10, 2006 75 Cents Weekly of Millburn and Short Hills
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The Serving our Community Summer interns. Since 1888 Studentsreflectonwork Item experience. Page B5. August 10, 2006 75 cents weekly www.theitemonline.com of Millburn and Short Hills IDLE LANES, BUSY DRIVERS PROPERTY TAXES Court approves mall revaluation By Patricia Harris ceed with our efforts for full dis- of The Item closure.” The Mall at Short Hills is the Township officials are proceed- township’s largest taxpayer. In a ing with efforts to determine the township with approximately $6 true valuation of The Mall at Short billion of total assessed property Hills, following a decision last value, $1 billion of that amount is month in state tax court in which made up of commercial properties. the judge sided with the munici- The mall accounts for about half pality and agreed the mall should that amount and makes up have a new property tax assess- approximately 8.5 percent of the ment for 2006. township’s total tax base. Township Tax Counsel John The Taubman Company origi- Lloyd appeared before Tax Court nally appealed the township’s 2001 Judge Vito Bianco on July 21 to reassessment that raised the tax present oral arguments challenging assessment on the mall to $489 the tax assessment Freeze Act, million. In March 2005 both sides which would have allowed mall agreed on a compromise assess- owners, the Taubman Company, to ment of $445 million, which have their property tax assessment required the township to reimburse frozen for a three-year period fol- Taubman for $2.9 million in tax lowing their 2005 tax case settle- overpayments. ment with the township. Last December, township offi- In a ruling from the bench, cials learned that Taubman had Bianco said the Freeze Act would applied to MetLife for a $540 mil- not apply in the mall’s situation. lion mortgage during which town- The decision clears the way for the ship officials believe the mall’s val- 2006 tax appeal which township ue was stated as $900 million, officials filed in April, contending more than double the fair market GEORGE WIRT FOR THE ITEM the mall’s value may now be high- value of the settlement reached at The eastbound local lanes of Route 78 are jammed with morning rush hour traffic as motorists approach the Main Street er than the figure used in settling a virtually the same time with the tax appeal by the mall last year. township. overpass Monday morning while the adjacent express lanes on the other side of the divider lie empty. Local officials were “This is a very positive first step In April the township filed its concerned spillover traffic would clog Morris Turnpike and Millburn Avenue over the next four months while state Department for the town,” Mayor Daniel Baer tax appeal, citing both the fair mar- of Transportation work crews overhaul the express lanes. According to the Millburn Police Department, there were no major said this week. “Now we can pro- ket value stated in the mortgage traffic problems associated with the I-78 construction on the first weekday of the project. SEE COURT, PAGE B10 REDEVELOPMENT DOWNTOWN Board set to hire planner DMDA tackles upkeep By Patricia Harris ofTheItem By Patricia Harris Mayor Daniel Baer said this of The Item week he is planning to hold a pub- With the assistance of the lic forum this fall that will intro- township, leaders of the Down- duce the planner selected by the town Millburn Development township to conduct a study of an Alliance (DMDA) have been area in need of redevelopment. making visual improvements Ken Leiby Jr., the member of the around the district this spring and Planning Board who has headed summer and are now addressing up the search for the planner, said how best to maintain those he hopes the contract with the improvements. planner will be approved at Harold Klein, DMDA execu- Wednesday’s Planning Board tive director, said this week he has meeting. Last month the board PATRICIA HARRIS/THE ITEM requested a meeting with Timothy selected Paul Phillips of Phillips Mayor Daniel Baer shows the properties along Essex Street Gordon, township administrator, Preiss Shapiro Associates Inc., to to discuss a maintenance program and Millburn Avenue that are to be evaluated by the planner conduct the study. The planning for plantings and sidewalks. ADAM ANIK/THE ITEM and real estate consulting firm has hired by the township to conduct a study of an area in need of Specifically, he said, trees planted Harold Klein, executive director of the Downtown Millburn offices in New York City, Wash- redevelopment. Planning Board officials hope to approve the in tree wells need care and weeds Development Alliance (DMDA), left, and Jim Weill, DMDA ington, D.C., and Red Bank. contract with the planner at Wednesday’s meeting. growing in the wells must be secretary, stroll down Essex Street toward Millburn Avenue “Mr. Phillips made a good removed. with their eyes on the condition of tree wells overgrown with impression on the board,” Leiby in early June, although officials the properties to be considered. Jim Weill, DMDA secretary weeds. said. were waiting for a determination Whereas initially the list contained and a township architect, said in The board had selected Phillips from the Township Committee of approximately 200 properties, the response to requests from the spring. The question now is whose “Theoretically, it’s the shop- DMDA, the municipality replaced responsibility it is to maintain the keepers or landlords,” he said. “In SEE BOARD, PAGE B10 and planted a number of trees this new trees. reality, however, it’s a public SCHOOLS SEE DMDA, PAGE B10 AP classes due to expand GROOVIN’ TO THE SOUND By Harry Trumbore and solicit teacher recommenda- you do. Our goal is looking for a 4 ofTheItem tions, she said. In subjects such as or better.” studio art or foreign languages, stu- The district appears to be meet- School administrators are seek- dents may also have to submit a ing that goal. According to Doyle, ing to address the concerns of stu- portfolio or demonstrate proficien- more than 50 percent of the high dents and parents this fall by cy. school’s seniors take AP exams. adding additional Advanced Place- The input of the guidance Some sophomores and juniors also ment (AP) courses at the high department is crucial in steering a take the exams. school. student into an appropriate cur- Reviewing the scores of 800 AP Six additional sections are being riculum, Doyle said. She acknowl- exams taken by Millburn students added for the 2006-07 school year edged students are under increas- in the spring, Doyle pointed out 97 and the school will offer AP cours- ing pressure to present a high aca- percent of the students taking the es in 26 different subjects. demic profile to colleges. Biology exam scored a 4 or 5. In recent years, parents attend- “An AP course is a college lev- Thirty-eight students took the ing Board of Education meetings el course” she explained. “The role Calculus AB exam (testing subject have challenged the administration of the guidance counselor is to matter equivalent to a year of col- to open the AP program to more have a whole spectrum of discus- lege study) and all passed, with 81 students, contending students have sion about what the student wants, percent scoring 4 or 5. Of the 40 topassanexamtoqualifyfora what the parents want. Sometimes students taking the Calculus BC spot in an AP classroom. we try to help the parent under- exam (equivalent to a year and a Maryann Doyle, assistant super- stand he may not be successful at half of college study), Doyle said, intendent for curriculum and the AP level.” all passed and 95 percent scored a instruction, said this week Even though some schools 5. although students still will have to allow students to take AP courses If Millburn still appears to be pass a qualifying test, that always who do not take the AP exam for restrictive in who is admitted to AP has been just one part of a larger college credit, that is not Millburn’s courses, Doyle made the point the process. policy, Doyle said. The district district’s wide range of AP sub- “We want students to be suc- views the AP courses as a founda- jects—from Chinese to environ- cessful and be appropriately chal- tion for college study, and although mental science—offer more oppor- lenged,” Doyle said. a passing grade on an AP exam is a tunities for students to find an area PHOTO COURTESY OF MILLBURN RECREATION DEPARTMENT Besides requiring a qualifying 3, colleges are increasingly limiting where they can excel. test, the principal and department AP credit only for scores of 4 or 5. “We’re loosening the placement More than 400 residents flock to Taylor Park on a pleasant evening Sunday for the third in supervisors evaluate students’ pri- “It’s not just that you took the process and we will be watching the Millburn-Short Hills Concert Committee’s summer concert series. They heard the sounds or performances in a subject area exam,” she said, “it’s how well did how students perform,” Doyle said. of Reminisce and had a chance to view a classic car. For more photos, see Page A11. Vol. 119 No. 33 CLASSIFIED B11-B13 EDITORIAL A4 MOVIES A9 RELIGIOUS NEWS A6 Downtown construction. For home delivery, call 888-473-2673. COMMUNITY EVENTS A4 EDUCATION B5-B7 OBITUARIES A6 SOCIAL A7 Two businesses, two different stories. CROSSWORD PUZZLE B2 ENTERTAINMENT A8, A9 PUBLIC NOTICES B10 SPORTS B1-B3 Please recycle, At least 25% recycled paper Page A3.