Ad Populos, Non Aditus, Pervenimus Published Every Thursday Since September 3, 1890 (908) 232-4407 USPS 680020 Thursday, February 20, 2014 OUR 124th YEAR – ISSUE NO. 08-2014 Periodical – Postage Paid at Rahway, N.J. www.goleader.com [email protected] SEVENTY FIVE CENTS Westfield Snow Efforts Have Included 14 Storms, Downtown By PAUL J. PEYTON The town has 10 streets where midnight to 8 a.m. Specially Written for The Westfield Leader motor vehicles must be removed dur- “When you have this much accu- WESTFIELD — With 14 plow- ing snowstorms for snow-removal mulation of snow, you try to do it, able snowstorms to date, Westfield, efforts. Mr. Gildea said the town especially with the start of Restau- like most towns, is facing an uphill council’s public works committee will rant Week (which began Monday battle in keeping local streets clear consider expanding that list. night)...to make it more pleasant, but while trying to find the time to patch In an effort to keep the downtown just from a public safety standpoint, numerous potholes. business district open, the town’s to try and get the intersections cleaned To date, the town has spent around Department of Public Works (DPW) up as much as possible,” the mayor $100,000 in overtime for snow re- used front-end loaders and roll-off said. moval this year, up $75,000 over a trucks and other equipment to re- Mr. Gildea said snow is removed normal winter, according to Town move snow piles from key locations from the downtown when access to Administrator Jim Gildea. in the downtown. Areas where snow stores is beyond what the store owner Meeting with The Westfield Leader was removed were East Broad Street can clear from the sidewalk to the on Tuesday morning, Mayor Andrew in the downtown, Elm Street, Quimby street. The snow piles were trans- Skibitsky said the town has had mea- Street, Prospect Street, Lenox Av- ported by the DPW to Gumbert Park. surable snowfall of 63 inches through enue, Central Avenue and Elmer He said the town has an order in for Tuesday morning, the most in Street. The operation occurred over- 500 tons of salt. The mayor has been Westfield since 70 inches fell in 1996. night on Saturday into Sunday, from in touch with state and county repre- sentatives regarding salt deliveries. Mr. Gildea said the remaining salt Photo courtesy of Cathy Cafiero Westfield has is being reserved for HELPING HANDS…On February 12, fifth graders at Washington Elementary School in Westfield made sandwiches for schools and emergency situations St. Joseph’s Social Service Center in Elizabeth, a center that serves those in need from Elizabeth. The center provides food, such as for intersections. The town clothing and a wide range of services and programs for the community. has used 400 tons of salt this winter to date. He said the town has 24 zones that are plowed by 22 DPW employees. WF Council Hears Presentation He said plowing more than 100 miles of streets and removing snow from the downtown has been a full-time task for DPW crews. The From Architectural Firm department’s 32 employees include By DOMINIC A. LAGANO discussions was addressed by Mr. Claremont Construction commis- sidewalk crews, front-end loader op- Specially Written for The Westfield Leader Foerst. “As many of you know, our sioned Marchetto, Higgins and Stieve erators, plowers and mechanics, who WESTFIELD —At its regular con- town has worked pretty aggressively in to design the project and to present its have been repairing equipment dam- ference meeting this past Tuesday order to comply with COAH (Council design to the town council. aged during snow-removal opera- evening, the Westfield Town Council on Affordable Housing)…as an off- Dean Marchetto, founding member tions. heard a detailed presentation provided shoot of that, Claremont has come to us of Marchetto, Higgins and Stieve, pre- “The public works guys, especially by representatives from Marchetto, with a proposal for one of our sites and sented a slide show with pictures of the this time of the year, have put in a lot, Higgins and Stieve, an architectural, we asked them to present to the full proposed project. Before designing the Betsey Burgdorf for The Westfield Leader lot of hours, and I’ve got to admire planning and urban design firm from council to tell us about their project,” building, Marchetto toured the town to MOUNTAINS OF SNOW...The Westfield Department of Public Works has them for their dedication and posi- Hoboken. Councilman Foerst said. get an appreciation of its architecture in made Gumbert Park the dumping ground for excess snow, creating mountains of tive attitude. We have no problem The firm proposed a residential build- Fifteen to 20 percent of the apart- order to incorporate it in his design. snow from one end of the parking lot to the other. bringing them in. They come in and ing situated on one-and-a-half acres to ments would be slotted to become low- “One of the things our firm does is they work hard until it’s done. They be constructed on the corner of Central income affordable housing units in try to design projects that fit in the are working many hours straight,” Avenue and South Avenue West con- compliance with COAH regulations. CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 GW BOE Adds Makeup Mayor Skibitsky said. taining 70 apartment units for rent. In terms of potholes, the mayor Representatives from Claremont said, “We are trying to stay on top of Companies, a construction company MS Council Honors Days Due to Snowstorms them, but we are spending too much based out of Far Hills, also were present By BRIAN TRUSDELL Last year’s budget included a right now on moving snow. No mat- and added to the discussion. Specially Written for The Westfield Leader $192,000 tax increase, which ter where you go around the state, According to Councilman James Centenarian and Eagle Scout GARWOOD – The finance com- amounted to $95.33 per $100,000 roads are in bad shape and so it’s hard Foerst, the council’s liaison to the town’s By KATE BROWNE At the request of the council, Mr. mittee of the board of education of assessed home value. to get to them.” planning board, the firms have been in Specially Written for The Westfield Leader Verlangieri graciously took the po- (BOE) will convene Saturday to The snow that has tested the pa- “So whenever we can, we are out discussions with the planning board MOUNTAINSIDE — There was a dium and shared his secrets to a long, devise its budget for the 2014-2015 tience of Garwood residents also there fixing potholes,” the mayor said. about the project. celebratory air at Tuesday’s meeting happy life. He urged the audience to school year, panel Chairwoman Su- has taken its toll on the school cal- CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 The impetus for these preliminary of the Mountainside Borough Coun- always have music in their homes san Groning announced at endar, requiring the board to ap- cil, where proclamations were issued and to become “lifelong learners,” Tuesday’s monthly BOE meeting. prove a change Tuesday to hold in recognition of Edward explaining that he had his wife take The panel must stay within 2 per- classes on Monday, April 21, the Direct Trains to NYC Verlangieri’s 100th birthday and to college classes until 2004. cent of last year’s $8.5-million ex- day after Easter. honor Eagle Scout Ryan Vargo. Mr.Verlangieri further explained that, penditure – with exceptions for Winter storms have forced the Mr. Verlangieri was born on Janu- “hard work never hurt anyone,” re- items such as special education and school to close five times. The origi- Finally Arrive In Westfield ary 31, 1914 and moved to Moun- calling his first job was as a “water employee health insurance – to nal calendar had three “snow days” By SARAH McGRAIL would be attached to each train, mak- tainside on April 25, 1952, where he boy” at his uncle’s sewer construc- avoid a voter referendum on the built into it, all of which have been Specially Written for The Westfield Leader ing a total of seven, to accommodate and his late wife, Marian, built a tion company when he was 12 years blueprint. used. School was open Friday, Feb- WESTFIELD — Direct train travel anticipated extra traffic due to the im- home on Wood Valley Road at a time old. He concluded by reminding the “We meet Saturday to go through ruary 14, originally scheduled as a to New York City will be a reality for minent closure of the Pulaski Skyway when there were only five other homes community to “be happy and adven- all of our finances,” Ms. Groning day off, and April 21 will account Westfield passengers in less than two for renovation work. on what was then an uncurbed street. turous,” noting he had visited 48 of said. “We’ll see what line items we for the fifth canceled day due to weeks time…..as long as they can travel “We haven’t run these trains with The Verlangieris were involved in the United States as well as Gibraltar, need to increase, as well as where snow. at off-peak hours on a weekday. seven multi-level cars before, and they many community groups, including Panama and other exotic locations. we’ll need to cut in order to stay If further cancellations are nec- Tom Morgan, senior director of rail do use fuel at a higher level, so we will what eventually became the Moun- The council also honored Ryan within our 2-percent cap.” essary, Superintendent Teresa service planning at NJ Transit, an- be monitoring the situation,” he ex- tainside Newcomers Club.