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The Westfield Serving the Town Since 1890 Leader OUR 108th YEAR ISSUE NO. 42-98 USPS 680020 Published 232-4407 FIFTY CENTS Periodical Postage Paid at Westfield, N.J. Thursday, October 15, 1998 Every Thursday School Board OKs $11.7 Million Bond For Improvements By MICHELLE H. LePOIDEVIN unavoidable. Enrollment will con- Specially Written for The Westfield Leader tinue to increase and we have no The Westfield Board of Education place to put the children, he said. voted unanimously October 8 to pur- Regarding maintenance needs and sue an $11,730,000 bond for district- repairs, Dr. Foley noted that the state wide improvements to Westfield views Westfield as a rich district, and schools. added that projects are deferred be- If the bond is given the green light cause we do not have the spending by the community during a special ability to complete those projects. election scheduled for Tuesday, De- The necessity to cable classrooms OUTDOOR COOKING Penny Faggins serves up some delicious barbecued A DAY AT THE FAIR The Westfield Neighborhood Council held its first-ever cember 15, the board would alleviate and libraries has been termed a com- lunch at the Westfield Neighborhood Councils Street Fair that was held last all-day street fair on October 11 at Cacciola Place in Westfield, which was the districts enrollment crunch by munication infrastructure. Dr. Foley Sunday. Volunteers at the centers kitchen prepared homemade sweets and blocked off to vehicular traffic. The fair featured a variety of entertainment on providing new classrooms; perform stated, We have not been able to lunch for the fair. an outdoor stage, fairway games, childrens rides, lunch and homemade sweets. maintenance repairs and renovations, wire our schools. and cable classrooms and libraries Board Secretary Robert Berman for technology to provide a commu- presented an itemized report repre- Town Officials Look at State and Local Funds nication infrastructure. senting the findings of a 26-member Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) William J. Foley, preceded his over- which met several times to evaluate view of bond projects with an invita- the bond. The CAC was formed in For South Side Neighborhood Preservation tion to parents and residents. the beginning of the current school I am committed to go anywhere, year. By JEANNE WHITNEY conducted over the summer. grants will be notified in January. ward A. Gottko. visit anyone, to discuss this bond, The report covered the projects Specially Written for The Westfield Leader Mr. Stone said he will steer addi- Funds are released in February. According to Mr. Gottko, a town is and why we have come to any deci- necessitated by the bond, as well as The Town of Westfield plans to tional requests for funding to the Evidently, 29 communities are in- actually awarded $25,000 in start-up sions we have come to, he stated. some which were excluded due to move ahead in an effort to secure a Union County Community Develop- volved in the revolving state preser- funds, and then $100,000 for years He explained that the board took a priority and expense. five-year state grant that could total ment Committee, the Westfield Foun- vation program. This coming year, one through three. After that, a town hard look at the enrollment crisis in Westfield High School could ex- over $500,000 as part of a Neighbor- dation and Upstairs Downtown 10 slots will be open for another five- must again qualify for funding in the elementary schools, stressing that pect the conversion of a graphic arts hood Preservation Program. The area which provides funding to property year period of funding, according to years four and five. the need for additional classrooms is classroom and auto shop into four targeted for the money is the Central owners living above commercial Westfield Town Administrator Ed- CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 generic high school classrooms for Avenue corridor on the south side of storefronts. $376,000; new windows installed in town. Mr. Stone, who has a banking back- Residents Continue Effort to Derail the original building for $659,000, The state Department of Commu- ground, said he is working with area and lavatory renovations in compli- nity Affairs needs the application by banks towards a $1 million loan pro- ance with the Americans with Dis- Friday, November 13. gram with reduced rates for district abilities Act (ADA), for $310,000. Former Westfield Mayor Raymond property owners. New Parking Lots at Tamaques Park The sum of these upgrades is Stone, a Ripley Avenue resident and A yet-to-be-formed Neighborhood $1,345,000. volunteer acting coordinator, is spear- Preservation group would leverage By PAUL J. PEYTON in an effort to derail a town plan to In order to create the new lots, Replacement of the gymnasium heading the effort for the town. He the deal, he indicated. Specially Written for The Westfield Leader add 71 parking spaces at the park existing green park land will have to folding door, for $60,000, and com- described his role as a follow up to He and other officials have said Residents of the Tamaques Park saying the want to preserve the natu- be paved over. plete auditorium seating, for $75,000, a tree planting initiative on Cacciola there is little chance that the town neighborhood continued to put pres- ral beauty of the park, the largest in Under a roads improvement con- was removed from the list of projects. Place in May, which kicked off the will win a grant from the state pro- sure on town officials Tuesday night Westfield. tract already approved by the Town This shaved $135,000 from the bond preservation plan. gram since one of the requirements Council as part of its 1997 capital amount. On Tuesday, the Town Council deals with certification under the state improvement budget, three new lots Edison Intermediate School tal- okayed $4,000 for a Summit com- Council On Affordable Housing, are to be added to Tamaques along lied $788,000 for the following pany, Planners Diversified, to ana- which the town neither has nor wants. Lamberts Mill Road with more spaces projects: 206 new windows at the lyze a survey of the district that was Municipalities selected for the added to two existing lots. front of the building, at $318,200; When contacted yesterday morn- lavatory renovations for ADA com- ing, Town Administrator Edward A. pliance, at $310,000, and cabling of TOWN PARKS SHARE $200,000 Gottko explained that the additional classrooms and the library, at spaces were approved by the council $159,800. in the spring of 1997 with a contract Replacement of the gymnasium Tamaques, Gumpert, signed earlier this year in the amount folding door, at a cost of $70,000, of $200,000. The parking plan was was subtracted from the list. recommended by the Recreation De- Roosevelt Intermediate School partment and was recently approved projects totaled $737,500, and in- Sycamore Included by the Recreation Commission. cluded new windows in the original Of that amount over $70,000 has building for $437,000; roof repair/ been earmarked for the Tamaques addition for $165,700, and cabling In Pocket Park Plan parking lots. The contractor has for technology at $134,800. started work on road resurfacing and Replacement of the gymnasium By PAUL J. PEYTON $20,000 would have funded a con- will begin the Tamaques Park lots folding door, at a cost of $50,000, Specially Written for The Westfield Leader cession stand at the park; $5,000 was RENEWING OLD FRIENDSHIPS....Westfield High School Class of 1948 later in the year. was removed from the list. In yet another turbulent Town earmarked for a park in honor of members, left to right, Patricia Klein Keppel, Letty Sinclair Hudak, Bill Wilson, While the town might reduce the Vassy Lekas Honecker and Peggy Norwine, enjoyed their 50th reunion celebra- Franklin Elementary School could Council meeting, one in which Mayor performing artist and human rights number of parking spots slightly to anticipate a second-story addition of Thomas C. Jardim admonished his tion held at the Shackamaxon Country Club in Scotch Plains. The event included advocate Paul Robeson ; $5,000 for a music from the 1940s and 1950s. Some alumni came as far away as Great Britain save some trees, as proposed by Town nine classrooms for $2,552,000; lava- council colleagues and even pre- pocket park on Central Avenue and Germany. CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 vented a council member from speak- near an area proposed for a state ing at one point, the governing body Neighborhood Preservation Program did reach an agreement on where to state grant; $30,000 for improve- spend $200,000 of municipal and ments at Tamaques Park; $20,000 Roger McGuinn Takes Audience on Nostalgic Tour Union County matching grant money. for work at Sycamore Field; $45,000 Several hours into a Tuesday night towards improvements at meeting, the council agreed to a pro- Mindowaskin Park; $10,000 to fund Of 1960s Music Scene During Concert at WHS posal made by Republican Third Ward a Touch and Scent Garden as pro- Councilman Neil F. Sullivan to ear- posed by the Rake and Hoe Club at By MICHELLE H. LePOIDEVIN when President John F. Kennedy was His 90-minute acoustical set in- planations into the meaning behind mark $70,000 for Gumpert Park, Rahway Avenue and Shadowlawn Specially Written for The Westfield Leader assassinated. cluded such favorites as Eight Miles each song. $60,000 for Sycamore Field, $40,000 Drive; and $5,000 for tree plantings Approximately 500 folk-rock en- When the Beatles invaded High, Feel A Whole Lot Better, I just let music and emotion come for Tamaques Park and $30,000 for and other improvements at Clark thusiasts turned out last Friday America, Mr.