The focus on Voorhees Township in 2013 revolved around not only moving forward with existing initiatives, but also making progress with new programs.
A new slogan and shopping rewards program helped to continue the township’s economic growth. The township looked to become healthier with a push toward becoming certified sustainable and a ban of smoking on township-owned properties.
The schools also made progress with new initiatives as Voorhees Public Schools implemented a new teacher evaluation system, and Eastern Regional High School volunteered to be a pilot school for the new PARCC assessment.
Before the township forges into 2014, let’s take a look back at the progress that was made in Voorhees in 2013.
Township continues push for economic growth
• A new year brought a new slogan to the township in January.
“Live Voorhees, Shop Voorhees” was the new tagline developed by the Voorhees Business Association, the Economic Development Committee and the Voorhees Retention and Expansion Task Force.
Optimism was abound about a resurgence of new businesses in the township entering 2013. Voorhees Director of Economic Development Mike Marchitto said 88 new businesses opened in Voorhees in 2012, creating 890 new jobs.
“We have a lot of small business in town, and they are the backbone of the business world,” Marchitto said.
One of the complaints Marchitto said was common in the township was the number of empty commercial properties.
“The companies that hold the leases on them have long-term leases,” he said, adding the companies hang on to the lease while they operate in another location.
Marchitto cited the vacant property issue as something the township would work on throughout the year.
• Meanwhile, township committee made some headway in February on a program to reward residents who shop in the township. A resolution was passed in support of a tax rewards program.
The program allows residents to get a rewards card and earn money toward their taxes when the card is used at a participating business. Residents who live in apartments will receive a check to go toward their rent instead of a tax credit.
“The rewards program will be linked to the tax bill at the end of the year based on how much the business wants to reward,” Marchitto said.
Businesses would have to pay a fee to participate in the program. The program’s goal was to keep residents in the township to shop and increase traffic at businesses in the township.
“It’s a great program. We are going to champion it. It’s a program to help people remember to shop local and shop Voorhees,” Deputy Mayor Harry Platt said.
After months of fine-tuning, the program was officially launched in mid-October. Voorhees residents were mailed cards to keep track of their tax credits. A full list of participating businesses is available on the township website.
Mayor Michael Mignogna said that Voorhees was the first municipality in South Jersey to implement a tax credit program.
• Voorhees’ efforts toward improving their commercial districts were recognized in the fall, as the Camden County Board of Chosen Freeholders decided to recognize the township for its economic improvement.
“Voorhees Township’s leadership has resulted in the transformation of a shopping center and the shopping center neighborhood that was in decay into a vibrant neighborhood,” Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli Jr. said.
Platt attributed much of the township’s growth to the planning and zoning board for making the township more business friendly.
“It’s part of a balanced community approach,” Platt said. “As we get to the end of developed land being used, it’s a good way to move.”
Sale of municipal building
Voorhees Township continued the process for selling the old municipal building, located at 620 Berlin Road, in 2013.
A resolution passed in June by township committee set a minimum bid price on the building at $2.5 million. The sale of the property included Kerper Lane, which increased the assessed value of the property by $250,000.
“Kerper Lane is a driveway, but we had heard from potential buyers that access from White Horse Road was a valuable asset to the property,” Township Administrator Larry Spellman said. “We identified three different options for the conversion of Kerper Lane into an approved street.”
The old municipal building has been used strictly as storage space since the township moved to Voorhees Town Center in September 2011. The sale of the old municipal property, combined with the local tax revenue, meant the project would pay for itself, according to township officials.
The township had not received any qualified bidders during the summer, leading to the committee passing a resolution on Nov. 12 to send out requests for proposals for a qualified property broker.
“What our professionals have told us is that we need somebody who has the ability to adequately market the property,” Spellman said.
Spellman added that other properties similar in appraised value to the old municipal building had sold in recent months, leading to the township taking action.
Spellman believed that getting a broker would help the township promote the property and allow it to be sold at its appraised value.Smoking banned on township owned properties
Voorhees township committee passed an ordinance in April that placed a ban on smoking on all township-owned properties.
Spellman said the ban extends to parks, playgrounds, recreational facilities, the municipal complex and the Department of Public Works. Smoking was previously banned on Voorhees Public School property as well.
The goal of the ordinance was to help protect the health and welfare of residents from secondhand smoke.
The ordinance listed fines of $100 to $150 for a first offense, $150 to $250 for a second offense, and $300 to $500 for three or more offenses.
“It’s something that other townships have done around us,” Platt said.
“The ban will promote the general health and well-being of our residents since studies have shown that breathing second- hand smoke is a significant health hazard,” Mignogna said.
The new ban lined up with Camden County’s “no smoking” policy. Camden County banned smoking in its parks in 2012, according to freeholder Jeffrey Nash.
“It’s a common sense good idea. Hopefully all of Camden County will be smoke free in all of the parks,” Nash said.
Sustainable Voorhees
A new mission was undertaken in Voorhees Township in 2013, as it looked to become a certified sustainable town.
A sub-committee called Sustainable Voorhees was created in January to work toward becoming certified with Sustainable Jersey. A certification would permit the township to be eligible for various grants with Sustainable Jersey and corporations affiliated with the group.
The sub-committee follows the creation of a “Green Team” in 2011 that has been a big part in getting Voorhees close to sustainable certification.
A big part of the sub-committee’s goal began with informing the community of simple ways they can help be green and promoting events such as the township’s farmer’s market at Voorhees Town Center.
“One thing we look forward to is the partnerships that can be created across the town, so we can all work together to improve our community from an environmental and social perspective,” said Debby Schwartz, a member of the Voorhees Environmental Commission.
Township committee also passed a number of resolutions to push the township closer to becoming certified. In March, a resolution that adopted a green grounds and maintenance policy, supported the New Jersey Wildlife plan and pledged support to Sustainable Jersey, was passed.
In September, the committee took a further step toward certification after approving a resolution to examine the township’s master place and consider adopting a natural resources inventory and open space and recreation plans.
All of these steps are not just for the certification, according Voorhees Environmental Commission chairman Ed Hale. The new programs and events are also to make the township a better and more efficient place to live.
“It’s nice that we are recognized by Sustainable Jersey, but what we are doing is for the betterment of the community and not so much that we have a plaque to hang in the window,” Hale said.
Municipal taxes decrease
Voorhees Township’s municipal budget for 2013 resulted in a decrease in taxes for residents, but not all of the committee was in agreement.
The budget was passed at the April 8 committee meeting with Committeeman Michael Friedman voting against it.
“Where we are not doing as good of a job in controlling cost is in the area of certain professional appointments,” Friedman said.
Municipal taxes decreased by $48 per year for the average assessed home.
A number of factors allowed the township to stay under the 2 percent tax levy cap, according to township CFO Dean Ciminera.
“It’s always a combination of grant revenues, miscellaneous revenues and controlling expenses that allow us to stay under the 2 percent levy cap,” he said.
The township anticipated a $1.2 million increase in revenues for 2013.
Voorhees school taxes drop; Eastern taxes rise
The Voorhees Township Public Schools’ Board of Education approved a budget that saw taxes decrease by $204 per year for the average assessed home.
The district’s budget increased to $51.94 million, according to Superintendent Raymond Brosel. The district also increased its tax levy by the maximum 2 percent. The budget was straightforward, will all existing programs and services being accounted for.
“We are not cutting anything,” he said.
A lot of the district’s resources for 2013–14 were put into implementation of the Common Core Standard curriculum and enhancing school security.
At Eastern Regional High School, taxes for Voorhees residents increased by $69 for the average assessed home.
Superintendent Harold Melleby confirmed the district’s general fund increased by 2 percent after having no increases for the past two years.
“This budget allows us to maintain our current instructional and athletic programs as well as student activities and staffing,” Melleby said.
Voorhees schools approve new teacher evaluation system
In accordance with other school districts in New Jersey, Voorhees Township Public Schools were presented with a new teacher evaluation system for the 2013–14 school year.
The new system, called “Framework for Teaching,” evaluates teachers on four different domains: planning and preparation, the classroom environment, professional responsibility and instruction.
According to Osage Elementary School Principal Robert Cranmer, teachers were previously evaluated on just the classroom environment and professional responsibilities.
The new scoring system gives grades that range from “unsatisfactory” to “basic” to “proficient” to “distinguished.”
“The rubric outlines specifically what behaviors to show,” Cranmer said.
The new evaluation system was chosen over other ones because it will allow teachers to evaluate their own performance and also factor in their own comments, according to Cranmer.
“They have more of an input,” he said.
Pilot testing implemented
at Eastern
While a new teacher evaluation system was being put into place at Voorhees Township Public Schools, Eastern Regional High School volunteered to be a pilot school for New Jersey’s new Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers test.
The new assessment, which is being implemented at all schools in the state for the 2014–15 school year, is being tested at select schools in 2013–14, with Eastern being one of them.
“We’re looking forward to being the pilot,” director of curriculum and instruction Patricia Denholm said. “The more we can learn, the better off we’ll be.”
Denholm’s hope is that participating in the pilot program will help Eastern officials evaluate how strong the school’s technological resources are for the test and also look at how the students score. The new test is an entirely computer-based assessment.
“They created this test that can be used better and more diagnostically,” Denholm said.
Denholm confirmed that two math classes would participate in the class.
The PARCC test is used in 19 other states and is aligned with Common Core State Standards. This will allow results for New Jersey’s students to be compared with other states who also use the test.
Voorhees declines to join
Camden County Police
Voorhees Township echoed the same statement as nearly every other municipality in Camden County as it declined to join the Camden County Police force.
Cappelli stated that the high crime rate in the city of Camden was “a regional problem that needs to be solved with a regional solution.”
However, Voorhees Police Chief Lou Bordi did not see a county force as meeting the needs of every municipality in the county, including Voorhees.
“What works in Camden might not work in [other towns]. Policing in the city is different than in the suburbs,” Bordi said. “Policing is just different.”
Municipalities such as Voorhees that did not want to consolidate their police forces were offered other county services to alleviate expenses in other areas that do not affect patrol officers.
Voorhees Township Committee also approved new, four-year contracts with the Voorhees Police Officers Association, Senior Officers Association and the township’s Sergeant Association in May.
The new contracts increased the size of the department’s pay scale to 16 steps, but decreased salaries at both the lower and upper levels.
The township also hired nine new officers in January.
First same-sex marriage
Voorhees Township had the privilege of being one of the first municipalities in New Jersey to grant a same sex marriage license upon its legalization on Oct. 21.
Kathie Goldhahn and Donna Dobie were the first same sex couple to be married in the township. They recited their vows before Mignogna at a ceremony performed at Voorhees Town Hall. The couple was wed after a mandatory 72-hour minimum waiting period.
“It was fated,” Dobie said.
The couple originally planned to have a civil union on Oct. 21, prior to a superior court judge ruling that the state must recognize same sex marriages on that same date.
The township called Dobie and Goldhahn down to the municipal building after the ruling to fill out additional paperwork for a marriage license.
“I’m marrying my best friend,” Dobie said prior to the ceremony.
The couple held a private get together with Dobie’s children at home following the ceremony.
