By Bill Cleary

 

I recently asked Gloucester City Mayor Bill James and the Finance Committee council members some questions on the proposed 2008 Municipal Budget that totals $16,439,000 or $613,313 more than last year\’s budget of $15,825,687. Under the proposed plan the local purpose tax will increase by 41 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. As such taxes will increase $287 on an average home assessed at $70,000.

According to the advertised budget in the April 10 issue of the Gloucester City News, the City employs 105 fulltime workers and 74 part-time. The number of employees was the same in 2007.

A public hearing on the budget will be held on Thursday, April 24 at 8 PM in council chambers, City Hall, 313 Monmouth Street.

I asked for explanation on why County taxes were increasing in Gloucester City. And I inquired about the ongoing plans for the Chatham Square Apartments, at US Route 130 and Klemm Avenue.

Regarding the County tax increasing in Gloucester City

 

. It has risen approximately two cents per $100 of assessed value. Presently we are not sure why this has happened to Gloucester City. If you look at the State aid cuts you will also find that Gloucester City was only one of 10 towns to receive single digit percentage aid cuts, seven percent. Maybe that has something to do with it. We don\’t know what the County or the State is thinking; we can only be responsible for our own actions.

Regarding the 2008 Budget

 

The current introduced budget shows an increase of 41 cents per $100 of assessed value. This is something we are not the least bit happy about. If no further aid or extraordinary aid becomes available to Gloucester City, further cuts in the budget will have to be made.

We can tell you that there is no more room in the operating budget to cut. Other options will have to be considered.

Regarding Chatham Square Apartments

 

The story on this issue is the city will be paying $4,350.000 for the property. The fines filed by the Housing Code Office against the present landlord will have to be paid back to the city, approximately $250,000. This amounts to about $ 41,000. Per unit.

The area has been declared an area in need of redevelopment. The City still must complete their redevelopment plan. Some options would be to remove some of the buildings and renovate others. The City will be hiring a management company to maintain the existing building and tenants until works begins.

 

The City will also be looking at negotiating a purchase of Gloucester Terrace Apartments to renovate and sell these properties. Many meetings need to happen to come up with a final decision as to exactly what will happen, but the City recognizes that something had to be done to control this area for the good of everyone. More information will follow.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com

New Jersey wildlife officials captured the large black bear seen wandering through backyards in Bergen County on Thursday morning, CBS 2 has learned.

The bear was struck with a tranquilizer dart around 1 p.m. Officials plan on transporting the bear to more appropriate and much safer surroundings…

read more

Related: Hunting & Fishing

Media Release April 23

Administration Opposes Hunting but Cuts Non-Lethal Control Funding

 

Senator Steven V. Oroho (R-Sussex/Morris), a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, questioned the Commissioner of Environmental Protection on proposed cuts to non-lethal bear management activities, while at the same time opposing a hunt to reduce the burgeoning bear population of northwestern New Jersey.

\”The Department of Environmental Protection is pursuing contradictory policies on bear management. On the one hand, they have spent considerable sums of taxpayer money by going to court to stop a bear hunt, while at the same time cutting funds in the State Budget for non-lethal methods of bear control,\” Oroho said. \”The DEP cannot have it both ways. You cannot argue that non-lethal bear control is essential to a comprehensive bear management policy, and then agree to cut the funding for those methods. It is obvious the bear population has grown in northwestern New Jersey, and it must be brought under control before someone is injured or killed.\”

The Governor’s Budget Recommendation Document provides that the appropriation for black bear management be reduced from $863,000 in Fiscal Year 2008, to $678,000 in Fiscal Year 2009. The DEP has opposed any bear management policy that includes hunting, and has instead favored public education, control of human-derived food, and research into contraception.

\”The Corzine administration was chiefly responsible for the cancellation of a bear hunt in 2006, and they have successfully litigated against any effort to allow a hunt to be considered in the future,\” Oroho said. \”As a result, bears are now breaking into kitchens to steal muffins in my legislative district. This administration needs to employ all scientifically valid means of controlling the bear population and reducing human-bear interactions in the future. Barring a bear hunt while simultaneously cutting funding for non-lethal bear management will not serve these goals.\”

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Related: Hunting & Fishing

Ewing, NJ…Playing its final home game of the season, The College of New Jersey women’s lacrosse team celebrated \”Senior Day\” on a winning note as the third-ranked Lions posted an 18-8 victory over the Profs on Thursday.

The win puts TCNJ at 13-1 on the season with two games remaining, while the Profs concluded their regular season with a record of 12-4.

Prior to the game, the Lions honored seniors Christine Cavallo (Cedar Grove, NJ/West Essex), Toni-Anne Cavallo (Cedar Grove, NJ/West Essex), Karen Doane (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan), Caitlin Gregory (Winslow, NJ/Eastern) and Diane Haddeland (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) for their hard work and dedication to the program.

Once the game started, those players had a role in the outcome, but they also had plenty of support from some of the younger players on the team. Junior Kelly Mitchell (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) opened the scoring and sophomore Lisa Seldeen (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley) netted the next two getting the hosts off to a good start with the 3-0 lead.

The Profs got on the board with 20:08 remaining in the opening half as Caitlin Meseroll (Oakhurst, NJ/Ocean Township) made it a 3-1 game.

TCNJ put together a modest 3-0 run to round out the half as junior Katie Reuther (Toms River, NJ/Toms River North), freshman Leigh Mitchell (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) and Seldeen each scored to put the Lions in front 9-3 at the break.

Rowan scored first in the second half, as Nicole Valianti (Oaklyn, NJ/Collingswood) trimmed TCNJ’s lead to 9-4, but that would be as close as the Profs would get the rest of the way.

Toni-Anne Cavallo came alive in the second half scoring four times, while Haddeland scored three times in the final frame as the Lions held a 9-5 edge on the scoreboard in the final period.

Cavallo finished with a game-high five goals and Seldeen netted four with a pair of assists. Haddeland recorded the hat trick with one assist, while Jaeger and Reuther each chipped in with a pair of goals.

Rowan’s Lauren Crennan (Pottstown, PA/Owen J. Roberts) scored three times for the Profs leaving her four goals shy of reaching the 50-goal plateau. Meseroll also added a pair.

Gregory collected eight saves for her 25th career victory.

In goal for the Profs, junior Alicia Mannino (Richboro, PA/Conwell-Egan Catholic) had a busy game making 19 saves.

The Lions are on the road on Saturday heading to Frostburg State University for a 1 p.m. start with the Bobcats, while the Profs await a bid to post-season play.

By Bill Cleary

As of 11 am Thursday April 24 there had been 156 votes cast on the recent Opinion Poll on ClearysNoteBook about whether or not Dr. Carl Vitola should be reappointed as physician for the Gloucester City School District. The poll began on April 20 and will be removed later today.

The majority of the votes were received from people in the immediate area. And some votes were cast from individuals living in such places as South Dakota, Florida, Kansas, Georgia, New York, Connecticut , Maine to mention a few.

The question presented to the public read \”Do you think the City Superintendent or School Board is making a fair or right decision replacing such a Great Person like Dr. Carl Vitola?\”

People were asked to vote either Yes or No; 79 percent voted NO while 20 percent were in favor.

Three people told this reporter (two of them being school board members) Superintendent Paul Spaventa had suggested to the Board that Dr. Vitola, whose office is in Turnersville, should be replaced with one of the City doctors.

Spaventa also suggested, according to these sources, that the present Board solicitor, Len Woods, be replaced.

Dr. Vitola has served the district since 1988. And Mr. Woods\’s law firm has represented the Board for four years.  

Each year the contracts for professional services are renewed for a one year term. The Professional Services are: School Board Attorney, School Board Auditor, Architect, and General Physician. The filing deadline for those interested in these positions was April 18th. The contracts begin this year on April 25th.  

It is not unusual for the Superintendent to recommend someone else to provide these services. Ultimately however it is the majority members of Board that make the final decision on who is appointed to these positions.

The School Board\’s reorganization meeting will be held tonight 7 PM in the Gloucester City High School Media Room, Route 130 and Market Street. The contracts for professional services will be awarded. Also the oath of office will be administered to the successful candidates of the April 15 school board election. They include: Kathleen McHugh, Robert Bennett Sr. and Jacqueline Borger, all elected for three year terms. And Edward Hubbs, who won the election for the unexpired one year term.

We are introducing a spay/neuter program for all of Gloucester City\’s feral felines and, with the help of the public, we would like to stop the overpopulation of our feral feline friends.

Through many countless hours of phone calls, etc. the Gloucester City Feral Feline Committee (GCFFC) has discovered there is no easy solution. The only humane way to slow down the expansion of the feral cats is through a Trap Neuter Return (TNR) Program.

This is being designed with the goal that we will eventually have a feral cat colony, where they will be able to live out their lives in peace as originally intended.

Make no mistake, it will not be in Gloucester City.

But, it will be a magical place to take all the abandoned, mistreated, and downright neglected animals that we used to call our pets. The GCFFC calls to you, our neighbors, to support us in this large endeavor. You ask how?

We need volunteers to help with a number of things; people with a pickup truck and one day a month available, others any vehicle with a couple of hours to spare, aside from financial contributions that are needed. We can use any of the following: flashlights w/batteries, gardening or work gloves, towels (hand size on up), chucks, guinea pig water bottles, sheets, blankets, canned cat food, but most of all the support of everyone.

A special thanks to all of those involved last month: Mayor William James John Schmidt, Deborah Miller, Joe Hartzel, Nick, J., Donna, Nicky, the Kid Crew, Bowie, Pete, Dianne, Camden County Animal Shelter, Desi and in loving memory of Jason.

For information call at GCFFC at 456-3936. Thanks,

Denise Rosenberg, GCFFC members

Thursday, April 24, 2008

City Hall, 313 MONMOUTH STREET

Agenda

1. Call Meeting to Order:

 

2. Pledge of Allegiance:

 

3. Roll Call:

 

4. Open Public Meetings Act Notice: This meeting is being held in accordance with the New Jersey Open Public Meetings Act, otherwise known as the \”Sunshine Law.\” It has been legally noticed in accordance with the law and copies have been given to those requesting the same.

 

Oath of Office: Volunteer Firefighter Ryan Walters

 

5. Resolutions/Public Hearing:

R125 Adopting Emergency Temporary Budget Appropriations

R126 Awarding a Contract to Triad Associates for Extraordinary Unspecifiable Services

R127 Authorizing Execution of a Professional Services Contract with Remington & Vernick Engineers

R128 Authorizing Execution of a Professional Services Contract with the Louis Berger Group, Inc.

R129 Providing that Budget be Ready By Title Only

Public Hearing:

Municipal Budget of the City of Gloucester City, County of Camden for the Fiscal Year 2008

 

6. Ordinances:

for first reading this evening with second reading and public hearing to be held on May 15, 2008 at 8:00

P.M.City Hall, 313 Monmouth Street, Gloucester City

O09 An Ordinance Amending the Ordinance Regulating the Salaries of the Employees of the City of Gloucester City, Camden County, New Jersey

 

Introduced and publicly heard ordinance needs to be tabled further until May 22, 2008

O01 Vacating a Portion of Cumberland Street, Located within the City of Gloucester City, County of Camden and State of New Jersey

 

7. Old Business/New Business:

a) Bills paid from March 19^th to April 16^th , 2008 $ 1,006,890.98

 

Bills approved on April 24^th, 2008 $ 613,614.11

__________________

Total amount being approved $ 1,620,505.09

 

8. Open Forum:

The Governing Body has approved the following rules governing the procedures of the Open (General) Public Forum: Any citizen or taxpayer wishing to address the Governing Body may do so after approaching the rail, stating his or her name and address and being recognized by the chair. Said citizen or taxpayer will then be permitted to address the Governing Body for five minutes. After all persons wishing to address the Governing Body have had the opportunity, persons may approach the rail for a second and final five-minute interval during this session.

 

9. Closed Session: Resolution #R -2008 to enter into closed session for discussion of:

 

10. Adjournment: