i ■>.! Early COUNTY ^ 4 (tfjfij^^ I This newspaper will be clos- 1 H _ A ^ A ed Monday, May 2*. to observe ■ I I ^jB^H f for H must be I fr received by Wednesday, May jr advertising by Ttursday.H

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May 14, 1986

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' Trash to Energy :' Regional and Private?

By JOE ZELNIK SWAINTON — A study for the county MUA has recommended its proposed resource recovery facility include Cumberland County and be privately built and operated. im In a Buying Mood COURT HOUSE - Freeholders yesterday approved agreements of sale to purchase the 196,000-square-foot Everlon plant at the county airport industrial park. Erma, for $2 million, and the Jersey Cape Racquet Club and 21 acres. Crest Haven, for $750,000. Freeholder Herbert Frederick said the county "hopes" for a grant to place a cold storage plant for the fishing industry in part of the Everlon plant and also has "tenants looking for more space." Freeholder James S. Kilpatrick Jr. said the Racquet Club is "the last privately owned tract in the Crest Haven complex" and probably would be a temporary < twoyear) location for the county Prosecutor during court renovations. A bond issue will be needed for the $2.75 million, they said. New Mayor, Councilmen OCEAN CITY - Roy Gillian unseated Jack Bittner as mayor in a 3,956-1,931 vote landslide last night, according to final and official tallies. Incumbent councilwoman Jeanne M Clunn won reelection with 3,829 votes in the five-way race for three council seats. Former council president Nickolas Trofa Jr. won another seat with 3,856 votes and Gary Jessel the third seat with 3,236. Incumbent Henry S. Knight finished fourth with 3,014 votes to 1,825 for^ Donald Niebuhr 4 No Problems , ' But ... CREST HAVEN - The county Health Department began sampling and testing ocean Waters last week, but declined to release results to this newspaper Freeholder Gerald M. Thornton, who is responsible for the department, said the first tests showed "no problems," but "we're waiting to see what procedures are with DEP (Departmental of Environmental Protection) so we're all on the same track as far as interpeting and releasing information." (Page 61 Please)

This could save the MUA $1.5 million a year, according to its solid waste manager, Theodore F. O'Neill. That number is based on about 103,660 tons of Cape May County trash a year and a perton tipping fee saving of about $14.59 compared to a plant soley for Cape May County. %, "Resource recovery" would burn trash to create steam to be sold to the Woodbine State School and excess energy to be sold as electricity to Atlantic Electric. Final decision will be up to the freeholders of both counties, based on the recommendations from the MUA, and the Cumberland County Improvement Authority. They shared the cost of this study. Contracted for last fall, it was done by Gershman, Brickner & Bratton Inc. (GBB) of Washington, D.C. It runs about 125 pages and cost $42,500.

It reconfirms several conclusions from an earlier study done by STV/Sanders & Thomas Inc. of Pottstown, Pa., completed last fall. It was more technical and cost $150,000. It was limited to this county and presumed the MUA would build and operate the facility. Both studies agreed on: • Location: on 20 acres at the county MUA's landfill in Woodbine. • Energy Markets: the state school and Atlantic Electric. • Technology: mass burning. STV envisioned a plant that would bum 400 tons of trash a day and cost about $55million ($42 million for construction, $13 million for financing. ) For two counties, GBB calls for a plant capable of burning 750 tons of trash a day. And it estimated it would cost the two counties $1.9 million for preliminary work.

There was' no estimate of the cost of construction. The county's goal — actualy a state mandate — is "to end landfilling of mixed municipal waste by 1990," according /to O'Neill. (Page 52 Plea*) Landfill Neighbors Lash 'Nightmare' COURT HOUSE - Freeholders came within an eyelash last week of "pressuring" the county MUA to buy out a halfdozen homeowners adjacent to its landfill in Woodbine. The freeholders were reacting to angry pleas last Thursday from Anna Long, one of five homeowners living within 2,500 feet of the landfill. (Page 52 Pleasfc)

'Workload' of Courts in Doubt

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Violent Crime Key to Slight Increase

By E. J. DUFFY Crime in Cape May County rose from 6,785 offenses in 1964 to 6,948 last year, according to the State Police 1985 Uniform Crime Report. Released last week, it shows two percent hikes in the overall number of county crimes and in non-violent offenses (fe, 524-6, 651) plus a 14 percent jump in violent crimes (261-297). , That marks the end of a two-year decrease in countywide crime. Total of-

fenses fell from 7,293 in 1962 to 6,933 in 1963 and to 6,785 in 1984. Domestic violence increased last year ( to 605 cases ), but at a much less alarming rate than the year before when it soared to 559 offenses from 363 in 1963 (see related story). Reported rapes fell 15 percent last year to 35 from 41 in 1964, while robberies climbed 24 percent from 68 in 1964 to 84 last year. There were two murders last year and 1 he year before, but aggravated assaults rose^ - from 150 in 1964 to 176 in 1965.

Domestic Violence Climbing

By E. J. DUFFY There was 605 victims of domestic violence in Cape May County last year - or were there? Those are the reported cases; that doesn't include unreported crimes or the children victimized by watching their mother, brothers or sisters beaten or otherwise abused. According to the 1965 State Police Uniform Crime Report (UCR), 18,425

wives (45 percent) and 12,742 girlfriends (31 percent) represented most of the 41,076 domestic violence victims statewide last year (a 17 percent increase over the 35,050 reported in 1964)! Children were targest in 12 percent of the 1965 cases, but another 43 percent were present during the crimes. SOME OTHER CHILLING "highlights" from the UCR on domestic violence: • Homicides increased 36-52 in statewide (Page 16 Please)

Arsons dropped 29-19 during that period, with increases from 1,936-1,956 in burglaries, 4,398-4,468 in larcenies and 190-227 in motor vehicle thefts Twenty-nine percent of $3.8 million in property stolen last year was recovered compared to 22 percent recovered of $3.4 million stolen in 1984. POLICE ARRESTED 8,813 people last year, an 18 percent increase over the 7,464 arrested in 1984, but that was a 17 percent ^-decrease from 1983 arrests. Last year, 16 percent of crimes were cleared compared to 15 percent in 1964. Statewide, 19 percent of 385,331 offenses were cleared last year compared to 19.7 * percent of 364,396 crimes in 1964. Total and I non-violent crimes rose six percent and I violent crimes four percent in the state last I year compared to 1964 when each decreas- I ed by the same amounts. In the northeastern states, crime rose I two percent last year, increasing four per- I cent nationally. It decreased three percent I nationally and six percent regionally dur- I ing 1964 Locally, Wildwqod and Ocean City still I posted the highest and second highest I number of crimes, respectively, last vear, I (Page 16 Please)

Dispositions Down by 11 % By JOE ZELNIK COURT HOUSE - The jury's out on whether a predicted sharp, steady increase in county courts "workload" has really developed. That projection in a two-year-old feasibility study was a key ingredient ii» the county's decision ta spend an estimated $6 million to expand and renovate the courthouse But new evidence casts some doubt on the statistics. The problem is that "workload," a term which attempted to weigh cases by their difficulty and complexity, is no longer used by the courts. INSTEAD, they record "cases filed" and "cases disposed of," the latter being the best, most meaningful measure today, according to the office of Trial Courts Administrator Charles McCaffery. And those figures show a decline the last two years. They report that the county Superior Courts disposed of 8,186 cases in 1960, the figure climbed to 9,582 in 1963; and has dipped the last two years. The total last year was 8,539 (see chart). (The "cases filed" category showed the same general pattern, numbering 8,069 in 1980, peaking at 9,451 in 1983, and down to 8,275 last year. ) BY CONTRAST, the projections that appeared in architect Edwin N. Howell and Associates' "Feasibility Study for Improving the County Court Facility <" said the courts had a "workload" of 5,970 in 1963 which would increase to between 6,520 and 7,150 by 1985. Thus the feasibility study predicted a workload increase from 9 to 20 percent between 1963 and 1965. (Page 4 Please)

I Inside.. I EVEN An anerthctkl couldn't keep ■ fry ride from you; page 6$. I "K" is for oat of yom moat important B room*. County library, papa 26. I A STATI record weakfiah; OeMpon ■ — ■ ' ' lmw