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^E^D?ceIT Ttfril «g Making Changes VILLAS — Lower Township Council * unanimously, but reluctantly introduced the proposed $6.7 million 1906 budget three days behind schedule Monday night. It projects no increase in the 53-cent local tax rate but two councilmen, at least, were irritated that it did not include changes they requested during recent budget hearings. Final action is slated April 22 and, Township Manager James R. Stump said, "Any cuts that Council directs me to make, I will make." Not Stew VILLAS — Marshall Howey, retired owner of Howey 's Nursery here, is the 1986 president of the Lower Township Chamber of Commerce — not Stewart E. Millard who was incorrectly identified as such in last week's edition, he noted. Pflaumer Jailed VILLAS — William H. Pflaumer, 52, owner of Beer World estate here and C. Schmidt & Sons brewery. Philadelphia, reported last week to the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners, Rochester. Minn. U.S. District Judge Charles R. Weiner ordered him to begin serving a threeyear prison sentence for evading more than $125,000 id diesel fuel excise taxes — that despite his attorney's request for a delay while Pflaumer had heart tests. He has an artificial heart valve. Rape Suspect Held WILDWOOD - Richard William Moulton, 32, of Beechwood Avenue, Villas, was charged with aggravated sexual assault, aggravated assault, burglary, terroristic threats and criminal restraint for allegedly raping a local woman at gunpoint in her home here Feb. 11. The woman was released from Burdette Tomlin Memorial Hospital after betng treated for a broken nose and (Page 4 Please)

Cape May County Prison Admissions - j«o- Prisoners % 1981 1982 1983 1984 1986

Out-of-County Pri soners Key to Economical Jail

By JOE ZELNIK CREST HAVEN - Try to think of it like a hotel or a hospital, where full occupancy is the key to an economical operation. That helps explain the dilemma of county Sheriff James T. Plousis of Ocean City. He'd undoubtedly like to see the crime rate fall. On the other hand, he sure likes a full prison. The county prison has a capacity of 142 inmates. Like almost everything else in this county, it has less activity in the winter, but must be able to accommodate the seasonal influx of tourists. The county's been taking an increasing number of state prisoners in recent years, from 34 in 1981 to 42 in 1982. 63 in 1983, 101 in 1984 and 183 last year. The state pays $45 a day for each, no small piece of change. Last year, for example, the county received $526,169 from the state for holding inmates (that includes medical costs). That's a 38 percent increase over 1984, when it was $380,460. The state places about 1,100 of these prisoners in 10 counties under an emergen- «

cy program to compensate for a shortage of state prison cells. But a new state prison with a capacity of 950 is scheduled to open in Newark in December. Thus a prisoner shortage looms at Crest Haven. Plousis, not one to take this lying down, has negotiated "a secondary pool of inmates" from the feds. He's contracted with the Philadelphia Federal District and the Bureau of Immigration to take their prisoners for the same $45-a-day price. The county already has been doing this for the Coast Guard, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. MWshal, Plousis said. ) There were only 11 federal prisoners at the»county jail in 1984. That gpe<v to 42 last year, the first for Plousis on the job. "Our stance is that heating, lighting, guards demand the same amount of resources whether we have 70 percent occupancy or 90 percent," said Plousis. "Extra meals pre not a substantial iqcrease. So we should try to keep at 90 pel-cent ^ occupancy." ' The number of county prisoners visually persons awaiting trial or sentencing, or mandated to the county jail because their " sentence is less than one year, has not varied greatly in recent years. It was 1,166 in 1981, 1,345 in 1982, 1,439 in 1983, 1,393 in 1984, and 1,511 last year. The female portion of prisoners remains at ^ remarkably consistent 9 or 10 percent Last year, for example, 133 of the 1,511 were females. The sheriff's 1985 annual report, released last week, said the average daily prison population was 114, with a low of 97 in eariy ^ January and a high of 136 on Sept. 3. That « came during major drug busts in Ocean Ci- ^ ty and the Wildwoods, the sheriff said. — Plousis' report also included these 1985 highlights: Inmates spent 2,487 hours in such pro- ( Page 49 Please) . /

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Fire Marshal Pitch t Looks Low , Outside By JOE ZELNIK

COURT HOUSE — Today's lesson: Don't show slides to the freeholders. The last time they were subjected to a slide show was in October when the author of an MUA (Municipal Utilities Authority) report on , resource recovery (trash-to-energy) inflicted a 90-minutes presentation on them. That' project — although an eventual certainty — hasn't been heard from since.

Last week it was county firemen — pushing for an expanded fire marshal's office — who brought in a slide show by Camden County Fire Marshal David Aron. j PICTURE THIS: the freeholders are ] nickel and diming their proposed 1986 budget and the firemen have proposed going from a 52,500-a-year token fire marshal to a minimum $35,000-a-year office to "coordinate" all sorts of fire-related activities, especially state-mandated inspections. Then Aron presents a slide show of how the marshal operates on a $200,000 budget in a county with 500,000 people, 220 square miles, 81 departments, answering 22,000 fire alarms, inspecting 200 county buildings, (including a 19-story courthouse) and with a department that includes five full-time firemen, plus two secretaries and four vehicles. Probably the biggest miscalculation since Hitler invaded Russia in 1941, it was like using the Olympics to seek support for a Little League team. IN FAIRNESS to the firemen, their showonly lasted 27 minutes (although they had said it would take 15). On the other hand, while the MUA show at least included frequent shots of beautiful flowers, the firemen's had a dozen gory photos of charred bodies plus a larynx from an autopsy held to determine whether death occurred before or during a blaze. When it was all over, Erma Fire Chief Robert McNulty, spokesman for the 30 firemen in the audience, asked if the freeholders had any questions Only Gerald M. Thornton was able to rouse himself from the post-show shock, or stupor. "WE BROUGHT this up last time," he said. "What is the fire marshal going to be doing as far as arson investigation that the Prosecutor right now is not doing?" McNulty said the marshal would "try to promote better coordination and help sup(Page 49 Please)

1865 Building Historical Or Nostalgic? COURT HOUSE - The counly s laking another look at demolition of the Prosecutor's building jus! north of the courthouse on Main Street/ Freeholders responded last week to a visit from 17 persons, most from Cape May Court House, interested in preserving the building because it dates to 1865. The freeholders indicated they were surprised to learn how old the building is. but former Freeholder Wjhiam R Wilsey of Petersburg had askedlhem at their meeting of Feb. 25 if they had considered its "historical value." Freeholder Gerald M. Thornton told the citizens' group March 11 that "I've said how disturbed I've been about the shoddy planning taking place for this complex (the courthouse renovation). "I FIND OUT tonight for the first time," said Thornton, "that it was built in 1865. Why didn't this guy tell us the historical significance of this building9" "This guy" was a reference to architect Edwin Howell cf Ocean City who in early February had reported to the freeholders that the desire of Surrogate W. Robert Hentges to be on a first floor necessitated changes in the renovation plans Howell had left to the freeholders the decision on whether to add to the Prosecutor's building or demolish it and start anew "This ( building > is over 120 years old and I was never informed." Thornton continued last week "We go by professional information given to us. I want the architect back in here." (Page 26 Please)

~ Sttwki' 'History of Cape May County' KCRHODAfF.'s AND CLERK'* OFFICE, HIT LT IN lHfft.