A WATCHUNG COMMUNICATIONS, INC. PUBLICATION The Westfield Leader and THE TIMES of Scotch Plains – Fanwood Thursday, August 12, 1999 Page 11
Page 2 Thursday, August 12, 1999 The Westfield Leader and THE TIMES of Scotch Plains – Fanwood A WATCHUNG COMMUNICATIONS, INC. PUBLICATION
CYAN YELLOW MAGENTA BLACK
Jersey Gardens Mall To Have Grand Opening
October 21 in Elizabeth By SONIA V. OWCHARIW
Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times
ELIZABETH — On a sunny day, there is a clear view of Manhattan’s legendary Twin Towers in the distance. And above, against blue skies, planes fly frequently from neighboring Newark International Airport, traveling over New Jersey highways such as the Turnpike and Routes 1 & 9.
The location is the home of the largest mega-mall in New Jersey, called Jersey Gardens Value Mega Mall. The mall will feature over 190 stores, 159 of which are listed on information released to the press by mall officials.
The mall, which sits on 1.3 million square feet of a former landfill, is set to open in late October. The project was spearheaded by Ohiobased developer Glimcher Realty Trust’s Vice President, Michael Glimcher.
The mall complex, which is located at 13A off of the New Jersey Turnpike, will offer the luxury for customers to browse at their favorite stores at discount rates while providing ample parking, security and accessibility by public transportation and major highways.
The building was designed by Manhattan-based architect David Rockwell, and inside it resembles a race track circular figure eight design.
The two-level mall will feature eight anchor stores including Mikasa, Off Fifth-Sax, Fifth Avenue Outlet, Jewelers on Fifth and Bed, Bath and Beyond. In addition, the likes of Annie Sez, Nine West, Old Navy and
Reebok have signed on as mall tenants.
“(At this moment), We have 79 percent tenants signed and 91 percent committed tenants,” according to Jersey Gardens Marketing Director Crystal Stell.
The grand opening and ribboncutting ceremony will be held on Thursday, October 21, at 10 a.m.
According to Ms. Stell, the Jersey Gardens will be an additional economic boost for the area with IKEA, a Swedish furniture maker, operating nearby as well.
Jersey Gardens offers at least 4,500 job opportunities, officials said.
In addition, the mall will provide employees with job training skills at their on-training site.
“We are targeting a 70-mile radius which includes parts of Connecticut and Pennsylvania, and we are excited about the job opportunities,” Ms. Stell commented.
The mall will offer a full-service theme restaurants including The Rainforest Café and Johnny Rockets, full-service theme restaurants, and a food court featuring a smorgasbord of international cuisine. There will also be an amenity for foreign currency exchange.
Academy Bus Lines, of Hoboken, which is being independently contracted, will transport New York City customers via the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey terminal six times a day and additionally, NJ Transit buses will make stops at Jersey Gardens. The mall hours will be Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and on Sundays from 11 am to 6 p.m.
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SCOTCH PLAINS, SUMMIT, EDISON,
METUCHEN Electricity Deregulation Begins; Towns Wait
To Learn More About Aggregation System By PAUL J. PEYTON
Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times
New Jersey electric customers will see a savings in their monthly bills starting this month under the state’s new deregulated electricity industry.
Combined with a reduction in energy taxes, New Jerseyans can expect to see a total savings on their energy bills of between 15 and 19 percent over the next three years. State residential ratepayers had been paying an average of $1,000 on their electricity bills, an amount which is 50 percent above the national average.
A spokesman for New Jersey Energy Choice, a program initiated by the state to inform and educate the public and media on electricity deregulation in the Garden State, said the average bill is expected to drop $284 as deregulation is phased in over the next three years.
Starting August 1, all electricity users were to see a 5 percent rate reduction as a direct result of the New Jersey Electric and Energy Competition Act, which was signed into law by Governor Christine Todd Whitman in February.
An additional 10 percent rate reduction will be phased in over the next 36 months. Half of that amount will come via the Energy Tax Reform Act to be phased in over the next four years. The overall savings will stay in effect through August 1, 2003, at which time competition is expected to be in place to keep prices down.
Assemblyman Richard H. Bagger (R-22nd), a prime sponsor of the deregulation legislation and co-sponsor of the energy tax cut bill, said that between five and six out-of-state utilities have already petitioned the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to compete for energy business.
Mr. Bagger said, however, he believes these firms will be looking in the beginning for the big commer
cial and industrial users. “So I’d be surprised if there is robust competition for the residential market (in the beginning),” he said, adding that it will take a few years for the full impact of the deregulated energy savings to kick in.
The deregulation legislation also will give consumers an opportunity to change their electricity suppliers, if they choose, as of Monday, October 25.
Officials have said, though, that any switch to a new supplier would not to go into effect until Sunday, November 14, at the earliest.
While consumers will choose the same or new electric generators, their existing distribution company, PSE&G in the local area, will remain the same.
The biggest savings in the new area of deregulation are expected to be gained through a system known as aggregation, whereby counties and towns and private organizations, such as the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) and chambers of commerce, can join forces to form a purchasing pool to generate even greater price savings.
Westfield Town Administrator Edward A. Gottko said the town is working with Union County officials as the lead agency for municipal aggregation.
“There is so much unknown with this thing,” he said.
Among those questions is the “opt-in” and “opt-out” options available for towns that start or join
a municipal aggregation system. According to information obtained on the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Web site, with the “opt-in” approach, towns or counties have to obtain written consent from residential or business customers expressing a desire to participate in the program.
With the “opt-out” system, a governing body sets up a residential aggregation program which must be approved by both the BPU and the Office of the Ratepayer Advocate. Also, the chosen electricity supplier must obtain signed contracts with residential customers.
“I don’t see anything happening until the fall on our end,” Mr. Gottko said.”
Fanwood Councilman William E. Populus, Jr., Chairman of the Borough Council’s Administration and Finance Committee, said the borough will first look to cut electric bills for Fanwood’s municipallyoperated buildings before investigating bulk electricity purchasing for residents.
Assemblyman Bagger said the “wait and see” approach by towns is not unusual, given the fact the BPU has yet to set the rules for aggregation.
“It’s hard to imagine savings of more than a third” on New Jersey energy bills once towns and counties begin setting up these purchasing consortiums,” Assemblyman Bagger explained. This amount includes the initial 15 percent rate cut.
Robert Travisano, working with the Union County Department of
Economic Development, said the county is putting together a consortium of towns to band together as part of an agreement with Natural Utilities Industry, better know as NUI Energy Solutions.
A similar agreement with 13 Union County towns was accomplished last year to produce natural gas cost savings. Mr. Travisano noted that the county itself has seen a reduction of between $75,000 and $80,000 in the first year of the contract.
NUI has guaranteed the county a savings of between $600,000 and $1.2 million over the length of the contract. He said savings through a consortium for electricity aggregation are expected to yield even greater savings to the county and the towns that sign on through resolutions of their governing bodies.
“This is a prime example of shared services that provide benefits to everyone,” he explained.
“The county (Board of Chosen Freeholders) saw a need (for energy savings) and they took a proactive stand,” he said, in noting the initial effort for natural gas savings.
The first test of energy competition in New Jersey began in 1997 with a pilot program in Monroe Township, Middlesex County. That program saved residents and business owners 13 percent on the energy portion of their bills, or 5 percent on their billing statements overall. Eighty percent of the community’s 12,500 households participated in the program.
CELESTIAL DRAMA…Scotch Plains residents Joe and Ellen Interdonato, pictured at far left, view a solar eclipse through exposed film from Furth, Germany in 1954. Mr. Interdonato met his wife, the former Ellen Wuester, in Germany during his tour of duty with the United States Army (169th Infantry Regiment). They were wed approximately six months later. Also pictured (current whereabouts unknown) are Professor Kneisly, Inga Haas and Master Sergeant Halverson. Mrs. Interdonato died in January of this year. Yesterday’s solar eclipse, the last to occur in this millennium, was witnessed by millions from the ground, on television and from planes.