. Dunn's Superior Court lawsuit charges that he hurt a leg and knee after falling down a tall wooden wall he and other pledges were required to climb. Dunn fell, the suit alleges, because the wall was rotten and improperly maintained and because of the negligence of the defendants. He is seeking an undisclosed amount of damages and a jury trial. ' See Coupon On yS I I Classified , | itXso* : L: 1