Improvements to community policing, closure on property concerns, possibility of increased liquor sales on tap in new year
Haddonfield Mayor Neal Rochford opted to take the long view during a Dec. 18 conversation when discussing what’s ahead for the borough in 2019 by recapping what happened in the year that just ended.
“When I look back at the year 2018, I look at it as a year of personnel change in Haddonfield. We had a range of retirements throughout various departments. We had our police chief retire, we had our construction officer retire, we had our chief executive officer retire, we had our chief purchasing official retire, and so that has given us a chance to revamp those departments,” he revealed. “It will give us a chance this coming year to re-evaluate some positions with respect to budgetary concerns. We consistently strive to, and pride ourselves on, giving our residents a high level of borough services and we try and do it with the least amount of fiscal cost possible. It’s a delicate balance, but we feel it’s something that we strive for year-to-year in our budgetary process.”
Cutler and Haddonfield Police working toward communication, greater community involvement and more
Another primary concern the powers that be strive for is a feeling of safety and security within the community. To that end, Rochford praised new police chief Jason Cutler, a member of the force for more than two decades who ascended to the role on Oct. 1 in place of the retired Ted Stuessy.
“He’s really hit the road running as far as our community policing efforts are concerned. He’s been sending our officers out to the schools to have lunch with the kids, and improved our external communications through social media.”
In the future, the police and citizens of the borough will welcome the department’s newest member, a bloodhound who will sit at the forefront of the department’s new K9 unit. One of the borough’s officers — though unknown as of yet — will take on the responsibility of housing to avoid kennel costs.
“This is something Chief Cutler and Lt. Camiscioli had been working on for quite some time, they made a presentation to the commissioners, and the three of us were in agreement that this would be a worthwhile asset to the community policing efforts,” Rochford said. “This is not a novelty; it is not a pet for the police department, but an asset to help us, when it comes to missing persons (a bloodhound) is considered to be the best tracking dog. Before, if we needed the use of such a dog, they were available to us, but they were an hour, hour-and-a-half away. This gives us the chance to provide assistance to other communities in the area if they have a need. So far, the community has been robust in liking this idea, and we’re in the middle of a naming process right now.”
Before the dog is able to hit the streets, the bloodhound must first pass a rigorous training process, approximately six-to-eight weeks, according to Rochford. He added the borough is actively seeking local sponsorships for vet costs and to feed the dog.
Cutler also presides over a bike patrol that was implemented in 2018. Though facing a slow-down during the coming winter months due to weather, Rochford anticipates a renewed two-wheel patrol effort once spring arrives. He added bike officers are expected to work in the business district and other areas of town that are conducive to enforcement on street level rather than in patrol vehicles.
Borough Administrator Sharon McCullough additionally revealed the borough is looking to expand its mobile capability while reducing its carbon footprint. In addition to previously-purchased electric golf carts used for parking enforcement, hybrid or full-blown electric cars moving forward.
“As the technology improves, it has made us take a second look. Sharon and I have talked about this, the possibility of putting in electric ports in a couple parking areas, not only for our purposes but also for community use,” Rochford noted. McCullough added this effort may be pushed back to 2020 because the borough is currently working on a grant for this purpose.
Borough Commissioners working toward historic property resolutions
The board of commissioners was hard at work during the previous year, attempting to resolve issues related to several historic properties within the borough’s limits. Rochford was hopeful the redevelopment plans for preserving 65 Haddon Ave., which the trio has been working on for a few years, would come to fruition in 2019.
“Eventually it is our hope to sell that historic building to some type of a professional, somebody who will continue to use it, but keep the structure and keep the historical value of the property. We have a back lot which we hope will continue to be a garden and a park for local residents to use,” said Rochford.
Regarding the Bancroft Hall issue, Rochford was a bit more expansive, saying, “We want to continue with the Bancroft Hall redevelopment process. We spent most of 2018 working with our engineers and planners and developers with our planning board, and other stakeholders to come up with a plan that is of the best benefit to the residents of Haddonfield. Our core values that we presented when we bought the property, and that was we’d like to have some development, but that we would have open space and protect historical structures on the site. In 2019, we want to finish that so that we can start the development of the property. We didn’t want this burden to fall back on the residents of the borough.”
On the progress of the memorandum of understanding reached in October between the borough and the board of education regarding the parcel of land abutting Haddonfield Memorial High School, McCullough said, “We are going through our processes. We’re dealing with ‘Green Acres,’ and they’re dealing with the state Board of Education. I would anticipate that we’ll come to some conclusion, hopefully within the first quarter of 2019. We’re both dealing with state agencies and it’s also a matter of working through that so we can have it all done.”
Rochford added he hoped the school board will take control of the open-space portion, and the borough would take over Radnor Field. He believed that open space would be increased under that proposal, and Radnor Field will be protected in perpetuity. In theory, without the memorandum of understanding, the school board could sell that property for development if it chose to do so, and could do it without a referendum.
Taking Haddonfield’s temperature on liquor sales
Rochford went on to disclose the commissioners have had some preliminary discussions about introducing a referendum on whether to put forth a measure to legalize full-fledged liquor licenses in Haddonfield.
“It doesn’t hurt from time to time to gauge the residents of Haddonfield to see how they feel on the topic. We may introduce it and it will likely be in November, we wouldn’t have any additional costs for the referendum and the infrastructure it takes to hold a separate election,” he noted.
Haddonfield’s history of being a “dry” town dates back to the Quakers who founded the borough in 1682. The original measure put forth in 1873 was voted on by residents, who selected a “local option,” where they could choose to approve or ban the sale of liquor.
According to Rochford, borough commissioners would take no side on the referendum itself, should it be presented for public vote.
“We feel that 2018 was a very successful year for the commissioners, and we have no doubt that 2019 will be as well. The three of us work very closely together, have mutual respect for one another and we all bring strengths to the commission which, I think, benefit Haddonfield. We have a very smart and capable administrator who keeps us on task. It’s a pleasure and a joy to work for the citizens of Haddonfield.”
