The curtain is closing on 2011, and the New Year is just about to begin in the Borough of Haddonfield. But 2011 was a year of construction projects, tightening of budgets and a year of potential plans and ideas for the ever-talked-about Bancroft property.
The redevelopment plan was again on the forefront of the borough’s landscape, as the Haddonfield School District tossed its hat into the ring and formulated a near $30 million plan to construct a new athletic complex and library on the site.
Meanwhile, Tanner Street was under construction for almost the entire year, as well, but the embattled street finally saw construction come to a close in December.
Haddonfield sports teams had another successful year as well, with the varsity football team once again going back to the state championship and the varsity boys soccer team adding another state championship banner to the Haddonfield Memorial High School gym.
Here’s, therefore, is a look back at some significant events of 2011.
January
The commissioners kicked off the year by hiring a new development firm to work on a plan for the Bancroft property. At a special meeting, the commission agreed Clarke, Caton and Hintz would be the next planning firm to develop a redevelopment plan for the property.
Commissioner Jeff Kasko said Clarke, Caton and Hintz had the right amount of experience, background and the right references to handle the redevelopment project.
The previous planners used by the borough — Hayer and Gruel Associates — were let go after Commissioner Ed Borden cited the need for a clean slate at the property.
Hayer and Gruel Associates worked on the redevelopment plan throughout 2010, but borough residents met their idea for a CCRC at the site with resistance.
A longtime business in the borough received a new owner, as George Dieser became the new owner of Carl’s Sunoco on Haddon Avenue. Dieser was an employee at the station since 1988, having then asked former owner Carl Newkirk if he needed help with his new business.
He took over the gas station after the previous owner, James Jones, died in December.
Meanwhile, the school district announced a new dedication to bringing in additional tuition students to grades six and higher, to bolster a revenue stream not taken advantage of in years past.
The board of education held an open house on Jan. 19 at Haddonfield Memorial High School for interested families looking to send their children to the district. The district would continue to attract new tuition students throughout the year.
Camden County officials also introduced a large-scale shared-services program in January to establish countywide fire and police departments.
The opportunity would be given to all Camden County municipalities to join the shared-service program. Towns that enroll in the program would pay the county directly for police and fire services.
The theme would be debated and discussed by municipalities throughout the county for the rest of the year, and has yet to be implemented.
Closing out January, Joe McElroy was honored as the citizen of the year at the annual mayor’s breakfast, which is sponsored yearly by the Haddonfield Lions. Citing his service to the community, to his church and to his country, Mayor Tish Colombi welcomed McElroy to the podium with a plaque, as the crowd gave him a standing ovation.
“I realized it was me after Tish said the winner was in a family of 11. That was the hint,” McElroy said after the reception.
February
The BOE kicked off February with its annual preliminary budget meeting for 2011–2012. There were many unknowns on the state front, representatives said at the time, and the members of the board were left to struggle with a difficult budget.
BOE President Steve Weinstein said, “prospects remain very bleak” for this budgetary year. There are many unknowns right now coming from the state, Weinstein said, and it’s difficult to start preparing for a budget.
Later on in the month, Haddonfield Superintendent of Schools Dr. Richard Perry said the district would face a $702,650 shortfall between revenues and appropriations with a flat-tax levy.
Rounding out the month, BOE members Drew Hansen, Glenn Moramarco, Dennis Kelleher and Heather Paoli all registered to run for re-election in the April 27 elections. Hansen, Kelleher and Morramarco decided to run for their expiring three-year seats. Paoli had been serving in previous member Michael Joseph Mercanti-Anthony’s seat, and has chosen to run for the remaining one year on the seat.
No challengers would file to run against the incumbents.
March
A preliminary budget was discussed by the BOE in the beginning of March, as members debated a possible $31,998,780 2011–2012 budget, with a 1.8 percent increase in the local tax levy.
The budget would maintain all programs and offerings in the district. The scenario would see the district reduce education assistants at the elementary school levels by $29,000, and reduce administration positions by $17,500.
Also, in a bit of good news for state municipalities, Gov. Christie announced in his budget address to the state legislature that he would vow to not cut aid to municipalities for the next fiscal year as a way to help ease in the new 2 percent property-tax cap.
Meanwhile, Jimmy Cashman, a Haddonfield junior, began to have Division I NCAA football programs knocking on his door to recruit the 6’7, 270-pound junior offensive lineman. The University of Maryland, Boston College, the University of Central Florida, Vanderbilt, the University of Connecticut, N.C. State, Duke University, Tulane University, Rutgers University and several Ivy League programs actively recruited Cashman to play for their programs in 2012–2013.
Representatives from the First Church of Christ, Scientists, 355 Kings Highway East, appeared before the Haddonfield Historic Preservation Commission in late March to seek a certificate of appropriateness for a parking lot on its property. The church’s application was denied.
Ending March, the BOE unanimously passed a $30.02 million school budget at its public hearing.
It included a 1.73 percent increase to the local school-tax levy. The effective tax increase was about 2 percent, because Haddonfield’s ratables dropped by more than $7 million this year, Business Administrator Andy Hall said.
April
Representatives from Clarke, Caton and Hintz analyzed data collected from a number of stakeholders meetings that concluded in April with an open house at Haddonfield Memorial High School.
Visitors to the open house widely approved of open-space uses at the 19-acre campus.Because of the economic pinch and a tight budget, the borough announced it would no longer be funding its popular summer recreation program.
For decades, the summer recreation program offered bored Haddonfield children sporting clinics, arts and crafts opportunities and just a place to hang out and have fun during the hot summer months.
For years, the program also offered Haddonfield Memorial High School students an opportunity to make money with a summer job, typically employing more than 40 kids a year.
The Haddonfield Public Library dedicated a new section to young adults called “The Loft” in mid-April. It’s on the second floor of the building, in between the fiction book stacks, Library Director Briant reported.
The space is filled with new furniture, coffee tables and spots to look out the café windows on the floor.
Finally, Haddonfield voters again supported the school district’s budget this election season, passing it for the second consecutive. The borough reported the $30.02 million 2011–2012 school district budget was approved by a vote of 1,009 to 377.
May
The borough police department received a report of a dog attack at the home of Robert and Michelle Taffet, of Upland Way. Police Chief John Banning said a juvenile girl was allegedly bitten by one of the Taffet’s Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Duke, who had been involved with attacks on humans before.
The alleged attack occurred on April 19 at around 10 p.m., Banning said.
Banning reported on Friday, April 29, that Taffet had voluntarily euthanized the dog, Duke. An police officer was dispatched to confirm the euthanasia.
On a separate note, later in the month, Cindi and Dennis McVeigh, parents of Claire McVeigh, filed a lawsuit for unspecified damages against Taffet for Duke’s role in an attack on Claire in Alloway Township in November 2009. From information received by the victim’s father, and statements from the owner of the dog, it was revealed Duke was previously declared “potentially dangerous” in Pilesgrove Municipal Court.
Meanwhile, commissioners unanimously approved the borough’s 2011 $13.99 million budget, which included an $87 increase in the municipal portion of tax bill for the homeowner with a home assessed at an average of $491,359.
Borden said the borough’s portion of the tax bill totals $2,200 for a year, or $185 a month.
Banning had his contract extended from Aug. 1, 2011, through July 31, 2014. Currently, Banning makes about $113,000 as police chief. His contract called for a raise up to $118,000 on Aug. 1, and then another bump to $119,000 on Jan. 1, 2012.
June
The boys’ varsity tennis team captured a Group Two State Championship to end its season.
The Bulldogs defeated Bernards High School in the championship match, after defeating Pascack Hills High School in the semifinals.
It won both of its matches by 3–2 scores.
Wendy Kates, owner of Stardust Memories at 25 Tanner St., asked the commissioners and several members of the shade tree commission, to spare the life of a Japanese cherry blossom tree that was scheduled to be removed along the street. It was scheduled to be removed, with 12 others, along Tanner Street, Borough Administrator Sharon McCullough said. The cherry tree was eventually taken off the list later in the month and remains in front of Stardust Memories.
Phil Caton, a senior partner of Clarke, Caton and Hintz, presented three redevelopment options for the Bancroft property to the public. The options included public ownership of the property between the borough and the school district, age-targeted townhouses and age-restricted independent senior living units.
Meanwhile, Elmer Rothman, 89, was inducted as the newest member of the HMHS class of 2012. Rothman was surprised by the school district and awarded an honorary diploma at the annual senior citizens’ luncheon at Tavistock Country Club. Rothman’s last day of high school at Haddonfield ended on Father’s Day of 1940, when his father died. He was unable to return to school to complete his senior year because he had to run the family grocery store in Blackwood, and support his mother.
Around the same time, Camden County began its massive Potter and Ellis Street intersection project to finish off the month. The project saw a complete revamp of the entrance into Haddonfield. The project also included an upgrade to the park in between the intersection, significant lighting upgrades and several beautification measures that made the entrance into the borough much more pleasant, McCullough said.
The county funded $2.3 million for the project, while the borough paid about $700,000. About $500,000 of the $700,000 was for design costs.
July
Cashman, the most recruited Haddonfield Memorial High School football athlete in the past decade, verbally committed to Jesuit-run Boston College for the 2012–2013 football season, after being wooed and recruited by colleges throughout the nation.
Cashman cannot officially sign with Boston College until national signing day on Wednesday, Feb. 1.
It was a three horse race, Cashman said, with Boston College narrowly edging out Vanderbilt and Northwestern as his choice. All three schools tendered Cashman a full scholarship to play football in their program.
Meanwhile, Newsweek magazine put out a poll of the top 500 high schools in the country, and ranked HMHS 125th best.
Haddonfield was the highest-ranked school in Camden County, with Cherry Hill High School East coming in at the second-highest at 226th.
Newsweek ranked the schools using six components. Graduation rate was worth 25 percent of a school’s score, college matriculation rate was worth 25 percent, AP tests taken per graduate was worth 25 percent, average SAT/ACT scores were worth 10 percent, average AP/IB/AICE scores were worth 10 percent and AP courses offered were worth 5 percent.
Haddonfield received a total score of .651.
The best school in the country, the School of Science and Engineering Magnet in Dallas, had a total score of 2.874.
Longtime board of education member Marsha Marshall resigned from her post.
According to Perry, Marshall cited “personal reasons” for her resignation from. He also said the Haddonfield Middle School would have a new principal for 2011–2012.
Tatem Elementary School Principal Dr. Gino Priolo was tabbed as the successor to Dr. Noah Tennant at the middle school.
Also, commissioners approved a measure in late July to bring an initial 15 parking-meter kiosks, to be installed along Tanner Street, and a parking lot as a trial run for the borough.
Kasko said the commissioners agreed to spend more than $152,000 on the kiosks.
August
To kick off August, the board of education agreed to hire and welcome a new fifth-grade teacher at Central Elementary School for the 2011–2012 school year.
It was not a unanimous decision, however, as it squeaked by with a 4 to 3 decision.
Perry recommended the hire of the new teacher for the elementary school because of its current enrollment status.
The district currently puts a cap of 27 students per elementary school classroom.
The month ended in a rocking fashion, as an earthquake struck up and down the east coast on Tuesday, Aug. 23 at 1:51 p.m. It was measured at a 5.9 on the Richter Scale, according to the National Weather Service.
The service reported the epicenter at approximately 34 miles northwest of Richmond, Va. or 87 miles southwest of Washington, D.C. There was no damage in the borough stemming from the quake.
September
Two natural disasters in the span of two weeks?
September opened up with Hurricane Irene blowing through the borough and downing 16 trees. The Category 1 hurricane came and went, but didn’t cause as much damage as originally estimated.
McCullough said Haddonfield experienced some minor flooding issues along Coles Mill Road, but nothing incredibly damaging.Evan Pond breeched during the storm, she said, and there was some fear the dam would fail, but in the end, it didn’t and the waters receded.
Almost 2,500 miniature American flags donned the front entrance of Haddonfield Memorial High School on Sept. 11, as students and members of the public honored all those who lost their lives 10 years ago in the terrorist attacks. Local residents, American Legion members and municipal leaders came to HMHS on Friday, Sept. 9 to share their stories about the horrific day with students who were generally between 4 and 7 when it happened. Speakers included Fire Chief Joe Riggs, Perry, firefighters Butch Brees and Skip Bean, and police officers Mark Knoedler and Jose Ortiz.
Meanwhile, the Haddonfield Education Association entered the 2011–2012 school year without contracts for the second year in a row.
Because of the lack of contracts, district teachers decided to not participate in the district’s back to school programs, HEA President Sharon Stokes said, which led the district to cancel the event outright.
Negotiations continue between the HEA and the Haddonfield School District, as the HEA members have been working without contracts in the district for the past 16 months. Currently, the two groups are embroiled in a “fact finding” phase that is led by a professional state fact finder.
The commissioners announced its redevelopment counsel, Ed McManimon, put together a preliminary cost analysis of what it would possibly take for the borough to purchase the 19-acre Bancroft property and maintain it for open space purposes. A turf field and bordering parking lot, he estimated, would cost about $1.25 million. Park improvements on the east side of Hopkins would be about $1.7 million, he said, and road and sidewalk improvements along Hopkins Avenue would total about $275,000. Also, McManimon factored COAH obligation costs for 20 low-income housing units on and off site at about $2 million.
McManimon estimated the total capital cost of the proposed project would be about $19.5 million. Using the maximum amount of green acres, county, and open space funding, this total could be reduced to $14.275 million, he reported.
October
The BOE announced that Andrew Berlin would fill a seat that became vacant when longtime member Marshall resigned earlier this year. Berlin is an entrepreneur, who develops software and biomedical devices, and is the owner of the software development company Applied Voices, LLC.
As an inventor, he holds 67 patents and has worked in areas ranging from cancer research to DNA sequencing, according to the BOE.
Joe Falana, head coach of the boys’ varsity soccer team, became one of the most successful soccer coaches in New Jersey history and cemented his status as a coaching legend with his 600th career win as a head coach, all with Haddonfield Memorial High School.
Falana is the sixth soccer coach in state history to reach the 600 win plateau, and only the second in South Jersey, trailing Brian Gibney, of Shawnee High, who has 650-plus wins. The Bulldogs defeated Sterling High School in a tight, well-played 3–2 match.
To end the month, BOE President Steve Weinstein, Perry, and architect Bob Garrison, presented a plan that would see the installation of several athletic fields and a shared high school and borough library at the 20-acre Bancroft campus.
Among the features for the property would be the construction of three new athletic fields — one of them an artificial turf field — and a multi-purpose facility that could be connected to the high school and serve as a new borough library.
District figures show a $30 million bond over 20 years at 4 percent interest would impact the average homeowner’s tax bill by about $477 a year. If the district were to only borrow $15 million, it would impact the average homeowner at about $238 a year.
November
Lovers of open space in Haddonfield rejoiced, as voters overwhelmingly approved another open space tax referendum for the next five years in the month’s general election.
Haddonfield voters re-upped the tax, which currently sees a half-cent per $100 of assessed property value, placed into a special open-space trust fund, which can only be used for the purchase and maintenance of open space.
Meanwhile, Christmas came early for Haddonfield drivers, as Tanner Street finally opened to traffic.
Colombi said there were several visual improvements that needed to be completed along street, but that the majority of the project is completed.
Paramount Enterprises, Inc., is currently looking to subcontract the final phase of the project to a company to install several parking spaces on the library side of Tanner Street.
There are no plans to look at building a new library at another location or at the present location in the near future, Borden said.
At a workshop meeting, commissioners supported an “ADA Plus” plan that would make several improvements to the library to bring it up to code.
Namely, the library would have a new elevator and handicapped accessible bathrooms installed, and several minor renovations within the structure, to bring it all up to compliance.
The plan would cost about $1.8 million, according to library director Susan Briant.
December
As Haddonfield Varsity Football Head Coach Frank DeLano put it, the world didn’t come to an end after the Bulldogs’ upset loss against West Deptford High School at the South Jersey Division II football championship at Rowan University on Saturday, Dec. 3.
The sun rose the next day and his three-year-old boy still didn’t care about the loss, DeLano said with a laugh.
Haddonfield lost in the championship game in its bid to win two state championships in a row for the first time in school history. Haddonfield was looking to beat West Deptford for the second time in the season and finish the year with a perfect record at 12–0.
Despite losing several key senior players next year — Jimmy Cashman and Alex Klein only to name two — DeLano said the underclassmen will have to step up to continue the success of the program.
However, the Bulldogs had several juniors and even a few sophomores who contributed some major minutes to the team this past year.
The borough has opted to continue its shared-services municipal court agreement with Audubon for a second year. And while the borough will share a court with the neighboring municipality in 2012, it can opt out of the agreement at the end of next year — though none of the commissioners had any negative reviews of the first year of the shared-services agreement.
Haddonfield will pay Audubon $38,500 for court services, a $1,500 increase over last year’s fee.
Borden said it was a win-win for both towns. Haddonfield police officers haven’t had any difficulties going to the court as well, Borden said, and Banning agreed.
Janice W. Hunt presented a $70,000 check to the board of education recently, the culmination of the “HMHS Lights, Camera, Action!” campaign, a private fund-raising effort to update and replace the sound system, lighting and stage curtains at the high school.
It’s been a three-year effort, and the money presented at the meeting, along with some matching funds from the state, will immediately enable the replacement of the sound system and curtains. The balance for the lights will be forthcoming soon, according to the board. Ultimately, program organizers hope to raise $150,000 to additionally purchase stage curtains for the high-school auditorium.
The fund-raising program was approved by the board of education in 2008, having been created by several parents of students in the district. According to estimates, a new sound system would likely cost about $75,000, a new lighting system would likely cost about $36,000 and new drapes are estimated to cost around $30,000.
