Palombo Discusses Future at Township Reorganization

PETERSBURG — Upper Township Committee held its reorganization meeting Jan. 2, during which the committee unanimously voted for incumbent Mayor Richard Palombo for another one-year term.
Committeeman Curtis Corson was reappointed as deputy mayor and Barbara Spiegel serves as the township’s new chief financial officer.
Corson said he is “expecting a trying budget year ahead” for the township and across the country. He encouraged public attendance at Township Committee meetings.
“It’s easy to sit back and complain but it is just as easy to get involved,” Corson said.
“We need your input and we will be making some difficult decisions,” Palombo said.
The mayor said he knows some people question the viability of the Beesley Point Bridge and he noted his experience serving in recovery efforts in New Orleans during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as a testimony to its necessity.
“From a public safety standpoint, from an emergency management stand point and from just public heath in general, it’s important that the bridge be reopened. Even with the plan of evacuating Cape May County using all four lanes of the Garden State Parkway heading north, we still need to have an access southbound. We need to have a way to move people back and forth, such as emergency personnel or moving people from the hospital. This is a great thing not only for Upper Township but all of Cape May County,” he said.
Concerning Strathmere, Palombo noted that the township had to declare a state of emergency last October and the state park was washed away.
“We placed a rock groin there that seems to be serving a real beneficial service there. We hope to the beach replenishment program take place sometime in the next few months,” he said.
Palombo said beach replenishment plans are in the works and expected for March. He said, “we have a few parcels to address from an easement standpoint but I feel we are very well prepared for the easement situation.”
Palombo, Township Engineer Paul Dietrich and Solicitor Daniel Young recently met with the Department of Environmental Protection to finalize plans with the state to put the project out to bid.
Palombo said the township worked on Gypsy Moth suppression in 2008.
Addressing the audience, he said, “Many of you remember a couple of years ago the decision was made not to spray, this year we had to double spray. I think this worked out well and we remain vigilant in that we are already putting together a 2009 program to make sure our area is eradicated of those nasty caterpillars.”
Palombo said the township will continue to use developers’ fees in regards to Amanda’s Field and there is “hope to expand some other projects at the site including installing lighting onto some of the sports fields.”
The mayor said the township is working with volunteers to create a dog park on the township-owned property at Tuckahoe/Mount Pleasant Road and noted the new ShopRite supermarket under construction nears completion and “is a great tax ratable and will help offset the tax burden” and he hopes there is more opportunity to lure more commercial developments in the near future.
“I am not at liberty to comment on the commercial developments proposed but needless to say, some of the areas in the South Shore Ford Complex are under agreement and negotiations are ongoing. We are hoping to develop more commercial ratables that will continue to offset our tax base,” he said.
Palombo said the township was one of the few municipalities that submitted its Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) plan in a timely fashion. However, he said it was necessary to offset an opportunity for a builders remedy lawsuit.
“We have a responsibility to develop some of this lower income moderate housing and we will do what we need to do to be compliant with the state regulations.”
Palombo thanked Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-1st), Upper Township Republican Leader Daniel Beyel of the Cape May County Board of Chosen Freeholders, County Clerk Rita Fulginiti, County Republican Leader David Von Savage and Hobart Sapp of the Board of Elections for their attendance and support.
Contact Truluck at (609) 886-8600 ext. 24 or at: ltruluck @cmcherald.com