Woodbine Garden Grows Helped by Many Hands

WOODBINE – Woodbine Borough Council met Sept. 3. Mayor William Pikolycky announced that the Borough’s “Sustainable Jersey Green Team” will create a community garden at the Woodbine Community Center on Longfellow Avenue. The borough’s Green Team will partner with the Cape May County “RSVP” organization (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program).
“This is a real community effort and everyone is pitching in to make it happen and be successful, “said Pikolycky.
“Woodbine senior citizens who use the Center are caring for the plantings as they continue to grow through the summer and into the fall. We really appreciate that The Home Depot donated lumber and soil and other materials that we used to construct the garden and also built the raised beds for the garden.”
Pikolycky continued with his description of the numerous individuals and groups supporting the community garden by noting, “Benches made of sustainable materials were donated through the Green Team after having been repurposed from another site. A table to complement these benches was donated by Woodbine’s St. Casimir’s thrift shop.”
The garden is home to tomatoes, bell peppers, and a variety of herbs.
Pikolycky cited the work of Woodbine resident Liz Heaton, who is an “Experience Works” (provides workforce training and development) trainee for donating plants including peppers and herbs of the kind that are grown in Puerto Rico so that “there is something familiar for all ethnicities of the borough.”
Heaton’s husband, Curt, also of Woodbine, helped the garden campaign by anchoring the benches to support to enhance their safety and use.
Feasibility Study Award
Pikolycky announced that the borough has obtained $180,000 funding to study the potential for improving borough sewage treatment. Funding is from a variety of sources including the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Association, the N.J. Pinelands Commission and the Woodbine Municipal Utilities Authority.
“We’ll use the funding to see if it is feasible to connect a proposed force main to the county MUA’s sewer mains which are about nine miles away. We’re focused on impacting only Woodbine and to not have any impact on our neighbor municipalities,” explained Pikolycky.
“We expect that this grant will help Woodbine residents have a healthier and safer quality of life since, if this connection is feasible, it will eliminate the need for septic systems and cesspools and as a result improve the environment and health issues connected with this type of sewage system.”
Pikolycky expects that findings and recommendations from the feasibility study will be ready by the year’s end.
Re-bids For Heilprin Avenue
Pikolycky announced that as a result of a grant from the state Department of Transportation the borough can go out to bid on the Heilprin Avenue reconstruction project.
The $230,000 NJDOT grant comes from its Local Aid Infrastructure Fund.
Since previous bids were all over budget the borough is re-bidding the project with minor modifications.
Per Pikolycky, Heilprin Avenue needs drainage improvements especially at the intersection of Clay and Heilprin avenues and is a primary access roadway.
Bids will be open for this project Sept. 10 at 10 a.m.
To contact Camille Sailer, email csailer@cmcherald.com.