ID WINTER FORECAST FLYING HIGH HOLIDAY CONCERT The Scotch Pla'ms-Fanwood High Two local Boy Scouts, Ryan The Westfield High School School girls basketball team has Sharkmy and Almx Yorkovich, Concert Choir and the Musical 3m s recently advanced to the rank of r- high hopes for the 2O0&O7 sea- Club of Westfield will perform at O son. For more on the team, and Eagle. To read all about their a concert next Wednesday at' for previews of other winter accomplishments, turn to Pages First Baptist Church. For details, squads at SPFHS and Westfield B-iandB-2. turn to Community Life, Page B-1. High, see Sports, Page C-J. 93 * LiJ £3 Lu 50 cents + U.U1U. * id O to * LU ID UJ * 3 ID ZS VtBB Vol. 21, No. 49 Serving Westfield, Scotch Plains and Fanwood December 8,2006 School In Scotch Plains, boards fire stations are in receive Strike up urgent need of repair the band, y TMIWISA STULTZ built in 1948 as a audit f TE RECORD-PRESS Department of Public Works garage and renovated for use Santa's SCOTCH PLAINS — The as the fire headquarters in reports two local fire stations are 1969; many of the original sorely in need of repairs that facilities remain in use. Ellis could cost nearly half a mil- explained that the doors at STULTZ here! lion dollars, the department's the front of the building are top officials told members of "just high enough to clear fire THE RECORD-PRESS the Township Council apparatus" and that another The business offices of Tuesday night. two feet of clearance is need- local school districts received In their presentation, Fire ed. their own report cards over Chief Jonathan Ellis, Capt. The building's roof, said the past week, as the Brian Mecca and Battalion Captain Mecca, is "15 years Westfield and Scotch Plains- Chief Michael Cuccurullo _past its use- Fanwood school boards each said the ful life." received audit reports for the upgrades to "Thank God we have Mecca said the fire head- 2005-2006 school year. people in the department that leaks In Westfield, auditor quarters on into the Robert Morrison told the Senger Place who know how to fix building have Board of Education that the and Fire things. You can only apply caused dam- district's financial records Station Two age to the are in nearly pristine shape. at Martine Band-Aids for so bng." interior and "An unqualified opinion is Avenue and — Michael Cuccurulto the shingles the best report we can issue Raritan Road are disinte- to one of our clients, and this could cost an battalion chief grating. "It is an unqualified opinion," estimated rains inside," Morrison told board mem- $415,000. Those estimates Cuccurullo added. bers in his review of the dis- are not based on a review by Additional problems in the trict's record-keeping. a design professional, which interior include a poor light- Morrison said his team of will be necessary, they said. ing system, which, auditors hod found one flaw A Capital Facilities Cuccurullo explained, "sucks in Westfield's records: Improvement report that was up a lot of power and gener- $18,000 worth of grant originally drafted in January ates a lot of heat." He also money for non-public schools lists a number of items, par- emphasized the need for new was not expended and was ticularly at the headquarters ceilings throughout the not returned to the state facility, that deal with the entire building. The concrete when it should have been. structural integrity of the floors also need to be replaced Like other public school building. with Epoxy Apparatus floor- districts in New Jersey, Chief Ellis told officials ing that is easier to clean and Westfield accepts grant that in his 30 years of work- skid-resistant, he said. funds for private schools ing for the department, he Among the most urgent within the district's borders has not seen any major needs at Station One is a nat- on a "pass-through" basis. upgrades at the facilities. ural gas generator with an That money cannot be spent The Senger Place building, by the public school district, known as Station One, was (Continued from page A-2) and if it is not spent by the designated private school it must be returned to the state. Board approves pair of In this case, the money hadn't been returned at the subdivision applications point the audit was conduct- ed, though it has been since. New homes will be required by the zoning code. Morrison said the recommen- Lanzafama said research dation amounted to a "house- built on Fourth Ave. had revealed that though keeping" item, and he said the and Mohawk Trail only one house now sits on last school year was a "suc- the site, the property had cessful" one for the office By THDWSA STULTZ actually been divided into headed by Business THE RECORD-PRESS two lots decades ago. The cur- Administrator Robert rent proposal, he said, is Berman. WESTFIELD — At its "entirely consistent with the Morrison did sound a note meeting Monday night, the original subdivision adopted of caution about one factor Planning Board granted in 1950." that is out of the district's approval to a pair of subdivi- The new homes which will control — a fund balance, or sion applications that will be built at the site have not budget surplus, of less than result in the construction of yet been designed. Neighbors PHOTOS BY JOHN FEI/CORRESPONDENT six new homes. expressed concerns that $1.7 million. The Christmas season officially began in Westfield Sunday evening, when Santa Claus In an effort to provide Daunno Development developer would construct property tax relief to resi- arrived at the North Avenue train station to light the town's tree. Top, a band played Company received the green three-story homes at the dents, the state Legislature Christmas carols as the crowd waited for Santa to arrive. Above, Santa shares a moment light to tear down the exist- maximum permitted height with someone who will be celebrating his first Christmas later this month — 5-month-old ing house at 35 Mohawk of 35 feet, which they said (Continued on page A-2) Benjamin Fei of Scotch Plains. Trail, subdivide the property would encroach upon the into two lots and build two smaller, one-story homes on new single-family homes. In the block, resulting in a loss approving the application, of privacy. One resident Machrone, Paterson are honored as top volunteers the board granted the lone showed the board members a STULTZ Marks. "We had a very nice turn-out, Machrone, too, has an extensive variance requested, for lot hand-drawn map depicting depths of 105 feet rather than that scenario. "It's like THE RECORD-PRESS with well over 200 people." record of volunteer serve. Since 2000, Currently the senior advisor of the she has been the vice president of mem- the required 120. The exist- harassment to people living SCOTCH-PLAINS — Tom Pnterson Scotch Plains-Funwood Youth Baseball ber services at the local YMCA, and she ing lot is 105 feet deep. in these ranch houses," she and Sharon Machrone have long records Association, Paterson previously served joined the Y's board of directors in 1997. In his testimony before the snid. of service to the community. On Friday as the association's commissioner for six Formerly, Machrone served as president board, engineer and profes- Additionally, residents night, the community returned the trib- years and as president for another six of the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Parent- sional planner Michael expressed objections about ute, as Paterson and Machrone were years. He was nlso a divisional vice pres- Teacher Association (PTA) for five years Lanzafama argued that the drainage problems and the named the male and female volunteers ident, coaching and serving for over 20 and chaired various committees within majority of lots in the same loss of "neighborhood charm," of the year at the annual Mayor's years. the organization. RS-8 zone are non-compliant While board members Charity Gala at Shackamuxon Golf and P[iti!r.son has remained active in the "I feel very grateful and honored. I've with local zoning regulations; acknowledged those con- Country Club. organization for the past decade even attended the Mayor's Gala for a number only 18 percent of the 68 lots cerns, they reminded the res- In addition to honoring public serv- though hia own children are no longer of years, and I feel very privileged to be in the neighborhood meet the idents that many of their con- ice, the non-partisan event serves as a involved in youth baseball. As the state- included in the groups of people who standards, he said. cerns were outside the fundraiser for community organization. ment announcing the award said, have worked so hard to improve Scotch The developer's plan is to board's jurisdiction. Half of the proceeds went to the "People like Tom Paterson are hard to Plains," Machrone said. divide the existing 17,000 In an effort to remain in Municipal Alliance, an anti-drug organi- come by. He is truly an inspiration to Machrone said she is driven by a square foot lot in half, so that good standing with the town zation, and the balance will be donnted the entire community." belief in the importance of giving back to each new lot will cover 8,500 and the neighbors, the devel- to the Fanwood Scotch-Plains Rotary "I'm flattered," Pnterson said of the her community.