Dennis Township Committee Meeting Notes

DENNISVILLE—One nagging problem with speeding traffic on a road through Dennis Township may be slowly edging toward resolution.
At the Oct. 22 meeting, township committee discussed the possibility of placing crossing guards at the intersections of Fidler and Academy Roads with Route 610, which runs through Dennisville. The idea of part-time crossing guards had been broached most recently by Dennisville resident Bob Grace at the committee’s Oct. 8 meeting.
Another Dennisville resident, William Fuerst had approached the committee at the start of the school year about contacting the local school to slow down buses on Academy Road, noting that he knew of two accidents on Petersburg Road in the past year.
“We have 25-ton dump trucks shaking my 180-year-old house to pieces,” Fuerst lamented.
“I spoke with Tom Grossi (Dennis Schools Business Administrator) and he was receptive to the idea (of crossing guards),” Committeeman Al DiCicco reported. “There’s been some movement to get something done during school hours.”
Committeeman Brian Teefy agreed, noting that he and DiCicco are scheduled to meet Oct. 31 with school superintendent Mark Miller to further discuss the idea.
“He (Miller) is also talking to the bus drivers to see what they think,” Teefy added.
One significant issue, committee members agreed, appears to be with trash trucks using the county road (610) to get to and from the MUA landfill.
“They’re not really supposed to use 610,” Township Engineer Jack Gibson noted, adding that Tyler Road is the designated truck route.
In other committee business, Mayor Gene Glembocki reported that Belleplain Rescue Squad, asking for resident cooperation to help them provide quicker service, had contacted him.
The squad suggested that residents clearly number their mailboxes on both sides and add reflectors, making it easier for responders to see when answering a call.
The committee also passed a resolution, praising Justina and Dan Nece, owners of Dennisville’s Littlest Shop in the Village. The couple recently donated an automatic external defibrillator to the township. It has been placed near the Michael Fischer Memorial Hockey Rink.
Finally, on a sobering note, DiCicco reported that, since 2010, there have been 107 DUI arrests in Dennis Township. DiCicco compiled statistics with the help of New Jersey State Police records after he attended a meeting of the local Municipal Alliance at which youth drinking and related social problems related to alcohol abuse were discussed.
DiCicco was concerned with the high number of drinking and driving incidents related to the township’s population. “I wanted to find out how many of the DUIs involved township residents,” he explained.
The answer: 10.
A majority of the DUI arrests, sixty, occurred on Route 9 and 47. A total of 41 of the incidents involved motor vehicle crashes.