Ad Populos, Non Aditus, Pervenimus Published Every Thursday Since September 3, 1890 (908) 232-4407 USPS 680020 Thursday, March 9, 2006 OUR 116th YEAR – ISSUE NO. 10-2006 Periodical – Postage Paid at Westfield, N.J. www.goleader.com [email protected] SIXTY CENTS Stop & Shop Purchases Former Merrill Lynch Bld. for $1.95 Mil. By PAUL J. PEYTON Shop bought out the lease from its (on the existing building or 195 Elm Specially Written for The Westfield Leader landlord. County records indicate that Street),” said Robert Keane, a spokes- WESTFIELD – The Stop & Shop Stop & Shop purchased 195 Elm person for the Quincy, Mass.-based Supermarket Co., LLC has completed Street for $195,000 on February 6. Stop & Shop Company. the purchase of its Westfield store, “I can confirm that we purchased The adjacent building, located at located at 233 and 219 Elm 203 Elm, which houses of- Street, as well as purchas- fices for three state legisla- ing a non-contiguous prop- tors and a dentist, is located erty at 195 Elm Street, ac- between the former Merrill cording to public records Lynch building and the su- released by the town permarket property, abutting assessor’s office. The Stop & Shop’s parking lot. Westfield Leader has been Lawyer Paul Williams and unable to confirm whether local dentist Dr. Sheldon Stop & Shop will purchase Glickman have owned the an adjacent building, building at 203 Elm Street which lies between 195 for more than 30 years, Mr. Elm and the supermarket Williams told The Leader. property. “No one has approached According to records us,” Mr. Williams responded Ben Corbin for The Westfield Leader from the Union County when asked if Stop & Shop THE KID-IN-THE-HAT...Children at Tamaques Elementary School dress up in Dr. Seuss hats as part of the school’s Clerk’s office property Victoria McCabe for The Westfield Leader was looking to purchase his second-annual Read-a-Thon on Monday. search website, the store PURCHASE COMPLETED...Stop & Shop has bought its building. “We haven’t heard building, right, and the 195 Elm Street property, left. A lawyer and existing parking lot and a local dentist own the 203 Elm Street property, center. anything.” were purchased from When he was told by The John Morgan Reflects On Years as Weldon Materials, Inc. for $3.2 mil- those properties but we cannot make Leader the selling price for 195 Elm lion on November 18, after Stop & any official announcement at this time Street, Mr. Williams responded, “I’ll be damned.” The building is the home of the state Westfield Parking Services Director Vehicle Strikes Crossing 21st legislative district offices of Sen. Tom Kean, Jr. and Assemblymen Jon By CHRISTIE STORMS consuming task. The Metric Group’s dling all parking-related phone calls. Bramnick and Eric Munoz. Chief of Specially Written for The Westfield Leader pay stations had already been purchased, Mr. Morgan cited the many ben- Guard at Intersection Staff Elizabeth Cornwell said the build- WESTFIELD — There are many but were not being used. efits of the new pay-station parking By SUZETTE F. STALKER know whether any children were in ing has housed a legislative office since things John Morgan will miss now What concerned Mr. Morgan the system that he implemented with the Specially Written for The Westfield Leader the process of crossing when the ac- 1986, when former State Assembly that he has resigned as Westfield’s most was that parking functions were Metric Group. WESTFIELD – A longtime cident happened. No one was injured Speaker Chuck Hardwick relocated parking services director, a position spread all over town. If someone had “People used to complain that they Westfield crossing guard was struck besides the guard, and the motorist his office from Quimby Street to Elm he held for the past three years. a question or a problem, he or she was got a ticket because they didn’t have by a motor vehicle while on duty last was not issued any citations, he said. Street. She said the current state lease “The best part of my job was that I redirected to several different depart- any change for the meter,” he said. week but was able to return to his post Sergeant Scott Rodger of the for their first floor office expires at the got to be downtown everyday,” said Mr. ments. “Now you have pay stations that take within two days, authorities confirmed. Westfield Police Department told The end of 2007. Morgan, who recently began his new He discussed these concerns when coins, tokens and dollar bills.” According to Captain Clifford Leader that Mr. Miller was treated Morgan Stanley brokerage, which position as national sales manager with the town approached him about be- Meter capacity has extended from Auchter of the Westfield Police De- and released from Overlook Hospital had offices on the first and second the Metric Group in Cranbury, the com- coming parking director, replacing two hours to four hours for short- partment, John “Chic” Miller, 79, was and was back at work by Friday. floors, moved to Summit months ago. pany that installed the pay stations in Barry Sommers, who had left the term meters, and there is a “10 min- on the job at 8:08 a.m. March 1 at the Westfield. He has spent the past three position within a matter of months. utes free” button on on-street meters intersection of North Avenue and Tuttle years collaborating with them as town Mr. Morgan reported that he got for quick trips. Parkway near Roosevelt Intermediate Zoning Questions Delay parking director. nothing but cooperation from the past “Metric also has the only system School when the incident occurred. Leaving the position is bittersweet, and current mayor and town councils. where you can monitor everything by Captain Auchter said the driver of a he said. “It’s not something I was The parking department he helped computer,” Mr. Morgan said, explain- Chrysler wagon, identified as Ol Redevelopment Repeal looking to do.” create has five enforcement people ing that every machine is connected Pessolano, 42, of Westfield, was at- By MICHAEL J. POLLACK the status of repealing the redevelop- However, when Metric presented who rotate between enforcement, traf- to the main server at the police de- tempting to make a left turn onto North Specially Written for The Westfield Leader ment distinction. In the last month, their offer, it was too good to refuse. fic control and collecting, as well as partment via wireless network. Avenue from Tuttle Parkway when WESTFIELD – In a brief confer- the council came to a consensus to Mr. Morgan described the challenges four part-time office employees. From his desk, Mr. Morgan can get she struck the guard. The driver stated ence session Tuesday, town council repeal the distinction, which came he faced when he first took the helm as As the director of parking services, an instant reading on how many spots that she didn’t see the guard as she was members discussed further the le- about as a precursor to launching a Westfield’s parking director in Febru- Mr. Morgan oversaw all parking op- are empty and can monitor which making the turn, Captain Auchter said. galities of repealing the redevelop- parking deck. ary 2003. At that time, he had already erations. This included issuing per- areas are the busiest. Mr. Miller, a Westfield resident, ment distinction of lots one and eight, While Town Attorney Robert been serving the town for almost 30 mits, selling parking tokens and cards, The system will notify him instantly complained of pain in his leg follow- and the first non-conforming corner Cockren did present a draft of the years as a member and eventually cap- handling parking enforcement and if a maintenance issue arises, such as ing the accident and was transported lot addressed under new development repeal, he said the paperwork is “pre- tain of the special police. collecting revenue, as well as han- CONTINUED ON PAGE 10 to Overlook Hospital in Summit. He regulations designed to curtail over- liminary” and wished to speak with “We had some meters that were 10 has been a crossing guard for 18 years. development. the town planner, who he hasn’t had years old, and some that were 50. You Captain Auchter stated that Mr. During the citizens’ open discus- the opportunity to consult with. He could get two hours for a quarter on WACC President Miller was standing in the street when sion, Sharon Stockwell and Allan said redevelopment plans were some, and on others it was 50 cents he was struck, although he didn’t Solomon questioned the council on adopted before the council enacted for an hour,” he recalled. “It was a its special redevelopment ordinances. dysfunctional situation.” Allison O’Hara Resigns “There is no law on the subject. It’s He said some meters either didn’t By CHRISTIE STORMS Getting businesses to talk with other Board OKs Scaled-Down an issue of first impression. I want work at all or had been removed and Specially Written for The Westfield Leader businesses, as well as providing ser- (town planner) Blais’s (Brancheau) never replaced, and collecting revenue WESTFIELD — Allison O’Hara, vices for new businesses that are “just CONTINUED ON PAGE 10 from each individual meter was a time- president of the Westfield Area Cham- getting off the ground,” will also con- Building on Central Ave. ber of Commerce (WACC), has offi- tinue to be goals. By KIMBERLY A. BROADWELL Mr. Winkle added that the basement cially announced her plans to resign According to Hans Winberg, chair- Specially Written for The Westfield Leader parking had been revised to fit the new WF BOE, Town Council effective Friday, April 28.