The Westfield Leader Newspaper
The Times of Scotch Plains-Fanwood

Page 2 Thursday, July 9, 1998 The Westfield Leader and THE TIMES of Scotch Plains – Fanwood A WATCHUNG COMMUNICATIONS, INC. PUBLICATION

ANNIVERSARY MEETING…Union County representatives recently gathered for the fifth anniversary breakfast of the Union County Alliance held at L'Affaire in Mountainside. The theme of this year's meeting was "From Survival to Renaissance." Pictured, left to right, are: Union County Freeholder Chair- man Daniel P. Sullivan of Elizabeth and Freeholders Donald Goncalves of Elizabeth and Lewis Mingo, Jr. of Plainfield, Union County Alliance Chair- woman Dell Raundalunas, Freeholders Mary Ruotolo of Westfield, Linda d. Stender of Fanwood, and Chester Holmes of Rahway, and Union County Alliance President Henry Ross.

Taxpayers May Attend 'Problem Solving Days'

New Jersey residents with long- standing tax problems will be able to meet with Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees face-to-face at three upcoming Wednesday "Problem Solv- ing Days."

The programs are scheduled from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on the following dates and locations: July 15, at 200 Sheffield Street in Mountainside; August 12 at 5218 Atlantic Avenue in Mays Land- ing, and September 23 at 100 Dey Place in Edison.

Interested taxpayers may call (973) 645-3886 for an appointment.

Taxpayers who are unable to come on these dates may call the IRS toll-free line at (800) 829-1040, Monday through Saturday, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. to request their problem be referred to the Taxpayer Advocate.

Local Community Groups To Benefit From Grant Awarded to School District

The Westfield Public School Dis- trict has been awarded a $95,000 grant in New Jersey's Technology Literary Challenge Fund Round II.

According to Darlene Nowak, Di- rector of Technology for the district, "The Technology Literacy Challenge Grant will provide funds to advanc- ing the district's technology plan."

The state-issued grant will not only continue the infusion of technology into the instructional process, but it will also provide public access to technology resources.

In a cooperative venture linking public and non-public schools and agencies, computer accessibility will be improved throughout the commu- nity, school officials said.

An Internet connected computer and printer will be placed in the Westfield Community Center, the Westfield Neighborhood Council, Westfield Day Care Center, Redeemer Lutheran School, Christopher Acad- emy, and Holy Trinity Interparochial School.

In addition, the Westfield High School lobby computers will be avail- able for public use when the building is open for Westfield Adult School sessions.

The grant will also allow the school district to place more computers with Internet capability in the high school. An lnternet classroom will be devel- oped to support the humanities pilot curriculum begun this year.

Staff development, which has al- ways been a top priority in the district's technology plan, will be expanded as a result of the grant. Workshops will be designed to help teachers integrate Internet resources into their classroom.

At the elementary level, two teach- ers will be funded to participate in technology courses in math and sci- ence at Stevens Institute. These teach- ers will serve as turnkey instructors for the district.

In addition, Westfield Public Schools will establish a district web

site which will provide data and fa- cilitate interaction among the entire community, said district spokes- woman Lorre Korecky.

Internet e-mail access will be avail- able for all teachers to expedite com- munication with one another as well as develop a new means of communi- cation with parents and students.

The projects funded by the grant will be developed in the 1998-1999 school year.

TECHNOLOGY GRANT RECIPENTS...In a community effort to spread the use of computer technology throughout Westfield, the following representatives of local school and community organizations will benefit from a $95,000 state grant submitted by the Westfield Public Schools: Pictured, left to right, are: front row, Patricla Bryne, Assistant Principal, and Dororthy Szot, Principal, both of Holy Trinity Inter-Parochial School; Darlene Nowak, Director of Technology, Westfield Public Schools, and Linnea Rhodes, Executive Director, Westfield Day Care Center; back row, Ernestine Howell, Executive Director, Westfield Community Center; Roger Borchin, Principal, Redeemer Lutheran School; Cathy Maravetz, Director, Christopher Academy, and Ezella Johnson, Director, Westfield Neighborhood Council.

Bonnie Pisane is Named To Counseling Board

Mobile Meals Seeks Drivers and Packers

Mobile Meals of Westfield, which serves the nutritional needs of dis- abled residents of Westfield, Mountainside, Scotch Plains, Fanwood, Garwood, Cranford and Clark, is urgently seeking volunteer drivers and food packers.

Crews of volunteer food packers and driver/deliverers prepare and distribute wholesome, low-cost din- ners each morning, Monday through Friday, according to Mobile Meals President Nancy Otchy.

Recipients pay a nominal fee and may, for a slight extra charge, re- ceive an equally nutritious cold sup- per at the same time, Ms. Otchy revealed.

"It is a most rewarding experience for anyone who is able to spare a few hours one day or more a week, or even one morning or more a month," she said.

For more information, volunteers may call Kay of Mobile Meals at (908) 233-6146.

Freshman Orientation Slated for September 4

A Freshman Orientation will be held at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School on Friday, Septem- ber 4, from 9 a.m. to noon. Fresh- men are invited to meet in the cafeteria for a bagel breakfast at 9 a.m.

They will receive class sched- ules during the orientation and will be given time to locate homerooms and classrooms.

Upperclassmen will conduct tours and answer questions re- garding school procedures. Ex- tra-curricular representatives will be available to describe the vari- ety of activities available to all students.

The orientation is sponsored by the school's Student Govern- ment Association.

For more information, please call the high school office at (908) 889-8600.

A resident of Scotch Plains, Bonnie Pisane, recently joined the board of the Youth and Family Service Agency.

Ms. Pisane is a graduate of Newark State College and worked as a flight attendant for US Air. Later, she served as a representative to the local Flight Attendant Safety Board, designing programs to minimize customer dis- comfort while maximizing aircraft safety.

Presently, she directs children's educational programs and tours at the Osborn Cannonball House Mu- seum in Scotch Plains.

Ms. Pisane is a religious education teacher at St. Helen's Roman Catho- lic Church and organizes food and gift programs for the church. She has two sons.

Youth and Family Counseling Ser- vice, a non-profit agency, provides affordable counseling to residents of Berkeley Heights, Clark, Cranford, Garwood, Mountainside, Rahway, Scotch Plains and Westfield.

How can there be so much difference between a day off and an off day?

— Larson

Restoration of County Lakes Highlights Capital Budget Plan By PAUL J. PEYTON

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

The Union County Board of Cho- sen Freeholders introduced its an- nual capital bond ordinance on June 25, which appropriates $38.93 mil- lion. The ordinance will come for a second reading and adoption on Thursday, July 23.

Included in the cost is $606,000 to fund the beginning phase of the restoration of 11 lakes in the county; $23,810 of the project will be paid out of the county's capital improve- ment funds, with the remainder paid through bonds to be issued by the county.

The county has projected the six- year cost of the project at $2.6 mil- lion. A half million dollars has been projected for the years 1999 through and including the year 2003.

Diagnostic feasibility studies, in- cluding samples, were completed on the 11 lakes by F.W. Browne, Inc., a consulting firm retained by the county in 1996 to design a plan to restore the county lakes.

Included in the waterways project are watershed management prac- tices. To this avail, the county has received a $106,000 grant from the New Jersey Department of Envi- ronmental Protection, an amount appropriated in this year's county budget.

The county, through its Total Quality Management cross-func- tional approach launched in 1995, has formed a team of county staff charged with developing a strate- gic plan to provide for improve- ment of the county's waterways.

The first priority of the 10-mem- ber Waterways Team was to review and make improvements to the county's 30 or more lakes, ponds and lagoons.

The lakes to be improved are Briant Pond in Summit, Cedar Brook Lake in Plainfield and South Plainfield, the upper portion of Echo Lake in Echo Lake Park in Mountainside, Green Brook Lagoon in Plainfield, Milton Lake in Rahway, Nomahegan Lake in Cran- ford, Rahway River Lake and La- goon in Rahway, Meisel Pond in Springfield, Warinanco Park Lake in Roselle, and Seeley's Pond in Berkeley Heights and Scotch Plains.

Echo Lake will be the first project addressed under the restoration plan.

In a related project, the county has received a $1 million grant from the Department of Transpor- tation, with the county picking up the remaining $600,000 of the total cost, to begin the dredging of Lake Surprise in the Watchung Reserva- tion.

Also included in the capital ordi- nance is $300,000 to improve the

greens at the Ash Brook Golf Course. Improvements will be made to green numbers 10, 12, 13, 14 and 15, with another $200,000 set aside for architectural and engineering fees for green numbers 11, 16, 17 and 18, and the practice green.

The holes at Ash Brook which have already been renovated will be reopened on Saturday, July 11, while the back nine holes will be closed for reconstruction after the conclusion of the current golf season, according to a spokesman with the county's Division of Parks and Recreation. The entire course will be reopened next spring.

The work follows improvements made to another county course, Gal- loping Hill in Kenilworth. Cur- rently, 18 holes on the 27-hole course have been upgraded as part of the $4.6 million project. Holes eight through 17 on the regular course will reopen for play next year.

Another $150,000 has been ap- propriated this year for the archi- tectural and engineering phases of the expansion and improvement of the visitor's center at the Trailside Nature and Science Center in Mountainside and the Parks Com- mission Headquarters at Warinanco Park. The project includes projec- tions by the County for additional funding of $350,000 in 1999 and $500,000 in 2000.

The total cost also includes $400,000 for a running track at Warinanco Park, and $25,000 for the construction of a booth at the Warinanco skating center.

The bond ordinance also includes $4.4 million for improvements at Union County College campuses in Cranford and Plainfield, and an- other $775,000 was included for new computers and instructional equipment and machinery for edu- cational programs at Union County Vocational-Technical Schools in Scotch Plains.

The latter cost includes the in- stallation of a campus-wide fiber optics network.

Among other projects included in the bond ordinance are $3 mil- lion for the acquisition of property to construct a new juvenile deten- tion center; $3 million to design, construct and rehabilitate the club- house at the Oak Ridge Golf Course in Clark, and $200,000 for the study phase of a project to make improve- ments to intersections along Route No. 22.

Another $510,000 has been dedi- cated to a number of projects, in- cluding the replacement of jail cell door locks and the renovation of the booking and release unit at the county lockup.

Freeholder Linda d. Stender, Chairwoman of the Finance Com- mittee, noted that the ordinance is the "first step in investing in our infrastructure."

In other business, the board sup- ported a State Senate bill resolu- tion regarding the cost of state- sentenced juveniles at county jails. The resolution found that a pro- posal by the Juvenile Justice Com- mission setting reimbursement to counties at $58.50 per diem was "woefully insufficient to defray the cost of maintaining these juveniles."

The resolution was sponsored by State Senators Bernard F. Kenny of Hoboken and Gerald Cardinale of Cresskill.

The board also agreed to enter into an agreement with Summit to lease county-owned land on Glenside Avenue, currently used by the Sheriff's Department, for soc- cer fields for kids.

The 99-year lease at $1 a year, according to Union County Man- ager Michael J. Lapolla, follows the $100,000 grant the community received to upgrade the Glenside Avenue property.

The Sheriff's Office has used the open field for training its K-9 unit police dogs.

Freeholder Chairman Daniel P. Sullivan noted that the Summit Common Council expressed a "dire need" to expand its recreational facilities.

Freeholder Sullivan and other members of the 9-0 Democratic ma- jority took a few shots at the Union County Republican Committee Chairman's proposal for Freeholder districts, as opposed to the current at-large system.

He said the board's action shows that Freeholders, regardless of their party affiliation, are giving their "total cooperation" on requests from western county towns.

Frank X. McDermott, Chairman of the GOP committee, has pro- posed Freeholder districts under a plan referred to as Equal Represen- tation. The plan, now before the state legislature, would set up three districts covering the eastern, cen- tral and western quadrants in the county. The board, under the plan, would be reduced from nine to seven seats, with the seventh seat to be elected at-large.

On another matter, Freeholder Vice Chairman Nicholas P. Scutari, who chairs the Policy Committee, noted that the committee is cur- rently looking at the list of county advisory boards to see which are required by law or are essential to the county.

The more than 40 advisory groups and committees focus on aging, air traffic noise, alcoholism and drug abuse, education, environmental health, cultural and heritage pro- grams. There is a Morses Creek Flood Control Commission, Mos- quito Control Advisory Board, the Motion Picture and Television Ad- visory Board, the Shade Tree Advi- sory Board and the Parks and Rec- reation Advisory Board.