Fanwood Voters Will Face Building Question on November Ballot
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s c o ONLY NEWSPAPER WITH COMPLETE SCOTCH PLAINS-FANWOOD NEWS VOLUME 17, NO. 32 SCOTCH PLAINS-FANWOOD, N.j. THURSDAY, AUGUST 12,1976 15 CENTS A COPY Fanwood Voters Will Face Building Question On November Ballot Must Decide On Probable Citizen Groups $850,000 Cost Vs, $675,000 Lose Suits On For Remodeling Slocum Home Budget Cuts When Fanwood voters go to the polls to select a President next November, they'll also be provided with an opportunity to register i. Back in 1975, the Councils of "yes" or "no" on three questions regarding improved municipal Scotch Plains and Fanwood and facilities. During its agenda-setting session on Monday night, the the Board of Education cut deeply Fanwood Borough Council made plans for the appearance of the into the school budgets of two three questions. — —— —— years - 1974-75 and 1975.76. Voters will be asked: 1) Assum- had been realized several years Their action followed two annual ing that there is no federal aid, ago. when the borough changed budget defeats and a series of should the borough build im- from fiscal to calendar year col- appeals, considerable wrangling, proved facilities? 2) If the answer lection of school taxes. and extensive discussion. Subse- is yes on question 1, should the The Council hopes the question quently, a group of citizens, who borough spend 5675,000 to re- may not be necessary in the Nov- included both school district per- store and preserve the Slocum ember election, since the muni- sonnel and private citizens, sued House and to build a new public cipality plans to seek total monies the Board and the municipalities, safety facility on the same pro- for the construction in applica- seeking restoration of the cut perry (at a bonded indebtedness tions under the new Public Works CLARENCE W, SLOCUM funds. They charged that their of 5325,000 for both projects). 3) bill recently approved by Con- children had been deprived of a If the answer is yes on No, 1. gress. However, should Fanwood "thorough and efficient" educa- should the council be authorized not receive these funds, the elec- Clarence W. Slocum Dies tion due to lack of adequate to spend 5850,000 for a new tion questions would be neces- funding, This %veek, the two law municipal building on the Slocum sary. The Council is considering suits were settled to the advan- property (at a bonded indebted- hiring a firm, Management Im- At 80 In South Carolina tage of the combined Board of ness of 5500,000). plementation Associates, Inc. of Clarence W. Slocum, retired vice president of Devoe Reynolds Education and municipal govern- If voters elect construction un- Nanticoke, Pa,, to see other grant Company, Inc. and president for forty years of Beekwith- ments. The court found that if the der either question 2 or question monies at the federal and state Chandler Company in Newark, N.J. died Saturday, August 7 in school board, as the representa- 3, the borough would use level. Edward Maguire of the Pa. Providence Hospital. Columbia, South Carolina after a long illness. tive of all citizens in the school 5350,000 in windfall funds, which Continued On Page b Mr. Slocum, who was 80 years district, is satisfied with the bud- old, had resided in Fanwood, New In 1930, at the age of 34, Mr. get, others do not have the stand- Jersey for more than sixty years Slocum was elected Mayor of the ing to challenge such a decision. Citizens Relieved until his move to Columbia, South Borough of Fanwood, the young- The suit cost the combined de- Carolina two years ago. He was est mayor in New Jersey at the fendents somewhere in the area As Hurricane Belle the son of Walter D, Slocum and time, and served for two terms. It of 525,000 to defend. Christina Anderson Slocum, He was during his administration The battle over the budget be- lived for many years in Scotch that for the first time sidewalks gan over the 1974-75 budget, Bypasses Community Plains. %vere paved and a sewer system which was soundly defeated at Hurricane Belle threatened for quite some time, but the flighty Born and educated in Newark, installed in the Borough. He had the polls. The two governments little storm eventually changed course, sparing the Central Jersey Nesv Jersey, Mr. Slocum became previously served on the Borough cut 5969,000 from that budget. area the bulk of her wind- and rains. However, Scotch Plains left president "of Beekwtth-Chandler Council and was a member of the The Board of Education appealed nothing to chance, and township forces were at the ready. As it Company in 1925, a position he Scotch Plains-Fanwood Board of this cut to the Commissioner of turned out, the only real damage sustained in Scotch Plains were held until his retirement in 1965. Education from 1936 to 1942. Mr. Education Fred Burke, who or- downed power lines and trees at four locations. The treacherous Mr. Slocum had first joined the Slocum %vas also a member of the dered 5714,260 of thy cut re- brooks and streams did not pose the threat they have in the past. firm, a manufacturer of paints Fanwood Fire Department and on stored. At this, the government Township Manager James Hauser reported that the Cedar Brook and varnishes, at the age of 17 the basis of seniority and service appealed the Burke order. crested at only four feet above normal, the Green Brook still had five upon his graduation from Bar- has held Badge Number One for In March of 1975, a new Board feet of capacity in it at crest point, and, as road and engineering ringer High School in Newark. many years. of Education was seated. During personnel got good and wet watching the stream activity, the When that company merged with In 1974 the Borough of Fan- that same month, voters rejected waterways of Scotch Plains carried off the storm waters in good Devoe Reynolds Company, Inc. in wood purchased Mr. Slocum's another budget - that of 1975-76, order. _ _ . —.—.—_____ 1945, he was named a vice pres- former home, the Homestead at by a wide margin. Working with- Scotch Plains, after its exper. held an early morning meeting to idem and director of Devoe Rey- 75 North Martine Avenue in Fan- the newly constituted Board of iences in the flood of 1973, leaves start the effort rolling. When the nolds and continued as president wood, %vhich the Borough plans to Education, the governing bodies nothing to chance. As early as hurricane watch became a hurri- of its Beekwith-Chandler division. use for a municipal building and and the Board settled on a SI Monday morning, Civil Defense cane warning, the town civil Be- Mr, Slocum served as a director recreational area. The house is million cut, spread over two bud- leaders and township officials fense plans for flooding emer- of the National State Bank of situated in the center of Fanwood gets • 5180,000 from the 1974-75 were well underway with every gencies went into effect. Three Newark, N.J.. now First National on four acres famed for the budget. 5820,000 from the 1975- precaution imaginable. Nick Mig- shelter areas were set up - one at State Bank, from 1947 to 1975 variety of trees and other plant- 76 budget. This action brought liaccio. Director of Civil Defense, Scotch Hills, one at Park Junior when he was named a director ings and was converted by Mr. the law suits. High, one at Terrill Junior High. emeritus. Since 1955 he also Slocum in 1937 from a former One suit, brought by several 1974-75 budget. The shelters were equipped with served as a director of the Plain- summer boardinghouse frequen- teachers in the district and their Another suit, filed by a group beds, disposable blankets, and field Trust Company (N.J.), now ted by residents of New York and spouses, was filed by Charles of 20. including students and par- food, and each shelter was man- the United National Bank. Mr. Brooklyn in the 1920's. Bihler, then chairman of the ents, brought restoration of the ned by a radioman, a Rescue Slocum served on a number of In April, 1943. the Lend-Lease Administrative and Supervisory 5820,000 to the 1975-76 budget. Squad representative, a nurse, other boards including the Fed- Administration asked Mr. Slocum Group, bargaining unit for ad- Plaintiffs included former Super- and Civil Defense volunteers. eral Seaboard Terra Cotta Corpo- to participate in a mission to ministrators, Bihler was at that intendent of Schools Fred J, Behind the municipal building, an ration of Penh Amboy, N.J. and North Africa as a price and dis- :ime director of media for the dis- Laberge and child and former accumulation of heavy contract- New York from 1945 to 1957 and tribution expert. He remained in trict • a post which has since been board members Peter N, Britton, ing equipment stood at the ready, the Damon G. Douglas Co., Inc., North Africa for five months eliminated. This suit brought res- Jr., Charles A, Ferguson, and in the event that the vehicles and an engineering firm in Newark, On Page 12 toration of the 5180,000 to the Leonia Reillv and children. Continued on page 5 School Board Spells Freeholder Meetings Are Out It's Position On Canceled Teacher Negotiations For the first time in the By PHILIP GE1GER memory of county government The public is aware tliat the Board of Education and thu Teachers observers, Union County Freehol- Association have been negotiating faithfully since October 1075 in ders have cancelled all meetings ilic hopes of securing a contract for the 197b.77 school year.