Summer Program Home Closed for now

N. Wildwood summer-program home needs rebuilding, will stay shuttered
By TRUDI GILFILLIANStaff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Monday, February 27, 2006
Updated: Monday, February 27, 2006

There will be no laughing or singing at the Children's Fresh Air Home this summer.

The home, which sits at the corner of 11th and Surf avenues, has hosted thousands of children through the years as part of a Christian ministry that offered lessons in responsibility, daily devotions and fun times under the summer sun.

The children came from southern New Jersey families that could never afford a holiday at the shore, or they had experienced hardships such as the loss of a loved one.

But this year, while there are still children in need and volunteers eager to help them, the building is in no condition to hold them.

The rambling, four-story home was built in 1923 and is showing its age. There are cracks in the walls, the plumbing and wiring are in need of repair and the foundation has shifted.

Laura Burgoon, a member of the home's board of trustees, issued a news release Friday asking for support to get the building back in shape.

The board, she wrote, “made a painful decision not to open the home for the summer of 2006, due to the condition of the building.”

Karen Wille, who along with her husband, Craig, served as superintendent of the home for the past three years, said the board's engineer found it would be unwise to try to patch up the broken building.

Instead, it must come down and be replaced with a new facility at a cost of about $5 million, money the home doesn't have.

“I'm just heartbroken,” Wille said Friday.

The group traces its beginnings to 1896 when a woman named L. Ida Dukes started bringing children to a recreational area along the Delaware River. The organization was incorporated in 1911 and rented sleeping quarters were used until the current home was built.

Burgoon said this marks the first summer in more than 100 years there will not be a Children's Fresh Air Home for southern New Jersey's children.

Wille encouraged anyone who wants to help, both private individuals and businesses, to get involved and preserve the program.

“I became superintendent so I could work with the children and let them have some fun. To teach them right from wrong. This year we won't have that chance,” Wille said.

Widow Gets Life Estate

Cape widow won't lose golf-course home
By RICHARD DEGENERStaff Writer, (609) 463-6711
Published: Saturday, February 25, 2006
Updated: Saturday, February 25, 2006

— Helen Fergoli will get to stay in her house, but the township and the county may lose control of Ponderlodge Golf Course.

Those are the two newest developments in the continuing saga of the bankrupt golf course known informally as Beerworld because it was built by Schmidt's beer baron Billy Pflaumer.

A few weeks ago as the state, county and township tried to put together a funding package to purchase and preserve the 235-acre course the main concern was Fergoli. The 89-year-old widow, Pflaumer's aunt, owns a house at the golf course but does not hold title to the land. Bankruptcy attorney Arthur Abramowitz said she would have to leave.

Fergoli said the house was all she had left and she wanted to live out her days there with her dogs Spunky and Buddy.

“They better not put me out,” Fergoli had said.

On Thursday John Flynn, administrator of the state Green Acres Program, said Fergoli will be allowed to stay as long as she wants.

“We're going to offer her a life estate so she can stay there for the rest of her life. We're working on that,” Flynn said.

That news was met warmly by the township and the county. Mayor Walt Craig said he was glad to hear the news. Deputy County Administrator Steve Hampton said the news was very exciting.

Fergoli would be responsible for property taxes and repairs to the house but nothing else. The property the house sits on would be owned by the state and it would take full use of it upon Fergoli's passing.

The fact that the property would be owned by the state is the second major development. Flynn said the bankruptcy court wants the deal settled by the end of the month, which is Tuesday, so there is no time to work out a partnership deal. Developers are ready to step in if the state effort fails. The county and township applications for Green Acres grants and low-interest loans will not be acted on. Instead, Flynn said the state is going to buy Ponderlodge. It will pay the entire $8.45 million cost and hold title to the land.

“We're going to pay all of it, 100 percent purchased by the state of New Jersey with no grants or loan element. There just wasn't time,” Flynn said.

Green Acres only acquires land. It then gives it to one of two state Department of Environmental Protection divisions to manage. If it goes to Parks and Forestry it is managed as a park. If it goes to Fish and Wildlife it is managed for wildlife. Flynn said it will go to Fish and Wildlife.

This concerns Craig because Fish and Wildlife is not likely to allow the public golf course he was hoping to use to generate sorely needed revenue for township govenment. Craig hoped to lease out the golf course operation and make around $200,000 a year to balance a budget already facing a 10-percent tax rate hike this year.

The new deal means the township loses the existing ratable from Ponderlodge Golf Club, never got a ratable from the housing development proposed for the property before the state stepped in, and now with the public purchase gets no money from leasing the golf course. It may end up with a state payment in lieu of taxes, but that remains to be seen.

“To give it up for no benefit to the township at all, I don't think that's in our best interest,” Craig said.

Craig did not know of the new development until told by a reporter from The Press of Atlantic City.

“We were told everything was in place for the township to get it. It seems like the state set up its own set of playing rules,” Craig said.

Hampton said Craig has a right to be miffed but he said the county is happy the land is being preserved.

“The county interest was in preserving the land, whether we bought it or Green Acres bought it,” Hampton said.

That being said, the county is pushing for some local control. Freeholder Director Daniel Beyel wrote DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson a recent letter asking that Lower Township be allowed to manage and use the site “within the Green Acres Program guidelines.” The county also pledged money to the project. Acquisition doesn't take into account other costs, such as repairing or demolishing all the buildings on the site.

“Cape May County wants Lower Township to have an opportunity to operate it. They're there and the state isn't,” Hampton said.

Flynn said Fish and Wildlife is not equipped to operate a golf course but is “excited about making it a destination for eco-tourism.” Even with recreational uses allowed, he noted it is a great opportunity to “enhance habitat” in the southern end of Cape May County that is internationally important for migrating birds. He said the division's Endangered and Nongame Species Program is very interested in the property but the final decision on how it is managed is up to DEP Commissioner Jackson.

Township Councilman Mike Beck said he doesn't mind losing the golf course and the ratable.

“I'm fine with that. You can't have everything. I'm all for a nature preserve as long as people can access it to bird watch and enjoy nature,” Beck said.

Managing Ponderlodge for wildlife could come with a big carrot. Flynn said there could be grant money available to also restore heavily degraded Cox Hall Creek, which has been taken over by the invasive marsh reed phragmites.

There remains another issue as pollution has been discovered from old underground oil tanks on the property. A company has been hired to clean this up. Flynn is hoping it will not stop the deal.

Condo Violations

Wildwoods condo owners get reprieve on code violations
By TRUDI GILFILLIANStaff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Friday, February 24, 2006
Updated: Friday, February 24, 2006
Press of Atlantic City

Condominium owners who recently received notices of violation about fire suppression and other code issues do not have to pay the fines listed in those notices, at least for the time being, attorney Glenn P. Callahan said Thursday.

Callahan, who represents the Joint Construction Office of the Wildwoods, or JCOW, said JCOW is “suspending (the fines) until further notice.”

The letters were sent to the owners of about 500 individual units in 79 island properties in Wildwood and North Wild-wood.

They stated that the properties listed should have been evaluated as R-2 residential properties, which are required to meet certain standards regarding fire-wall separation, fire-suppression systems and means of exit for occupants given the number of units. Instead, they were evaluated by JCOW as R-3 properties, which have different building standards.

JCOW has since filed suit in Superior Court asking a judge to determine who is responsible to bring the building up to code.

In addition to suspending the fines, Callahan said condominium owners do not have to meet any deadlines to appeal the notices. Initially, they had a limited amount of time from the receipt of the letters to challenge JCOW.

“No one has to file an appeal,” Callahan said.

The notices have worried property owners who said they have been unable to get more information from officials at JCOW.

The municipalities involved are also considering their responsibility in the violation cases.

Wildwood Crest Borough Commission discussed the matter in closed session Wednesday.

Borough Clerk Kevin Yecco said that, while the affected properties are not in Wildwood Crest, the borough, as part of JCOW, is involved and is also looking for answers.

North Wildwood Reval

N. Wildwood wants reval firm to explain process
By TRUDI GILFILLIANStaff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Friday, February 24, 2006
Updated: Friday, February 24, 2006

— The city wants its revaluation company, Tyler Technologies/CLT Division, to explain the revaluation process and how the company came up with the city's new property values.

The city has 6,989 ratable properties, and the total value from the town increased from $866 million to nearly $3 billion once the company finished its assessment.

Councilman Robert Maschio, head of the council's finance committee, said the city has written to the company and is waiting for a response. In the meantime, Maschio said the city should not pay Tyler Technologies the remainder of the bill for the revaluation.

According to the city's Finance Department, the total cost of the revaluation was $450,000. Of that, $320,000 has been paid by the city so far.

“We're getting no answers,” Maschio said Thursday. “They should come before the finance committee and council and answer some questions.”

Maschio said he wants the company to explain how it arrived at its figures. “Who qualifies these individuals? Are they certified appraisers? What is their formula,” he asked.

Maschio was among the many residents who challenged Tyler Technologies initial assessment of their properties.

“They had me down for two lots when I had one,” Maschio said, adding he believes the revaluation was mismanaged.

While City Council waits for an answer, disappointed property owners who live outside the community plan to meet a second time to discuss the revaluation and what they can do.

Organizer Marge Schernecke said the group was overwhelmed by the response at the first meeting when more than 300 people showed up.

The group, now under the banner of the Wildwoods Taxpayers Association, plans to discuss results of the initial appeals to Tyler Technologies, share information about the tax-appeals process and talk about news that hundreds of condominium units have been built in violation of local building codes.

Those violations are the subject of a lawsuit filed by the Joint Construction Office of the Wildwoods.

Summer Rentals

No Time Like Present To Scoop Up Summer Rentals

Cydney Long
Reporting

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(CBS 3) WILDWOOD, NJ Early birds are snatching up the perfect summer getaway down the shore and the President’s Day holiday weekend is the unofficial start of the rental season.

The boardwalk is barren, the beach is blustery cold with just a few brave people bundled up near the water but still the summer "for rent" signs in wildwood are getting swiped up faster than you think.

“They go fast and are going fast, we could not keep up with our website,” said real estate agent, Margi Tirri.

Despite freezing temperatures this President’s Weekend, thoughts of warm summer fun had renters out in force.

“It was snowing on Saturday but they were lined up they wanted to see and because it was crowded they did not want to leave,” said Tirri, adding, “They wanted to get what they wanted.”

Mary Lou and Joe LaFontano of Morrisville Bucks County put money down on a $950 a week rental for July.

“It is getting expensive to buy here but I still think people are going to do the same thing we do, if they can afford to buy they do that too,” said Mary Lou LaFontano.

So are the old fashioned single home and motel rentals becoming a thing of the past, as 1950's Wildwood motels make room for high-rise condotels?

“Right now there is everything available, from the rooming house right up to the hotel but they are not going to be around forever,” said Wildwood mayor, Ernie Troiano.

Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. says you can never go wrong buying at the shore so long as the ocean does not disappear, but offers these wise words to investors.

“Make sure can afford what you have, problem is a lot come in and buy and they can not always rent it, as much as they would like to,” said Troiano.

Mayor Troiano went on to say that those who invest in the $600,000 to 2-million plus properties, they should probably plan on getting five or six weeks of rentals throughout the summer time as opposed to 11 of 12 weeks.

Also, many real estate agencies say with the 400 properties they have in Wildwood, 80-percent are already booked for one week or more. So if you book now, you not only get the place, price but also the week you want.

(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

West Cape May News

Trash-collection cost swells West Cape May budget
By RICHARD DEGENERStaff Writer, (609) 463-6711
Published: Saturday, February 18, 2006
Updated: Saturday, February 18, 2006

— Borough Commission has introduced a $1.7 million budget that carries a large tax increase, but most of the hike will pay for municipal trash collection.

Mayor Pam Kaithern said the budget carries a tax increase of 7.9 cents for each $100 of assessed valuation. This translates into an increase of $79 for the owner of a home assessed at $100,000.

But Kaithern also noted that 5 cents of that increase is to pay the $147,500 bill to collect trash, a service approved by voters last year that began in January. The trash removal account in the budget jumped from $2,500 in 2005 to $150,000 this year. Kaithern noted that the commission has shuffled money in recent years to prevent a tax increase, but with the cost of everything rising, that would not work this year.

“The increase is 2.9 cents without trash collection. We haven't had a tax increase in the last four years, but there comes a point where you can't keep the shell game going,” Kaithern said.

Court revenue has declined and the state took over issuing contractor licenses, another loss of incoming funds. The borough only has a few fees, such as mercantile licenses, and Kaithern said the prices must be reviewed. She noted mercantile licenses are only $25, which hardly pays for the paperwork let alone the physical inspections.

“We have no parking meters or beach tags,” said Kaithern, who oversees the Department of Revenue and Finance.

With few revenues, there is nothing to offset rising expenditures in the $1,706,424 budget. Debt service, partly for infrastructure improvements, is rising from $103,600 to $117,200. Kaithern notes much of that expense, however, is to pay off low-interest loans that are helping the town upgrade.

The state is contributing less to pension costs, up about $5,000 more this year, and this is expected to continue to rise in future years. Police service from neighboring Cape May is also costing more. It rose from $321,819 to $337,910. The recycling budget is going from $28,300 to $35,300, partly to add seasonal help.

The budget proposes using $360,000 of surplus, leaving $165,313 in borough coffers. The amount to be raised by taxes to support the budget is $1,033,010, up from $777,586.

The water and sewer budget was also introduced. It stands at $895,5430, up from $840,000 in 2005.

North Wildwood Revals

Final revals sent, North Wildwood braces for appeals
By TRUDI GILFILLIANStaff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Thursday, February 16, 2006
Updated: Thursday, February 16, 2006

Tax assessor Joseph Gallagher doesn't mind getting calls from property owners who want to discuss assessments they consider too high.

“I'm more concerned with people that don't call,” Gallagher said, noting that the under-assessed are much less likely to complain.

On Friday, the city sent out its final assessments to all North Wildwood property owners following last year's revaluation by Tyler Technologies/CLT Division.

The new figures follow a round of hearings in January between owners who disagreed with the new property values and the revaluation company.

Joe Pizzoli, project manager for the company, said its final role is to help provide testimony and defend the values when taxpayers appeal their new values to the Cape May County Board of Taxation.

But before taxpayers take their disagreements to the county level, Gallagher offered some advice about how to proceed.

Gallagher suggested homeowners ask three real estate companies to come up with an independent value for their homes.

If the three companies come up with values in the same range as the assessment, an appeal may not be necessary.

On the other hand, if the three all value the property well below the assessment, then an appeal may be an option.

Homeowners can also hire professional appraisers for a more formal evaluation.

Gallagher encouraged property owners to then talk with him first before filing the formal appeal.

“One of the greatest deficiencies I have is the inability to be clairvoyant,” Gallagher said, explaining that homeowners should provide all the information they have about their properties to come up with a fair assessment.

April 1 is the deadline to file an appeal with the county.

The number of owners who will appeal is anyone's guess, but Gallagher estimated between 5 and 9 percent of the city's property owners will appeal.

The city has 6,989 ratable pieces of property and about 6,500 of those are residential.

“I was surprised in 2005 in Wildwood when the local appeals were below 5 percent,” he said.

The surprise of the island's rising real estate prices is starting to wear off, although the numbers are much different than they were just three years ago.

“I was getting deeds for $50,000 for duplexes in Wildwood in 2000. In 2004, they were selling for $350,000 as a tear down,” Gallagher said.

Wildwood Streets

Plan to change Wildwood street ‘three-lane disaster,' mayor says
By TRUDI GILFILLIANStaff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Friday, February 10, 2006
Updated: Friday, February 10, 2006

— No one denies that New Jersey Avenue could use a face lift. The problem is what the street might look like afterward.

While Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. welcomes repairs to the busy and bumpy street, he said the plan to turn the four-lane road into a three-lane road simply won't work.

“You'll be sitting on New Jersey Avenue till Labor Day if it goes to three lanes,” Troiano said during this week's City Commission meeting.

Cape May County Engineer Dale Foster said Thursday that the county has $1.25 million in federal funds set side to repair the rocky road from Cresse to Youngs avenues.

To meet national highway engineering standards, however, the road would have to lose a lane, he said.

“The lanes are substandard. They're not wide enough,” Foster said, explaining the third lane would be a turning lane.

Troiano said Wednesday that such a move would be a mistake, and he pointed to slow travel along Atlantic Avenue, a three-lane road, as an example.

It would be “a three-lane disaster,” Troiano said.

Foster said the county has been looking at New Jersey Avenue for several years and identified both the substandard features and safety issues.

He said the lanes along New Jersey Avenue are staggered in part so drivers are not driving side by side because of the narrow lanes, and when they do there is a risk of accidents.

Foster said data show the road has a number of side-swipe accidents, as well as rear-end collisions that occur when cars try to turn left without the aid of turning lanes.

“We would like to do this because it's desperately needed,” Foster said, noting that all of New Jersey Avenue in the city of Wildwood is in need of repair.

If an agreement cannot be reached, Foster said he fears the federal funds, specifically set aside for that section of New Jersey Avenue, would be lost if construction doesn't start soon.

The county has already passed the deadline to use the money, and is operating on borrowed time, he said.

But Foster noted that the county could not force the project on the city.

Meanwhile, Foster said the county was continuing to look at the issue and would soon get back to the mayor once it has determined if the road project can accommodate four lanes.

Wildwood Crest Siren

Siren irks neighbors in Wildwood Crest

By TRUDI GILFILLIANStaff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Thursday, February 9, 2006
Updated: Thursday, February 9, 2006

— Nothing like an ear-splitting siren to start your morning.

Morning Glory Road resident Phyllis Bethel didn't just tell borough commissioners about the fire siren on her street that seems to run on forever. She let them hear it.

Just before Wednesday's
9 a.m. commission meeting came to a close, Bethel hit play on her tape recorder and brought the siren into the second-floor of Borough Hall.

“We have a problem, a big problem,” Bethel said.

Bethel and neighbor Richard Spina said they have no problem with the sirens when they work properly.

The trouble is when they go on incessantly at varying hours of the day.

“This one goes off and it doesn't stop,” she said, adding, “I'm ready to take a sledgehammer to it.”

Spina said they have complained before about the blaring sirens that can last several minutes. “It hurts us,” he said.

Mayor Carl Groon said he would look into the problem and get an answer to Coriono and Spina as quickly and efficiently as possible.

"We will resolve this," he said.

In other business Wednesday, the commissioners approved an emergency appropriation of $320,000 to pay for a revaluation ordered by the Cape May County Board of Taxation.

In December, the county told the borough to perform the revaluation, but the borough asked the county for an extension given the late notice.

Borough Solicitor Doreen Corino told the commissioners Wednesday that, while she did not receive a written response, the verbal indication from the county was that the answer for an extension was going to be no.

Instead, the borough should set aside the money and move forward by going out to bid for the revaluation in good faith, Corino said.

Then, if the time constraints place a hardship on the borough, there is a chance it would receive an extension at that time, she said.

Corino said the borough was told to conduct a revaluation in 2006, but only received notice from the county in late December 2005.

A contract would have to been awarded by Feb. 1 to a revaluation company to meet the county's goal of having the values on the tax rolls by 2007, she said.

"It's almost impossible now," she said.

Wildwood Crest Budget

Wildwood Crest introduces budget with slight increase
By TRUDI GILFILLIANStaff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Thursday, February 9, 2006
Updated: Thursday, February 9, 2006

— The borough's 2006 spending plan includes a tax increase of 1.76 cents per $100 of assessed property valuation.

The estimated increase means the local-purpose tax would rise to 59.86 cents, which translates into an annual local tax increase of $17.60 on a $100,000 property. The tax rate could change before the final budget is approved later this year.

The total budget also increases from $14.69 million in 2005 to $16.29 million in 2006, but Chief Financial Officer Stephen Ritchie said about half of that $1.59 million increase can be attributed to grant money included in the budget plan.

Ritchie said the remainder stems from increases in negotiated salaries, health-insurance costs and debt service payments.

Those additional costs are supported by an increase of $548,082 in the amount to be raised by taxes, or tax levy, from $7.6 million last year to $8.1 million in 2006. In addition, $1.4 million in surplus is being used to fund the budget.

Ritchie said the borough also has to include an additional $90,000 to pay for its contribution to the state pension system. The borough's total pension payment for the year comes to $182,000.

Ritchie said the state eliminated local contributions to the plan several years ago, what he called an “ill-conceived idea,” but now it has to make up for those years of not paying into the pension system.

Interest rates are also up on the borough's debt, he said.

Ritchie noted that the local-purpose tax did go down for several years and the estimated rate of 59.86 cents is in line with the local tax rate in 2003.

A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for 7 p.m. March 22 at Borough Hall.

Cape May Lowers Tax Hike

Cape May lowers tax hike by using more surplus funds
By RICHARD DEGENERStaff Writer, (609) 463-6711
Published: Thursday, February 9, 2006
Updated: Thursday, February 9, 2006

A little over one hour and taxpayers save $45.72.

That's what the figures indicated after Manager Luciano Corea and City Council met this week to pare the proposed tax increase from 1.9 cents for each $100 of assessed valuation to a 1-cent hike. The budget, which has already been introduced at just over $13 million, will be amended after the public hearing to reflect the changes.

In January when the tax-rate increase was at 1.9 cents it was expected to cost the owner of a $508,000 home, which is the average assessment here, $96.52 more in local-purpose taxes this year. A penny increase would only cost $50.80 more. Thus the savings of $45.72.

“The increase is 13 cents a day,” Mayor Jerry Inderwies said.

Most of that savings was achieved by funneling more surplus into the budget, about $244,000, and not hiring a new police officer. Corea and Councilman Jerry Gaffney worked on the spending plan before the meeting and came ready to negotiate.

Gaffney had a plan to eliminate a tax hike completely by using more surplus, hiring fewer new workers, reducing money in 2006 for capital projects, and other cutbacks. His plan would have reduced funding for Washington Street Mall improvements and a new convention hall from $3 million to $1.5 million, though it would have been made up in future years. He wanted to investigate closing the police substation in West Cape May. Gaffney also questioned individual line items including police computers, storage buildings, new windows for City Hall and a front-end loader.

There wasn't any support to reduce funding for the mall and convention hall. This was ultimately increased from $3 million to $5 million, though it's bonded so only part of that money impacts this budget.

“From a tourism standpoint we all believe the mall and convention hall have to be attacked aggressively to solve these issues,” Councilman David Brown said.

Inderwies said the police substation is used 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but he was willing to put off hiring a new police officer. Corea said this would save $36,000. Corea came up with another $20,000 in cuts bringing the total to $56,000. With the additional $244,000 from surplus the rate was cut by almost one cent.

“It goes from 1.9 cents to 1 cent, a 47 percent decrease,” Corea noted.

Gaffney expressed special concern about health-insurance costs, which are at about $1.7 million for active and retired workers.

There was no talk of cutting a salary hike for council members. Corea said he budgeted in a $2,000 increase for the four members of council.

“Council would go from $8,000 to $10,000. The mayor would stay the same at $15,000,” Corea said.

Flood Waters

Wildwood continues to fight never-ending battle against flooding
By TRUDI GILFILLIANStaff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Wednesday, February 8, 2006
Updated: Wednesday, February 8, 2006

— With the city's highest point just 8.8 feet above mean sea level, Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. knows he will never eliminate flooding.

“It's called being on a barrier island,” Troiano said Tuesday. Instead, the goal is to “reduce it where it's the worst.”

To that end, the city is starting a series of measures designed to reduce the amount of water that makes its way into city streets, particularly along the back-bay area, during high tides and heavy rains.

According to the city, the Ottens Harbor and Rio Grande Avenue area are particularly prone to flooding during severe weather when water rises over and through deteriorating bulkheads and into the catch basins in city streets causing them to overflow.

Troiano said the plan is to take several grants awarded to the city and spend the money on installing new bulkheads along Ottens Harbor to help block incoming tides.

Schoor Depalma, an engineering firm, has completed a storm-water analysis to determine the areas most affected, and the firm's recommendations will guide the project and its list of priorities.

Troiano said street ends scheduled for improvement include Poplar, Magnolia, Maple, Susquehanna, Montgomery, Niagra avenues, Park Boulevard at Ottens Harbor and Burk Avenue. That work should begin in the fall.

Troiano said the city is also planning to improve its infrastructure, which he joked dates back “to the beginning of time.”

The company recommended the reconstruction of several streets and the installation of new tide flex valves on the city's storm-water outfall pipes.

“One of the most effective solutions we've implemented has been the replacement of tide flex valves on the most critical storm-water outfalls,” said Glenn Balmer, sewer utility superintendent.

In a news release, Balmer said the valves are installed at the ends of storm-water outfall pipes to allow water to drain into the bay and not flow back through the pipes into the street.

Wildwood has received a $438,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to support the anti-flooding initiatives. The city's contribution would be $197,000.

Troiano said he realized “We can only fight Mother Nature to a point, and there's no cure-all solution” but these projects will aid in controlling flooding as much as possible.”

Diamond Beach Condo Project

Diamond Beach condominium project hearing delayed
By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6711
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Tuesday, February 7, 2006
Updated: Tuesday, February 7, 2006

A proposal to turn The Bayview Inn, a popular bar and restaurant in Diamond Beach, into a 24-unit condominium has been delayed.

The application was set to be heard by the Zoning Board last week, but only six members were present. Frank Corrado, the attorney for the JWR Construction Co., the Moorestown firm doing the project, asked that the application be continued to the March 2 meeting. The project needs a use variance and this requires five affirmative votes. Corrado wanted to increase the odds for approval by having more board members present.

“We don't want to go with just six here,” Corrado said.

The meeting drew some Wildwood Crest officials who planned to speak against the project. The Bayview Inn, which is on Sunset Lake, is in Lower Township but is surrounded by Wildwood Crest. The inn was able to serve liquor because it is in Lower Township; Wildwood Crest is a dry town.

Even if the board approves use and hardship variances, Corrado said the project still needs several state environmental approvals.

High Rise Not As High

Lower approves scaled-back plan for high-rise in Diamond Beach
By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6711
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Tuesday, February 7, 2006
Updated: Tuesday, February 7, 2006

The proposed Grand Resort & Spa slated for a tract of land on the oceanfront in Diamond Beach is being scaled back.

Revised plans, approved by the Lower Towship Zoning Board in the past week, show a smaller and shorter building than what was approved in 2004 after a series of contentious public meetings where neighbors complained about the size of the 12-story building.

While the board praised Pennsylvania developer Eustace Mita for downsizing, after the meeting Mita said the decision was mostly driven by aesthetic considerations. Mita said the project is still costing the same amount of money, about $250 million, and will still contain 125 condominium units.

Mita described the changes as design decisions. Taking off a large cupola from the top of the building, toning down the bright colors, moving all parking to the ground floor, having the pool on the second floor with a cascading waterfall and recessing balconies are just a few of the changes. Mita said his original design has been copied throughout the resort area and he wanted to do something different.

“This building isn't trendy. It's timeless with an old seashore look. This will stand the test of time,” Mita said.

The new plans show the height being reduced from 208 feet to 158 feet, mostly by eliminating the cupola. The building still has tiers that go from three stories along the ocean, to six, nine, 11 and finally 12 stories farthest from the beach. The building is also narrower. About 18 to 20 feet are being taken away from the north side of the structure, said Vince Orlando, the project engineer.

The impervious coverage, which is the amount of ground covered with construction, is reduced from 94.6 percent to 86.2 percent. This coverage percentage is only for the ground west of the bulkhead. The percentage for the whole 30-acre site, which extends into the ocean, is much lower, but local law addresses coverage west of the bulkhead. Under a new law encacted since the project got its 2004 approvals, the limit west of the bulkhead is 80 percent, and the board granted a variance to exceed that. The revised plans show an increase in open space and landscaped areas.

“These improvements make for a better project from the project's point of view and the community's point of view,” said Frank Corrado, Mita's attorney.

The project also includes a spa, outdoor cafe, a large pool and a children's pool, boardwalks and guaranteed public access to the ocean with a 50-foot-wide strip along the water. Some of the same neighbors who opposed the original plans are still in opposition. Rochester Avenue resident Greg Boris said the building will block his views, shade out the sun and create a wind tunnel affect.

“The neighborhood will be worse off because of this,” Boris said.

Jeff and Tina Ziccardi, who live on Jefferson Avenue in neighboring Wildwood Crest, but right next to the proposed building, also complained.

“Is this conducive to a neighborhood with two-story residential?” Jeff Ziccardi asked.

While the new building will dwarf the five-story Grand Hotel, a former Holiday Inn, that it replaces, Orlando noted the Lower Township Master Plan “envisioned high rises in this area.”

Tina Ziccardi, who described herself as “a soccer mom,” challenged board members to come sit on her front porch and then “justify that building”

The board was unanimous in its approval. Board member Ernie Utsch described the reduced size as “a gift to the neighborhood.”

The project is just the first phase of what Mita and his company Achristavest, LLC, have planned. A second high rise is in the works. This project is still pending state CAFRA (Coastal Area Facility Review Act) approval. Mita hopes to begin May 1 with the first job the demolition of the old Grand Hotel. He said the entire project should take 14 months.

No Burnouts at Car Show

Hotrods OK, burnouts not, Wildwood tells car-show groupBy TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Published: Thursday, February 2, 2006
Updated: Thursday, February 2, 2006

— The rowdy crowds that are attracted to the island's annual fall and spring car shows won't disappear overnight. But organizers and city officials hope several changes to the event will have a calming effect.

In September 2005, Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. announced he was suspending the shows because of the crowds and the trouble that came with them. The following month, the city and the New Jersey Hot Rod Association started meeting to discuss what could be done.

Those meetings resulted in a letter just sent to car-show participants spelling out the changes.

“I'm not sure it's going to help, but I'm hoping it does,” said Bill Garland, director of operations for the association.

This year's show will differ from past shows in several ways, including a real effort to put a stop to burnouts — the spinning of tires on roadways.

“There are no burnouts,” Chief Joseph Fisher said Wednesday, explaining the burnouts are what spur so many to gather on the sidewalks.

Garland said electronic signs will be posted to make sure people know that any burnouts will be rewarded with a $200 fine, a reckless-driving citation and the possible loss of a driver's license.

The letter explains, “It is prohibited to entice others by yelling or placing fluids in the streets. It is also prohibited to gather on sidewalks and highways which obstruct free passage of pedestrians and vehicles.”

The annual cruise along city streets has also been eliminated in favor of an open-air block party to be held at the Wildwoods Convention Center.

Car owners will be encouraged to gather there to enjoy food, music and entertainment and to view the show's top 40 cars. From there, participants can vote on the top car of the four-day show.

Garland said the city's police are also being asked to be more involved by selecting their own favorite car, which will receive a “Top Gun” award.

“We're trying to turn a lot of negativity into something positive,” Garland said Wednesday.

Garland and Fisher said participants are also encouraged to help monitor the show. “The clubs are being asked to police themselves. We're looking for a team effort here,” Fisher said.

Garland estimated that “ 99 percent of the people causing the trouble are not show participants and they are the ones who come here to tear up the town.” The improvements, he hopes, should discourage the other 1 percent.

Fisher said any improvements are welcome, and he will be able to measure their success by comparing arrests from previous shows and the more obvious evidence such as the amount of tire marks on local streets.

The outcome will determine whether the popular shows, which draw an estimated 60,000 or more people, will stay in Wildwood.

“I hope it works,” Troiano said Wednesday. “We're a community that's here to entertain people, not chase people away, but the people who come here are the ones who will make it or break it.”

Troiano encouraged car-show visitors to imagine they are are still at home. “If you're not allowed to do what you're doing at home, don't do it here,” he said.