w W if ft n aiiMi SERVING SOUTH BRUNSWICK SINCE 19SEI TIM EO FF BU SIN ESS JOURNAL SCHOOLS Dada! Prospect 2000 Booming A Halo Called Fred sets a new stage A look at the future of The Trenton Thunder in the theater of the absurd. Also work and community mascot helps Dayton’s inside: Moliere’s The Learned Ladies life, for us and for our reading program. opens at McCarter. children. Page 1 0 A I Vol. 43, No. 11 Thursday, March 1 8, 1 999 www.packclonlmc.corn 60 Cents Public wants m more say on By Steve Bates Staff Writer school plan The South Brunswick school By Bernadette Yannacci About 20 people attended the district plans to rnove forward with Staff Writer forum. several construction projects and The December referendum hire enough teachers to keep pace, asked voters to allow the board to with growing enrollments as part Residents attending Tuesday night’s public forum on the .school borrow $20.5 million to build an . of ii proposed $73.2 . million bud­ 83,860-square-foot elementary get. building program that was defeat­ ed in a December referendum school that could house 650 stu­ The budget also; is designed to dents, to build an addition at maintain the district’s extra-curric­ complained that the school board has not been sufficiently receptive Crossroads Middle School to in­ ular programs including funds to crease its capacity by 200 students create/ new clubs and athletic to public opinion. The forum was conducted by and to replace the heating and air teams. It akso increases .staff to conditioning system at Upper Ele­ keep up with state Department of the New Jensey School Boards As­ Education mandates and an ex­ sociation on behalf of the South mentary School. pected 400 additional students. Brunswick, school board at the A second question sought ap­ high .school library. proval to borrow $1.2 million for The budget, which will go to . The board hoped to elicit re­ voters April 20, would reduce the., construction of six tennis courts sponses from the public regarding school tax rate by 1 cent to $1.65 and a 3,000-seat football stadium the type of information it had on at the high school.. per $100 of assessed valuation if the referendum and the way: it was approved. Under that rate, the received. See PLAN, Page 9A oWner of a house assessed at the township average of $171,100 would pay $2,823 in school taxes this year, down $17 from last year. Voters will determine the fate of Can EPA plan the $50.3 million tax levy. The school board will hold a public hearing on the budget Mon­ day at 8 p.m. According to school officials, for Route d2 the district took advantage of a $9,3 million windfall in state aid to create a budget that includes about 30 capital projects and reduces the stand scrutiny? tax rate by less than 1 percent. South Brunswick , will receive $15.6 million from the state in core .By Steve Bates curriculum aid for the coming Staff Writer ' school year. The aid increase is in­ tended to make up for the $14,5 South Brunswick officials want million in additional aid the_ district to know if a federally suggested al­ would have received in th e, ternative to Route 92 can work. 1997-1998 and 1998-1999 school The plan, floated by the federal South Brunswick Mayor Debra years had a “cap” on aid riot been Environmental Protection Agency Johnson has asked township pro­ in effect. The state lifted the cap last year when it nixed environ­ fessional staff to review the EPA this year for districts with large en­ mental permits for the limited-ac­ alternative before the federal Army rollment . Increases; District offi­ cess toll road, calls for upgrades on Corps of Engineers holds its hear­ cials Say aid levels next year Route 32 in South Brunswick and ing on the proposed highway should at least rnatch this year’s alterations to other intersections in March 29. .' level.. -'-'' staff photo by John Keating town and in neighboring Plainsbo- In addition, South Brunswick ro... The Aimj^ Corps is reviewing will receive a little more than $1 The EPA plan has been criti­ plans for the highway, which million in debt service^ aid for Jump, jive and wail cized by Middlesex County and would link Route 1 at Ridge Road to the N.J. Turnpike at Exit 8A, 1999-2000.^ Deby Carl, jamming away on the air saxophone to Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock & Roll,” was among Plainsboro officials as unworkable, because the EPA refused to issue , . The budget sets aside $60.7 those in attendance Friday night at the Monmouth Junction School St. Patrick’s Day dance. The but is supported by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, an envi­ environmental permits. The EPA million' for the day to day opera­ night featured some bid-time rock ‘n’ roll tunes, games, food — and a whole lot of fun. For more pho­ tions of the district. The plan dedi­ ronmental group that believes pub­ said the N.J. Turnpike Authority, cates $5.2 million to capital proj- tos, see Page 7A, lic money should be. used to im­ which is proposing the road, had ectSi $6.1 million for debt service prove existing roads rather than to and $1.2 millioriVor special educa- build new ones. See BJ.9Z, Page 8A ' tion, facilities acquisition and other special federal and\ocal projects.. District officials say enroll-, ment is a primary jeason for the spending increasfeTnrOllrnent has A positive risen, steiidilyifom 4,7.31 students New owner in 1993-1994 to 6,671,. according to school Business Administrator Jeff Sco.tt. role model Sec SPENDING, I4A for SB mall By Bernadette Yannacci By Steve Bates staff Writer Staff W riter Index 1 Ebonee Johnson is a young woman who believes The new owner of the South Brunswick Square in herself. : Capsules 11A Mall hopes to use its power as a shopping center com­ The charming, soft-spoken South Brunswick High IB pany to fill two empty anchor spaces and get the mall School senior hopes her example inspires other Afri­ Classified back on its feet, according to the mall’s former leasing can-American youth to .set goals and make them hap- Editorial 6A director. .pen... ^ The Route 1 mall was purchased March 9 by DLC The 17-year-old honor student credits her role as Obituaries 5A Management of White Plains, N.Y., from Lennar As­ the president of the New Brunswick Area Youth sociates of Atlanta. Council of the NAACP with helping her foster a sense Police 3A DLC become the fourth owner of the struggling of self-confidence and pride. 10-year-old mall, which has been without anchor The NAACP, which recently celebrated its 90th Schools 10A stores since Rickel Home Centers closed in 1996 and anniversary, has always been a big part of the Johnson Janiesway folded in 1995. Grand Union supermarket family. The involvement of her parents, Reginal and Sports 15A is the mail’s only remaining anchor store. Bernice, in tlie organization helped Ebonee become Anthony Stapleton, leasing director for Cogswell familiar with it. Realty Group Management of New York, which oper­ Ebonee first became involved in the NAACP at ated the mall for Lennar, would not disclose, the sale age 15 when she participated in its ACT-SO program. price. Representatives of DLC could not be reached ACT-SO stands for “Afro-Academic, Cultural, Tech­ for comment. nological and Scientific Olympics,” and is promoted Mr. Stapleton said DLC will work closer with by the NAACP as a sort of “Olympics of the mind.” merchants in the mall because the company is in the The program is open to African-Americans in grades business of running shopping malls, unlike the former 9-12. The students compete in a vast array of catego­ owner. DLC runs the Sea Court Pavilion in Toms Riv­ ries: music, dance, drawing, painting, mathematics, physics, photography, biology, dramatics, chemistry, er. Yellow Pages “The former owner was a firiancial institution that oratory and entrepreneurship, to name just a few. Looking for a lawyer, a bought the mall as part of a package deal,” said Mr. Ebonee has competed in AGT-SO in the areas of drama and poetry. Once she got a taste of what ACT- car dealer, an old school Stapleton. “The new company is looking out for the SO and the NAACP had to offer African-American chum? Check out our mall’s long-term future. This is very good news for South Brunswick.” Staff photo by Bernadette Yannacci youth, Ebonee knew she wanted to get more involved. Yellow Pages, complete “ACT-SO gave me a lot of pride in who I was. It The mairs first owner, South Brunswick Associ­ Ebbnee Johnson, president of the New Brunsiylck Area Youth Coun­ with maps, at ates, built the shopping center 1989 and went bank- made me supportive of the NAACP because they real- www.packetonline.com. cil of the NAACP, in the living room of her Timper Ponds home. See MALL, Page 14A See POSITIVE, Page 14A V V- 2 A The Central Post Thursday, March 18, 1999 ■T S C H O O L S & G OVERHM ENT ‘jt Unless otherwise specified, all meetings are at the Municipal Building, Ridge Road, Monmouth Junction. School board meetings arc in the South Brunswick High School cafeteria. South Brunswick Cable Television broadcasts meetings of the Township Committee, Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjust­ ment live on channel 27 and the Board of Education live on channel 28.