The leap year 2012 will be remembered throughout Cape May County for the major events that took place throughout its 366 days.
Foremost in the minds of many is the still-fresh memory of Hurricane Sandy, which came late in October with unrelenting flooding and sand. The storm caused loss of homes along the waterfronts, both ocean and bay. Water damage to dwellings and vehicles will take months, if not longer, to fully rectify.
Gov. Chris Christie made a pre-storm visit to North Wildwood Oct. 27 to urge evacuation of all from barrier islands. Many heeded his warning, although some elected to remain in the homes to ride out the storm. Shelters took in many evacuees until flooding subsided and their safety was not in jeopardy to return home.
Damage to Cape May County roads and bridges was estimated by County Engineer Dale Foster at nearly $15 million while the county’s total damage amount may be $250 million to $300 million. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) established disaster recovery centers in the County Library main branch in Court House and in Ocean City at the Community Center.
Eleven Fatal Accidents in Cape May County
New Jersey State Police statistics recorded 11 fatalities in 10 accidents from Feb. 1 to Nov. 7 in this county. Of those fatalities, seven occurred in Middle Township, with three of those occurring on Route 47. Two took place in Lower Township, one in Wildwood Crest and one in Upper Township.
Freeholder Board’s New Leaders
On the local political scene, new leadership took over control of the Board of Chosen Freeholders. Director Gerald Thornton and Vice Director replaced long-serving Director Daniel Beyel and Vice Director Ralph Sheets.
In relatively short order, other top county employees retired or resigned, among them County Administrator Stephen O’Connor, who took a leadership post with South Jersey Economic Development District. Chief Financial Officer Edmund Grant retired, but was subsequently recalled by Thornton to assume duties of “Director of Operations,” a job that O’Connor had done, but without that title.
Assuming other of O’Connor’s tasks as Clerk of the Board was Elizabeth Bozzelli, who had overseen the Department of Aging and Disabilities Services.
Joining the three other Republican freeholders on the dais in January were Kristine Gabor and Will Morey.
Some may believe the day of the library is done; there is still widespread use of Cape May County’s branch libraries.
Library Branches Reaching Islands
Two major events transpired in the County Library system during the year. Stone Harbor’s much-debated placement on a borough-owned parcel on Second Avenue was finalized, and then abandoned with the advent of the Bank of America building being put on the market. That property, next door to Borough Hall on Second Avenue, was to be sold to the county for $750,000. The old building will be demolished to make way for the branch library.
Similarly, in Wildwood Crest, the County Library opted to secure the former Hereford Masonic lodge building on Atlantic Avenue as the site for the Five Mile Beach branch. Late in the year, change orders were mandated, since it was learned the floor of the old structure could not support the weight of bookshelves, nor could the roof support a second floor. That second floor was deemed an advantage so that patrons could see the ocean from the site. The price tag went to $3 million for the renovation work, more than originally estimated.
Parkway Intersections Headed for Exit
On the transportation front, the biggest project to impact the masses will be elimination of three traffic signals and grade crossings on the Garden State Parkway in Middle Township. Contracts for the $125-million project that will take approximately three years to complete were recently issued. Construction is supposed to begin sometime in 2013.
Erik Meyer of Mayville, whose son Christopher was killed in a two-car crash Nov. 4, 2004, and who made it his personal crusade to have the intersections eliminated, told the Herald he was elated when he heard the news that the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, which operates the Garden State Parkway, announced the contracts. Meyer had been featured in this paper when he erected crosses at the Stone Harbor Boulevard-Parkway intersection in memory of those who died in intersection accidents. He was unrelenting in holding vigils at the intersection, and said he never lost faith that the project would become reality. Meyer hopes no further deaths take place at those three intersections at Exits 9, 10 and 11.
Just in time for the 2012 tourism season, in May, the Route 52 causeway project was deemed complete. That highway links Cape May and Atlantic counties from Ocean City to Somers Point. The project took six years to complete and some $400 million. The project replaced bridges as well as roadway, and included elimination of the Somers Point Circle. The highway is considered a major evacuation route from Ocean City.
Generation Station Goes for Gas
While Hurricane Sandy was the reason many individuals bought generators for their homes in the event electricity is out for storms or other reasons, power generation on a larger scale will revert to natural gas at the B.L. England Generating Station in Beesley’s Point.
In June, the B.L. England power plant in Beesley’s Point agreed to significantly reduce air pollutants by shutting down one of its coal-fired units and converting two others to natural gas, steps that will significantly improve air quality. The conversion will nearly eliminate emissions of smog-causing nitrogen oxides as well as sulfur dioxide, which causes acid rain and haze.
The two coal-fired units at the B.L. England plant are the last coal-fired units in the state without state-of-the art pollution control equipment.
Reward Increased in Himebaugh Case
In January, an anonymous client of a local attorney offered $10,000 for information that led to the discovery of Mark Himebaugh, missing from his Del Haven home since Nov. 21, 1991. The person also offered $25,000 for the missing man’s safe return. While The Friends of Mark Himebaugh has been active, and offered a reward since the mid-1990s by boxer Riddick Bowe, the new reward was offered in the hope it would lead to the case’s conclusion.
Guard Members Returned Safely
The New Year started on a happy note as 17 members of the 253rd Transportation Co., New Jersey Army National Guard, returned from a deployment in Afghanistan. A contingent of well-wishers gathered to greet the troops at the Crest Haven Armory.
Free Meal Center Bid Fails
Although hundreds of volunteers pitched in during their spare time to renovate a former restaurant on Route 9 into the Free Meal Center since officers took possession in March 2010, there was not enough funding to raise $50,000 by March 31 to prevent an April 1 eviction. A $325,000 sum would have been paid by an anonymous benefactor, had the funds been raised in time, according to Douglass Jewell, a local Realtor who donated his $10,000 commission to making the center a reality for those in need. Even with that, $40,000 could not be raised in time. The building stands vacant.
BYOB Vote DOA
Ocean City’s governing body in March voted to allow its citizens to decide in the May 8 election the fate of carrying alcoholic beverages into city restaurants. When votes were tallied, there was a clear “no” decision made by voters, who cast 3,378 votes against the proposal while 1,533 voted in favor. The campaign was spirited on both sides of the matter.
Downward Population Trend
In late March, Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton declared what many long thought: County population is decreasing. Speaking before the county Chamber of Commerce, Thornton cited a population from to about 98,000 from 104,000 in the past. That trend equaled 2,100 fewer students in county classrooms. “That tells us young families are moving out,” Thornton stated.
World Trade Artifacts Revered
Stone Harbor formally welcomed a piece of the World Trade Center in a May 30 ceremony. A contract was approved for a memorial located at the southern end of Second Avenue and 123rd Street municipal parking lot overlooking The Point.
Avalon dedicated its Sept. 11 memorial, which centers on a piece of the World Trade Center which stands 9 feet, 11 inches.
Mobile Animal Shelter
An Avalon survey revealed to municipal leaders that many residents were reluctant to evacuate in a storm if it meant leaving pets behind. So, in mid-June, Mayor Martin Pagliughi, who would later be appointed to replace Frank McCall as county emergency management director July 1, unveiled the borough’s air conditioned, 70-cage, borough crafted mobile animal shelter in a trailer.
Women Lead Youth
In July, in time for the county 4-H Fair, Julie Karavan was named 4-H agent. She took the place of Betty Jean Webersinn, who retired, and who had a lane named for her at the 4-H Fairgrounds.
Dr. Nancy Hudanich, an Avalon council woman, who had been council president, was named sixth superintendent of the Cape May County Technical School District. She served in the district as assistant superintendent since 2006, and replaced Robert Matthies, who retired.
Guard Armory Dedicated to Barkalow
In a Sept. 6 ceremony, the N.J. Army National Guard Armory at Crest Haven was dedicated to the memory of 19-year commander Lt. Col. James F. Barkalow. A Wildwood Crest resident, Barkalow was a N.J. Bell Telephone supervisor for 32 years. During World War II, he flew 180 combat flight hours while stationed in France and England.
Firefighters Mark Century of Service
Members of Stone Harbor Volunteer Fire Co. No. 1 held a gala celebration Oct. 13 to mark 100 years of service to the resort community. Among the highlights of the festival was a parade through the borough and the housing of a fire truck and ambulance.
Sandy Struck Dead NJEA Convention
For the first time in its 158-year history, the New Jersey Education Association’s convention in Atlantic City was canceled due to aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The event would have been held Nov. 8-9. Classes were held instead.
Seek to Trim School Funding Formula
Cape May renewed its effort to change the regional school funding formula in 2012. In December, City Council requested Lower Cape May Regional Board of Education approve a voter referendum to allow a change in the school funding formula for Cape May.
Lower Cape May Regional School Board delayed discussion on the request until its meeting in late January.
In 2003, the school board did not vote on a resolution from Cape May to change the funding formula when the board member representing Cape May did not move the resolution.
Nero, Pops Open Convention Hall
Billed as a gala fundraiser, Peter Nero and the Philly Pops Orchestra opened Cape May’s new $10.5 million Convention Hall, May 26. The new facility hosted a number of concerts produced by Stockton College focusing on classic rock acts such as The Association and Dave Mason during the summer.
The city received a surprise when the flood insurance bill for Convention Hall totaled $81,600 per year. Cape May had just $2.5 million of flood insurance coverage on Convention Hall during Hurricane Sandy.
Fared Fairly Well Through Storm
Cape May fared well during the storm avoiding any damage to structures. Wilmington Avenue at Poverty Beach and the Cove Beach suffered breaches which allowed ocean water into the street. Tidal water followed beach paths between dunes onto Beach Avenue near Lifeguard Headquarters at Broadway leaving a lot of sand in the street.
Meter Matter
Two of Cape May’s master water meters that were at the center of investigation of missing water from West Cape May were replaced in June.
Two years ago, West Cape May hired Eden Water Resource Recovery to discover the cause of 121 million gallons of water missing from 2003 to 2009 valued at $695,000. West Cape May purchases its water from Cape May. West Cape May Commission met in closed session throughout the year to discuss pursuing restitution from Cape May.
PBA, City Pen Pact
Cape May City Council approved a four-year contract in June with Policeman’s Benevolent Association Local 59 offering a lower starting wage for new hires and some concessions on overtime. The contract was retroactive to 2011 and runs through 2014. Percentage increases over the four years were 1.75 for the first two years and 2 percent for years three and four.
Jazz Icon Mourned
In April, Cape May jazz icon George Metershazy passed away at the age of 59. Mesterhazy earned a Grammy Award for his performance with Shirley Horn on her album “Loving You.” He was a fixture at the Merion Inn when not pursuing other projects.
Wood-Burning Furnace Ban Bounced
In February, Lower Township Council passed an ordinance outlawing outdoor wood-burning furnaces. It allowed existing furnaces to continue operating but banned installation of new units. In April, council rescinded the ordinance.
Finally, PBA Contract
Lower Township Council approved a four year contract with rank-and-file police officers April 16. The contract with PBA Local 59 received a unanimous vote of council. Police officers had been working without a contract since Dec. 31, 2011.
The contract offered no pay increase for police officers for the first six months of the contract. Officers receive a 2 percent increase for the second six months of this year.
Police officers received a 2 percent annual salary increase for the next three years of the contract.
Independents Oust GOP
In April, Lower Township Mayor Michael Beck announced he would seek reelection running with Norris Clark and James Neville as “Independents for Lower.” The team won in the November general election displacing Kevin Lare and Walter Craig on council.
The change shifts the balance of power to Beck, Clark, Neville and Glenn Douglass leaving Councilman Thomas Conrad as the lone member on council from the Lower Township Republican Organization.
Bay Fishing Pier Proposed
In July, Lower Township’s Fishing Pier Committee asked Lower Township Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA) Executive Director Matt Ecker to make a concept plan for a structure into Delaware Bay at Lincoln Avenue.
Ecker said he would produce the concept plan at no cost to the township. He estimated the pier should be about 350-feet in length to provide water at the end of the pier throughout the tide cycle.
The committee is acting in an advisory capacity for Township Council, which has the final decision on any construction of a fishing pier.
Paramedics Park Closer
In August, Lower Township received has an advanced life support paramedic unit known as Medic 5 at the Erma Volunteer Fire Company station. Medic 5 responds to 9-1-1 calls including heart attacks, stroke symptoms and motor vehicle crashes with a serious injury,
Creek’s Flow Restored
In June, officials from Lower Township and county agencies cut a ribbon dedicating the Cox Hall Creek Improvement Project which removed a derelict sewage pumping station and sent a pipe to Delaware Bay to allow cleansing salt water in the phragmites reed clogged creek.
Thirsting for an Answer
Lower Township MUA waited much of 2012 for a water allocation permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) that would allow homeowners in Town Bank to connect to municipal water.
Four representatives of DEP heard 90 minutes of testimony Dec. 19 in the county Freeholders meeting room for and against increasing Lower MUAs allotment of water to provide municipal water service to homes in Town Bank and part of Villas.
Homeowner’s wells have tested positive for a number of contaminants ranging from chemicals used in dry cleaning to gasoline additives. An answer from DEP is expected momentarily.
Outrage Over Teens’ Deaths
Middle Township mourned two teenaged cousins who were killed by an alleged drunk driver the evening of July 31.
Thirteen-year-old Ashley Dauber of Philadelphia and 15-year-old Nioami Faith Lazicki were struck as they walked along the shoulder of Bayshore Road.
Joshua Malgrem, 30, of Villas, was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide and two counts of aggravated manslaughter. Malgrem remains in Cape May County Correctional Center in lieu of bail.
Residents along the road where the two girls were killed appealed to freeholders to make improvements to the road to make it safer. Included were: double yellow lines to prevent vehicles from passing; reduction of speed to 45 mph; sidewalks; and placing officers along the road to issue tickets.
During their Sept. 11 meeting, freeholders unanimously passed resolutions calling for the speed limit on the two-lane road be lowered to 40 mph and modification of the no passing zone.
Officer Dies in Boating Accident
Middle Township Police lost one of their own with the death of Patrolman Jason Sill, 39, of Court House. His 23-foot Nautic Star boat, the Rock n Reel, was found abandoned approximately one mile off shore the afternoon of Aug. 28 by a Good Samaritan.
Sill left a local marina at approximately 9 a.m. that morning, telling bystanders he was going fishing on the back bay. An intensive search by State Police, U.S. Coast Guard, Middle Township police and multi-agency personnel from neighboring municipalities assisted with the search. Sill’s body was found Sept. 2, six miles off shore by a boat captain. A funeral for Sill was held Sept. 7.
Middle Accepts Affordable Housing
With only minutes to spare before the July 17 state mandated deadline requiring the township to pass a resolution offering an affordable housing contract to a developer or lose $1.6 million set aside in its housing trust fund, Township Committee unanimously passed a resolution during their July 16 meeting offering a contract to the New York-based Conifer Development for construction of more than 200 affordable housing units in three high-density developments.
Body of Slain Man Found
The body of Samuel Schmucker, 25, a Middle Township resident who was last seen the night of Jan. 5, 2011, was found over a year later in a heavily wooded area of Villas April 14. Paul Olexa, 24, of Villas, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Schmucker’s death.
According to testimony given by Olexa in New Jersey Superior Court, Schmucker was killed as the result of a hunting accident. In his testimony before Batten, Olexa said Schmucker was killed in the early morning hours of Jan. 6, 2011 when a 12-gauge shotgun Olexa was carrying went off, accidentally striking Schmucker
As part of a plea bargain agreement, Olexa was sentenced to five years in New Jersey state prison, with a mandatory completion of the sentence.
Mold Problem Dogged District
As part of a more-than-year-long siege of mold being found in Elementary Schools Nos. 1 and 2, the Middle Township Board of Education gave its approval of a contract that brought a year-round indoor air quality management program to each of the district’s four school buildings.
Mold was cleaned from Elementary School No. 1 during the 2011 winter break. School Superintendent Michael Kopakowski assured parents he had performed a post-cleaning walk through of the building and “Everything looks the way it was supposed to look.”
Mold continued to be found in Elementary No. 1 as well as Elementary No. 2. Parents told school board members how their children, healthy in the summer and during school vacations, were sickened when they returned to school.
Testing, clean up, and retesting of Elementary No. 1 cost taxpayers approximately $125,000. The same services in Elementary School No. 2 cost $72,000.
ALS Environmental, the Harrisburg, Pa.-based indoor air quality firm chosen to provide district wide monitoring at a cost of $12,250 per year, found additional mold in two Elementary School No. 1 classrooms in August. Included in those two classrooms was Room 6, which has been treated multiple times for mold infestations. Cleaning of the rooms was performed by Paul Davis Restoration.
Kopakowski said the most recent infestation was not the same magnitude of what was found during the winter.
An inspection of all four school buildings prior to the opening of school this year found them to be acceptable for occupancy.
30,000 Attend Free Beach Concert
The city held its breath June 20 when more than 30,000 people converged onto a portion of Wildwood’s wide beach to stand shoulder-to-shoulder from the edge of a stage built at the water’s edge clear back to the Boardwalk as Kenny Chesney sang and welcomed summer to this resort town.
Billed as “American Express Unstaged,” the concert featured Chesney in a 90-minute extravaganza showcasing the city and its beach.
The concert, which was planned under a shroud of secrecy, was free to those lucky enough to snare a ticket. First dibs on ticket were given to American Express cardholders.
The event, directed by Academy Award-winning director Jonathan Demme, was live streamed on Vevo.
Monster Trucks Spectacle Off, On
Call it the monsters that (almost) never came as motor and gearheads alike sat idling while Wildwood scrambled to bring the city’s annual autumnal monster truck extravaganza, Thunder on the Beach, to the city’s massive shoreline.
New Jersey Thunder Motorsports, the Sewell-based company that runs motor sport events on the city’s beaches informed event participants that “due to the differences between the corporation and the City of Wildwood and other circumstances,” the fall events were canceled.
It call came down to money, said city officials, noting over $33,000 for two years’ back rent was owed the city. The money sat in an escrow account. The city was also owed an additional $12,000 for another event sponsored by the company.
A last minute partnership between the city and GWTIDA (Greater Wildwoods Tourism Improvement and Development Authority) and GWHMA (Greater Wildwoods Hotel and Motel Association) was able to bring the annual event, which attracts thousands to the city, to fruition.
Ice Rink Got Cold Reception
Wildwood officials thought it would be their miracle on ice, but when they found themselves confronted with petitions demanding a referendum, the idea of a synthetic rink and entertainment complex to help revitalize Pacific Avenue was on thin ice. An ordinance initially passed Sept. 12 that would allow the city to pursue the purchase of land at 3700 Pacific Avenue by using money from the Cape May County Open Space program was rescinded by Commissioners during a November meeting.
Suicide
On Feb. 21, police responded to a call for a possibly suicidal subject. Upon their arrival, police discovered an unresponsive man inside a bedroom with a gun on his chest pointed to the door. Unable to determine of the man was alive, police evacuated homes as well as detouring vehicular and pedestrian traffic in a one-block radius around the subject’s home.
A mechanical robot with a camera entered the home, followed by police officers. It was determined the man had apparently died by suicide.
In related stories throughout the year, the Herald focused on the issue of suicide in Cape May County. According to the most recent statistics available, the county has the highest per capita suicide rate in the state.
The Cape May County Suicide Survivor’s Support Group, founded in 2012, was instrumental in putting information into the hands of police officers and emergency personnel who respond to suicide scenes. Through their fund-raising efforts with Hope Matters, the organization will place suicide survivor handbooks from the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention and a letter offering help and a list of resources for survivors in every local police car.
Police will also be briefed about suicide during a state mandated in-service day. Officers will participate in an hour-long presentation from state officials as well as a short presentation by members of the Hope Matters suicide survivor team.
