Upper Taps Corson to Fill Committee Seat

PETERSBURG – Upper Township Committee met Nov. 21 and had the responsibility of choosing a candidate to fill the vacancy on the governing body left by Jeffrey Pierson. He was selected as a freeholder after Kristine Gabor resigned.
Committee listened to presentations by nominees who had submitted paperwork to the township administration.
“Per the rules we needed three candidates to step forward and we received three expressions of interest,” explained Mayor Richard Palombo.
Those nominees were, in alphabetical order, Bill Bailey, Curtis Corson and Roy Zaner. Each self-nominated candidate was offered the opportunity to present information about himself and why he was best qualified to fill the vacancy.
Bailey
“I was born and raised my whole life in the township and my family has been in Upper for 10 generations. I went to school here, have participated in the fire department and the planning board and have a custom-building business so am familiar with all aspects of finance and contracts,” said Bailey.
Corson
“I’ve lived my whole life here and have run three businesses and served 18 years on township committee supporting a lot of the projects that residents are now enjoying, such as the Gandy Farm and the Train Museum,” said Corson.
Zaner
“I’m new blood to the scene which I think is a great asset and throughout my years of service I’ve been asked to have unique responsibilities because I am a good people person such as on the Cape May Bar Association Mediation Board,” said Zaner.
At the conclusion of the presentations, Palombo stressed that all were “highly qualified and while we can only select one of you for this vacancy, please continue to serve, attend meetings, ask questions and help our community.” He also noted that the county Republican Committee had ranked each candidate and Corson received the most points.
Committee then decided to acknowledge the ranking of the county representatives and selected Corson by approving unanimously a resolution to appoint him to fill Pierson’s vacancy.
Appoint Court Administrator
Committee passed a resolution re-appointing Janet McCrosson as Municipal Court Administrator, on an interim basis, for a term of one year effective Dec. 1, 2016.
Another resolution that committee passed indicated support for a “No Passing Zone” along New Jersey State Highway Route 50 between mileposts 1.9 and 2.8 per two residents’ request.
Paul Dietrich, township engineer, updated committee on the successful appeal by New York to FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) to re-evaluate flood plain mapping. “They are re-doing these maps from Cape May to Long Island which will take three to four years. Lower Township is appealing because they have no significant ocean dunes and we need all 16 municipalities in the county to agree if we are going to respond to FEMA with our own position by the February deadline,” explained Dietrich. 
Palombo asked committee to approve a move from Dec. 12 to Dec. 19 for the second meeting of that month saying that there were a number of issues including salary matters that could benefit from the extra week of deliberation.
Committee unanimously passed the request.
New Ordinances
Committee considered several ordinances on introduction and first reading. This included one known as the “salary ordinance” and was introduced to cover calendar year 2016 while another was introduced to establish salaries for calendar year 2017.
To contact Camille Sailer, email csailer@cmcherald.com.