Mediation scheduled

Meeting set to settle costs, code violations in Wildwoods
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Saturday, August 11, 2007

WILDWOOD — A voluntary session with a state mediator is scheduled Wednesday in the ongoing effort to finally fix and pay for repairs to hundreds of Wildwoods condominium units not built to code.

At a February hearing, Superior Court Judge Steven Perskie urged mediation to settle the case he named “JCOW versus most of the western hemisphere.”

Attorney Glenn P. Callahan, representing the former Joint Construction Office of the Wildwoods, or JCOW, said he is dealing with 101 buildings, which were found to have violations related to fire safety.

“We are in settlements. We are about halfway through,” Callahan said.

Callahan said that of the 101 properties, 51 are settled between at least two parties, meaning they are awaiting closing agreements.

The parties involved in the agreements can include the construction office, builders, architects and condominium associations.

Callahan said another 35 properties are in the midst of “active negotiations” and about 15 are in a holding pattern.

All parties were invited to attend the mediation session in Trenton, but the session is voluntary, and Callahan said he won't know how many will take part until Wednesday.

Of the 51 described as settled, some of the work has been done to fix the violations while work is scheduled to begin on others.

The violations were first spotted in a 2005 review by the state Department of Community Affairs, which found as many as 500 units were not built to code. The violations included missing firewalls, inadequate exits and other fire-related issues.

Perskie had said he would take away the certificates of occupancy for units unable to work out the problems, but in February he was satisfied that was not necessary as settlement talks progressed.

Callahan said about 65 percent of the 101 buildings have seen the work completed, but questions remain about who will ultimately pay for the repairs.

Attorney Henry Lewandowski, who represents 42 of the condominium associations involved, said Friday that a few have seen their matters resolved with the work done and paid for already.

The rest, however, remain in settlement talks.

Lewandowski said he is working with the construction office and any architects with insurance.

His clients, meanwhile, continue to wait for their cases to reach some conclusion.

“Anger is the most significant, most consistent emotion,” Lewandowski said. “They get angrier as the days go on.”


To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com

Film Fest

Wildwood by the Sea Film Fest planned for fall
By TRUDI GILFILLIAN Staff Writer, (609) 463-6716
Press of Atlantic City
Published: Saturday, August 11, 2007

WILDWOOD — Never made it to a Hollywood premiere?
Well, not to worry. Organizers of the Wildwood by the Sea Film Fest hope to bring a little bit of Tinseltown to the shore.

“We're going to join Wildwood and Hollywood. We’ll call it Wollywood,” joked Paul Russo, co-director of the festival.

The festival, being presented by the Greater Wildwood Hotel Motel Association, is designed to combine music and movies for what organizers describe as “a world premiere event.”

Russo said a number of films will debut at the festival, which will run for from Sept. 27 to Sept. 30 at the Wildwoods Convention Center.

Russo said film director Shawn Swords asked why the island didn't host a film festival, and the festival grew from there.
Swords was one of three directors who helped announce the festival Friday inside the new Doo Wop Experience, the city's Ocean Avenue museum devoted to the culture of the 1950s and 1960s.

Near the podium was an artist's rendering of a red-carpet gala complete with limousine outside the entrance to the convention hall.

Russo said about 100 films will be shown during the festival, with cast and crew coming from as far away as Tokyo.

Bruce Smith, president of the hotel motel association, introduced three directors who will be premiering their latest ventures in Wildwood.

They included George Manney, director of “Pipes of Peace,” Carolyn Travis, director of “Airplay,” and Swords, director of “Philly Music Scene.”

Each of the films is related to the music industry and features some of the acts who also made a name for themselves in Wildwood during its musical heyday.

Travis said she couldn't think of a better place to debut her film, which focuses on the rebel DJs who made music available to audiences who might otherwise not have heard it.

Manney focused on the life of Rufus Harley, who was billed as the world's first jazz bagpiper, while Swords film takes a look back at the Philadelphia music scene between 1952 and 1963 with the aid of performers like Chubby Checker.

Swords promised a “couple of Hollywood people” would be among the crowd when the film debuts here in September.

While Friday's event was to introduce the festival, organizers also recognized doo-wop supporters and the musicians who made the era so memorable.

The owners of the Caribbean Motel, George Miller and Carolyn Emigh, received an award marking the motel's 50th anniversary.

“They made an investment in what we believe in,” said Dan MacElrevey, president of the Doo Wop Preservation League.

Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, was also on hand to present several proclamations to the motel owners and musicians Dee Dee Sharp and members of The Orlons and The Dovells.

Van Drew credited the island with finding ways to create economic opportunity and move the community forward while appreciating its history.

“Celebrate the past and look to a better and brighter vision of the future,” Van Drew said.


To e-mail Trudi Gilfillian at The Press:TGilfillian@pressofac.com