Volume116 Number 27 THURSDAY, JULY 3, 2003 75 Cents GRANITE PANEL Pool expected to open today department, and inspection was By Eveline Speedie to be completed yesterday. The of The Item hotline, which is updated every The municipal pool is expect- 24 hours, will provide up-to-date ed to open today to much antici- information. Pool hours will be pation after construction delays altered to accommodate the work due to the weather last winter schedule, Hogan said. The pool and in the spring, said Robert will be open seven days a week, Hogan, director of the Millburn including tomorrow, Indepen- Recreation and Parks Depart- Continued on Page B13 ment. Hogan has set up a pool infor- mation number—(973) 564- Pool shuttle 7762—to keep residents in- formed about the opening day. in operation The pool originally was slated to The Millburn Recreation De- open June 21. partment will offer shuttle ser- If all goes according to plan, vice from Hartshorn Elementary the pool will be usable today School to the municipal pool and after 3 p.m. and until 8 p.m. al- the Par-3 Golf Course tomorrow, though sections will be blocked Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 7 off, Hogan said, while the re- p.m. LIGHTS maining work is completed. The shuttle service will run Limited food service will be continuously between the lower available. pool gate, the front of the golf “Our goal is to get people to course and the front of Hartshorn the pool safely,” he said. “If we School at the corner of White can do it safely while work is Oak Ridge Road and Hartshorn still under way, we will.” Drive. The shuttle will be out of The opening was subject to ap- proval by the township building Continued on Page B13 Staff photo/Patricia Harris Schools award FITTING TRIBUTE—Landscape architect Jan Saltiel of tially sketched above, will feature a contemplative area with Edgewater Design, left, inset, and Mayor Thomas C. Mc- a low wall inlaid with granite stones listing the names of Dermott review plans for the site in Taylor Park where the eight victims with ties to the township who perished in the construction bid township’s 9/11 memorial is to be built. The memorial, par- terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center. $90,000. He said the board will By Harry Trumbore apply for state funding under the of The Item Educational Facilities Construc- At a special meeting Monday tion and Financing Act and ex- Memorial honors WTC victims night, the Board of Education ap- pects the district will be reim- proved a contractor who will bursed for approximately 40 per- the names of the victims and offering a dedication. There will also begin work to create classroom cent of the renovation costs. By Patricia Harris be some benches in the area for visitors to sit on. At night the memo- space at Wyoming School. The assistant superintendent of The Item rial will be lit. The winning bid, according to Drawings for the memorial are on display in Town Hall and a Families of township victims of 9/11 have now had a chance to Robert Zeglarski, assistant su- Continued on Page B13 letter was sent out inviting the families to view the site with the view final drawings of the township’s planned memorial in Taylor perintendent for business, was mayor and architect this past Monday morning. Park, and officials said last week they are moving forward with con- $54,700 from DeVout Consoli- Two township residents who lost their spouses came to the session Architect fee struction plans. dated, Inc. of West Orange, the and expressed their approval. The memorial, which has been in the planning stage for the past lowest of five firms bidding on Vera Murphy, widow of Patrick Murphy, said she appreciated the year, will honor the memories of the five township residents and the project. The highest bid came set, legal fee contemplative space. “I’ve said all I want is a bench and a tree,” she three former residents who were killed in the terrorist attacks on in at $142,583, Zeglarski said. told the mayor and architect. Sept. 11, 2001. The project is expected to begin in the fall and may The Wyoming project, not uncertain Cheryl Demaris, widow of Mark Charette, said she was glad she be completed by the end of the year. connected with the elementary came to view the site, as she had pictured it being located elsewhere. Mayor Thomas C. McDermott and a group of volunteers from the school classroom expansion ref- By Harry Trumbore “It’s great,” she said after the architect had shown her the use of police and fire departments, the Township Beautification League and erendum approved by voters in of The Item space. the Shade Tree Advisory Committee have been working with land- 2002, is required because an ad- “It looks really nice.” At the June 23 Board of Edu- scape architect Jan Saltiel of Edgewater Design to develop a suitable ditional classroom is needed for A third family member who now lives out of town, Adina Lil- cation meeting, school officials tribute to the eight victims. the 2003-04 school year. A small lianthal, had plans to view the drawings Tuesday. Her husband was released the fee the board’s ar- “We wanted something very low key, just a simple contemplative group instructional space will be Steven Lillianthal. chitect will earn from upcoming space,” said Saltiel this week. “It’s not supposed to be representa- created at the end of the corridor McDermott said last week the township has put aside approxi- school construction, but said tional.” on the second floor of the school, mately $50,000 for the project, although he is unsure how much it they could not provide figures for Plans call for a new walkway to be built in Taylor Park, extending while the space between two ex- will actually cost to complete. He said some of the work will be done an in-house legal investigation from the Main Street entrance just south of Hudson City Savings isting second-floor classrooms by Public Works employees, but the granite work is to be contracted into the district’s maintenance Bank. The meandering path will be built with brick pavers and will will be reconfigured to add a out. department. be lined with approximately eight cherry trees that have been donat- third classroom. The project will be reviewed with the board of recreation com- Responding to a question from ed. At a board meeting last month, missioners and is expected to come before the Township Committee an audience member, Robert The walkway will lead to a circular area just north of the bridge Zeglarski estimated the renova- for its approval this summer, the mayor also said. Then, portions of Zeglarski, assistant superinten- across the West Branch of the Rahway River. The area will be partly tion would cost as much as encompassed by a low wall inlaid with three granite stones listing the project can be put out for bid. Continued on Page B13 Cell report says gaps exist The report was written by defense of the site for tower use. By Harry Trumbore Charles Hecht, a broadcast engi- “I strictly limit myself to tech- of The Item neering consultant from nical issues,” said Hecht. “I don’t A cellular phone company suf- Pittstown. Although his fee is cover esthetic or other issues, fers a gap in service coverage in being picked up by Verizon, such as property values.” the area near township borders Hecht described himself as an in- While he believes a gap exists, where it seeks to erect a tele- dependent expert retained by the Hecht also writes in his report, phone cell tower, according to a board. “Questions still exist regarding report received by members of In a preliminary report written alternate site locations.” Ac- the Maplewood Zoning Board of by Hecht earlier this month, he knowledging that Conroy main- Adjustment. said Verizon needed to prove that tains there is no other site suit- The report, written by an inde- a gap in cell phone coverage able to adequately cover the gap pendent witness for the board, exists. However, in the report in service, Hecht writes, also recommends that the com- distributed to board members “…some of the alternate site pany, Verizon Wireless, whose June 19, Hecht concludes “a gap issues addressed by the applicant site plan application has been the is present in the applicant’s ser- which rely on verbal testimony subject of hearings in Maple- vice area in the vicinity of the should be supported by technical wood since December, provide proposed Maplewood site.” exhibits…” additional technical documenta- Hecht said this week his analy- He recommends that Verizon tion to the board. sis is based on a review of tran- supply a map showing locations Verizon has applied to build a scripts of testimony of Richard of pertinent alternate sites as 110-foot tower on the grounds of Conroy, a radio frequency expert well as locations of sites em- the Maplewood Country Club in who testified on Verizon’s ployed by alternate carriers. He a mulch area used for landscap- behalf, and a subsequent meeting also recommends that plotting of ing debris. The proposed site for with Conroy as well as a number potential alternate sites in the Staff photo/Eveline Speedie the tower is in the western por- of teleconferences. search “ring” should document Hecht made the point that in the site’s viability. FATHER/SON MOMENT—Max Wachsteter, 2, and his dad, Bart, of Portland, Ore., were tion of the golf course, approxi- visiting in the township Monday and stopped in Taylor Park to feed the geese.