Front Page News

Swedesboro Library Project Put On Hold
Because Of Lack of Woolwich Support

by Philip Dunn
SWEDESBORO – At the Sept. 15 Borough Council meeting mayor and council discussed their disappointment with Woolwich Township in regards to the Swedesboro Public Library expansion project.

Both townships at one time were in a joint effort to help with the libraries growing need, but now Woolwich has dropped.

“The Library does such a great job that it is bursting at the seams and cannot function efficiently without being expanded”, said Mayor Tom Fromm. “I believe the library is an extremely valuable asset for both the Swedesboro and Woolwich Township communities.”

Swedesboro received a grant to develop an architectural design and cost estimate to expand the library by about 2,500 square feet. This would expand the library to a total size of around 4,500 square feet.

The county has agreed to fund half of the approximately $900,000 cost. Swedesboro officials were hoping that Woolwich would help with the remaining $450,000.

The Woolwich Township Committee unanimously voted not to go through with the funding of the Swedesboro Library.

When asked about the committees decision Woolwich Township Mayor Joe Chila said every member of the committee knew the importance of this issue. They recognized the need for expansion, but they still had several areas of concern.

“Having examined all of the data that was made available to us we found that Woolwich residents used the Logan library branch more that the Swedesboro branch,” said Chila.
Chila also said that the current estimate was over one year old and that would make the bid inaccurate.

“I am committed to doing everything I can to find a way to move forward with the expansion,” said Fromm.

In other business, the threat of high oil prices is affecting the township like everyone else. An emergency fund was passed to help in case the budget exceeds its limit.

“We planned for fuel costs to go up a crazy amount”, said Fromm. “We, like most others, could not have anticipated the absolutely astronomical cost increases we have seen, so we are up against our budget.”

Fromm said that the borough has not exceeded the total budget appropriations overall, but because the budget is already so lean that it will be close.

Councilwomen Diane Hale announced that the County Senior Services will be in Swedesboro on Dec. 16 to help seniors. The service will provided help with paperwork involving applications of wills, and any other forms that need to be filled out.

They can also aid in heating assistance if needed. There is no cost involved.

“This is open to all seniors in Swedesboro and our neighboring communities, we're all in this together,” said Fromm.

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$1 Million Bond Ordinance Introduced
for East Greenwich Well Construction

by Beth S. Biermann

EAST GREENWICH – The East Greenwich Township committee introduced an ordinance on Sept. 9 authorizing the issuance $1 million of bonds to cover the construction of a 1,000 gallon per minute well.

According to Mayor Fred Grant, the 10 year bond note will be paid off at 10 percent each year. The funds will come from the water department.

Currently, some township residents are customers of New Jersey American Water, while other residents pay the township for their water. Negotiations are underway to transfer current New Jersey American customers back to the township, therefore providing more funds for the water department.

The committee also passed a resolution that amended the township’s capital budget to allocate the down payment of $27,500 to the Water Utility Operating Capital Improvement Fund.

The new well will replace one of two existing wells in East Greenwich, both of which are currently located on one side of the township. The replacement well will be located on township owned property at the intersection of Wolfert Station Road and East Rattling Run Road.

The township is also planning to build a new water tower at this same location. The well will provide the necessary water supply to fill the new water tower, which is intended to alleviate water pressure problems residents have experienced for years.

In other business, the committee introduced an ordinance that defines regulations and standards for home-based businesses in single-family residences. According to township planner Leah Furey, the only time that home-based businesses are mentioned in any town ordinance is as a definition. There is currently no way to address any potential complaints made regarding home businesses.

According to Furey, this ordinance would provide guidelines for determining “where to draw the line” between a home and a business. A “home-based occupation” is defined as full-time or part-time employment, including self-employment, that utilizes an office within a single family residence.

A distinction is made between “minor” and “major” home-based occupations. The minor category can include babysitting of no more than three children. Major home businesses may not employ more than one person who is not also a resident of the household.

Uses prohibited as home businesses include kennels, funeral parlors, restaurants, lodging, manufacturing, retail or wholesale services and commercial stables.

Committeeman Pete Miskofsky commented that he was “all for three quarters of the ordinance, but part of it offends me”. He expressed concern about invasion of privacy issues related to a specific section of the ordinance that designated a maximum of 800 square feet of office space.

In his opinion, as long as the resident’s home business is not affecting neighbors in any way as far as noise, increased car traffic, etc., there should be no regulation inside a resident’s home.

In response to Miskofsky’s reservations, the committee unanimously introduced the ordinance with the square footage section removed.

Both the bond ordinance and the home-based business ordinance will be considered for final adoption after public hearings on Oct. 14.

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Thompson Family Park Opens With A Party

EAST GREENWICH -- The new Thompson Family Park located in East Greenwich, officially opened on Saturday, Sept. 13. The parks unveiling coincided with the annual East Greenwich Day celebration.

The festivities kicked off at 9 a.m. with the Inaugural East Greenwich 5K race and 1-mile fun walk. The race took place within the park, and gave runners and walkers a chance to see all that this new park has to offer. The event benefited East Greenwich Parks and Recreation.

At 10:15 a.m. the Kingsway Marching Band paraded in to kick off the Grand Opening ceremony. The mayor officially opened the park with a dedication, and presented benches to Thompson and Fagan families.

Walter Fagan was an East Greenwich firefighter who lost his life in 2007. Senator Stephen Sweeney then gave a short speech, and members of the Thompson family then cut the ribbon to officially open the park.

And what an opening it was. There were rides, games, crafters and local businesses, food, and lots of entertainment.

East Greenwich Director of Parks and Recreation, and East Greenwich Day Chair Cheryl Koren stated, “We tried to have something for everyone this year. We had rides for all ages, sporting events, great food and music, and an opportunity for local businesses, and not-for-profit groups, and crafters to showcase their talents”.

The entertainment schedule kicked off with a local DJ spinning the tunes. Young dancers from Dee Dots Performing Arts Studio took the stage at 11 a.m. and wowed the crowd with their moves.

Then it was a non-stop music festival featuring Rhythm of Chaos, Ed Coles and the Entertainers, and Acoustic Axis. There were also performances by the Kingsway Youth Cheerleaders, a Police K9 show, as well as a balloon artist, children’s characters, and a temporary tattoo artist

Sports and carnival games, a Dumbo ride, laser tag, and jousting were just a few of the fun activities that were at East Greenwich Day 2008. Many of the East Greenwich youth sports organizations helped out with this year’s events, from providing food to manning games. Their contribution to the day’s festivities helped make it a great success.

The Third Annual St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital fundraiser, The Family Fun Olympics, was held from 1 to 3 p.m. There were over 20 stations set up where children and adults of all ages could compete for fun and bragging rights, all while raising money for a good cause. There was also a bounce house and pony rides, which were big hits with the children.

East Greenwich Day would not have been possible without the many hours spent by volunteers and the support of their sponsors: Beazer Homes, Remington & Vernick Engineers, Tremont Realty, Bach Associates, Group Melvin Design, J.S. Hovnanian & Sons, W.J. Gross, Cipriani Builders, and Paulsboro Printers.

Make sure to come out next September for the next East Greenwich Day.

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Transfer of Development Rights (TDR)
Ordinance Introduced

by Beth S. Biermann

WOOLWICH – The Woolwich Township Committee introduced a draft Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) Ordinance on Sept. 15. The committee will consider the ordinance for final adoption after a public hearing currently scheduled for Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. at Kingsway Regional High School.

The draft TDR ordinance establishes a process by which landowners can sell the development rights for their land to developers wishing to build commercial and housing sites in a concentrated area designated by the township’s master plan. The landowners, designated as sending areas, can continue to farm their land, while the developers can use the TDR credits to build with more density in the designated receiving area.

The TDR plan maintains the existing zoning value when assigning credits to landowners. It also provides for an appeals process if landowners feel they have not been assigned the proper number of credits.

There is also a link on the township’s website (www.woolwichtwp.org) to explain the process and enable residents to track the progress.

Woolwich was the first municipality in New Jersey to receive state endorsement for a Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) program. On April 18 the New Jersey State Planning Commission approved Woolwich’s Plan Endorsement application, a process that began more than three years ago.

Woolwich Township was chosen as a TDR Demonstration Project by the state in 2005. As a demonstration project, Woolwich received grant money from both the State Department of Community Affairs and the Agriculture Department in order to develop their master plan for development along with a draft TDR ordinance.

As a result of its rapid growth of population, Woolwich was in danger of sprawling into a bedroom community with a loss of open space and farmland, accompanied by little opportunity for the construction of commercial ratables.

In response to this, Woolwich formed the Plan Petitioning Committee over three years ago in order to explore a way to transfer the potential for many scattered communities of large single family homes into two concentrated centers of commercial high density residential development.

Woolwich’s plan for development includes two receiving areas for commercial and high density residential development, one on the Route 322 corridor between Locke Avenue and Kings Highway and another smaller one at the corner of Auburn and Center Square Roads behind the existing CVS.

The Route 322 receiving area will contain 100 single family units, 1,000 twin units, 1,617 townhouses and flats, 500 mixed-use units and 85 acres of parkland. In addition, 110 acres of bald eagle habitat adjacent to the Raccoon Creek will be preserved.

This site will be approximately one square mile in area and have a total of three million square feet of commercial space in a central location to the residential units. Without the TDR plan, the Route 322 site is currently zoned for 10 million square feet of commercial space.

Adjacent to this commercial and high density residential center will be the development known as Woolwich Adult Community, with 1,029 senior units, a golf course and 2.7 million additional square feet of large format retail space.

At the Auburn Road receiving area, plans include 130 single family homes, 162 twin units, 210 townhouses, 31 acres of parkland and up to 500,000 square feet of commercial space.

In other business, the committee also adopted a $700,000 bond ordinance to finance the partial purchase price of open space land. Bonds or notes totaling $665,000 will be used to acquire 91.25 acres of open space on High Hill Road across from High Hill Estates.

The Gloucester County Open Space Trust Fund will cover 75 percent of the purchase price. The township’s 25 percent obligation amounts to $700,000. The down payment required is $35,000, which will come from the Capital Improvement Fund.

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