This year in Haddonfield saw some news on the Bancroft property, the library’s upgrades and improvements, Grove Street construction, a bond referendum for the school district and a host of other issues. As Haddonfield moves toward a new year, here’s a recap of just some of the events that made headlines in The Sun throughout 2015.
Haddonfield schools general happenings
• On Feb. 5, the Haddonfield Board of Education unanimously passed the teachers’ contracts for July 1, 2014, through June 30, 2017.
When the teachers’ contracts expired in July 2014, it was a long struggle and process to come to an agreement that was mutually acceptable for both sides. The Haddonfield Education Association and the BOE negotiations team tried to come to a compromise themselves, but eventually decided to get a mediator in September 2014.
After a meeting on Nov. 12, 2014, with the assistance of a mediator, both parties reached a tentative agreement on the terms and conditions of employment and signed a memoranda of agreement with increases of 2.7 percent for 2014–2015, 2.5 percent for 2015–2016 and 2.3 percent for 2016–2017.
The HEA ratified the proposed agreement in a previous meeting, and at the Feb. 5 meeting, it was the BOE’s turn to approve, which it did unanimously.
• It was announced at the Haddonfield BOE meeting on Jan. 22 that NerdWallet named Haddonfield Public Schools the №1 school district in New Jersey, where families will get “the most bang for their buck,” by balancing school quality ratings with cost-of-living data. This means that in the state, Haddonfield was determined to be the most cost-efficient school for its quality of education.
• Haddonfield Memorial High School introduced an open campus concept in April. The program allows juniors and seniors with good academic standing and with a parent’s or guardian’s permission to leave the school campus during a lunch or study hall.
Any student not in good academic standing would not have this privilege. If parents choose to opt out, their children would be enrolled in a study hall.
Students who abuse the privilege and who violate the guidelines will have their privilege suspended on a quarterly basis and will be enrolled in a mandatory study hall.
The open campus concept was successful and officially adopted in June.
• On Aug. 19, Newsweek magazine released its annual list of the top 500 high schools in the United States. Once again, HMHS received a high ranking, as it was named №84 of America’s Top High Schools and the №1 ranked public high school in South Jersey.
• U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan recognized Elizabeth Haddon Elementary School as a 2015 National Blue Ribbon School on Sept. 29. Of 285 public schools recognized as National Blue Ribbon Schools, Elizabeth Haddon is just one of 15 schools across New Jersey to receive this award and just one of eight elementary schools.
Elizabeth Haddon was recognized as an exemplary high performing school. These schools are among their state’s highest performing schools as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests. Student subgroup performance and high school graduation rates are also at the highest levels.
New BOE members
At the Haddonfield Board of Education reorganization meeting on Jan. 8, re-elected members of the board were sworn in and a new vice president was named. Andrew Berlin, former vice president of the BOE, announced in December 2014 that he had to leave the board due to work obligations.
“It has been a privilege and pleasure to work with all of you. And, unfortunately, changes in people’s lives don’t always connect with election boundaries. I am looking forward to talking with people and staying friends and volunteering from time to time with things I can help with,” Berlin said.
Glenn Moramarco, Heather Paoli and Michael Drew Hansen were sworn in to the board that meeting. Moramarco was voted unanimously in as president and the new vice president was Hansen.
The board asked for applications to fill Berlin’s seat, and in February interviews were conducted for the new BOE candidate. At the March 20 meeting, Susan Kutner was chosen and sworn in as the newest member to the Board of Education.
November’s BOE election for HPS was contested, as five candidates filed to run for the board’s three open seats.
The only incumbent board member running was Kutner. The new candidates were Joshua Drew, Joseph Evangelisti, Glenn R. George and Adam M. Sangillo.
Maureen Eyles, joining the board in 2012, and Dennis Kelleher, joining in 2008, were the two board members not running for re-election.
The results for the three contested BOE seats will see the incumbent Kutner return to the board with newcomers Sangillo and Drew. Those elected will be officially adopted onto the BOE on Jan. 7 at the reorganization meeting.
Haddonfield BOE approves 2015–2016 budget
The Haddonfield BOE unanimously approved the district’s 2015–2016 school budget on April 30. According to the budget, the average Haddonfield homeowner, with a home assessed at $484,226, would pay an additional $144.03 per year in school taxes, or about $12 more a month.
The proposed budget for the general fund is $36.6 million, with many parts of the expenditures going well above 2 percent. However, the tax total levy for the 2015–2016 year increased by 1.96 percent, which is slightly less than the 2 percent cap the school districts are allowed to increase taxes by annually.
To help reduce the tax levy for residents, the district used $639,455 from the surplus for the general fund budget and $1,134 from the surplus for the debt service fund.
The school also used $1.44 million from capital reserve for district-wide envelope needs, including patches on roofs, masonry and foundations.
Health benefit costs were expected to increase about 11.3 percent from last year. State aid totaled $1.28 million, which is no increase from last year.
No cuts of teachers or programs were made.
Bond referendum proposal finally succeeds
In 2014, HPS was interested in going out for a bond referendum to receive ROD grants from the state for capital improvements. It was decided in December of that year the school district would not pursue the grants, so there was no need for a referendum.
The board made the decision from comments and concerns of the public about not enough time as well as not enough information about what exactly was being fixed or improved upon in schools. HPS decided to take some time to have some better scrutiny of the buildings and seek alternative funding, through debt service, which could benefit more than the ROD grants.
During that time, HPS had architect Steven A. Becica and his engineers do a scrutinizing and detailed review of the HPS facilities in terms of mechanical systems, electrical systems, envelope (or exterior) needs, foundations, brick and roofing. The team went through building by building to see what needs to be addressed.
During the investigations, it was discovered there were emergency structural concerns at Tatem Elementary School and Haddonfield Memorial High School. At Tatem, the 1990 entranceway, the 1923 entranceway and the 1954 section at the back wall of the building showed concerns, mostly entryway and exterior wall façade issues. Architects and engineers also saw the B Gym at HMHS had structural issues in addition to the dance studio and early childhood offices. The exterior façade there shows signs of possible failure. Both problem areas were addressed under Emergency Provisions title 18A:18A-7, which gives the school district the ability to award emergency contracts for health and safety issues without going out to bid. The county as well as fire marshals approved the emergency egress plans that were put in place. The total of the four projects was $850,300.
In September, Becica made a presentation of his findings and proposed a bond referendum for the BOE to consider with a possible vote date in January. The Long Range Planning Committee took Becica’s findings and made its own recommendations.
Residents were concerned about the projects proposed, feeling not all were needed; the high cost of the referendum; the lack of knowledge on the infrastructure needs of the buildings beforehand; and the little time allowed to review the proposed projects.
Listening to public comment, the LRPC went back, cut things that weren’t needed right away, and changed the referendum vote date to March.
On Nov. 19, the BOE approved the school district to submit documentation for the bond referendum to the state and local agencies and call for a special election on Tuesday, March 8. The final referendum proposes a total of $40.9 million with an estimated yearly tax impact of $287 for the average homeowner.
The $40.9 million was split between one large question and a second question split into three parts.
PARCC test refusals and results
In the 2014–2015 academic year, New Jersey adopted the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers assessment to replace the HSPA and previous assessments in the elementary and middle schools, based on the Common Core standards. PARCC tests were split into English/language arts and math sections and taken by students in third to 11th grade. The assessment system was to determine whether students were “on track” for college or career readiness.
For PARCC testing in 2014–2015, testing was eight to 10 days; testing occurred over two weeks in March and April/May; testing was computerized; no model essays or student test samples were available to guide learners; and multiple days of test preparation were required for students to learn how to navigate the Pearson system.
At the BOE meeting on Feb. 19, the question on the district’s school refusal policy was brought up. Superintendent Richard Perry said the district would recognize refusals and put the students who refused the test in an alternative, supervised setting with some sort of alternative educational activity. Perry reminded parents the state Department of Education has said there is no opt out for the test, however parents and students do have the right to refuse.
Moramarco felt troubled by students refusing. He said in his personal opinion this is a new test, just like NJASK and HESPA. However, he thought this was a better test than previous ones and felt parents who don’t let their students take the test are doing them a disservice because this is going to be the test schools will be using, and tests have always helped identify problems with students and within the district.
At the time, assistant superintendent Michael Wilson said district wide, they received less than 20 refusals.
Nothing was heard on the results of the PARCC test until December. Supervisor of Curriculum Craig Ogelby gave the BOE a presentation on the district PARCC scores, covering student participation, district scores compared to state scores, how the data will be looked at and changes for the next PARCC testing in 2016.
Overall, Haddonfield Public Schools performed either at or above the state scores, except in algebra I. The presentation also revealed that 25 percent of students enrolled who were able to take the test refused or had invalid test scores.
The district will use the PARCC data to identify strengths and gaps that exist in curriculum and instruction, inform the conversations of educators when discussing student progress and discuss where additional professional resources are needed to meet learning needs.
Test changes for this academic year include one testing window, 90 minutes overall reductions to tests and fewer test units. Test units were also reduced to three English/language arts units and three or four math units.
General borough happenings
• At a meeting on Feb. 10, commissioners passed by a 2–1 vote a resolution on the censure of Zoning Board of Adjustment member Robert Grady. It was the first of its kind in Haddonfield history, officials said. The meeting, like the votes, held residents who were divided on the topic.
The censure stemmed from a Zoning Board meeting on Sept. 16, 2014, where the resolution stated Grady made inappropriate and insensitive remarks directed at a group of borough residents and a sitting member of the commissioners. At this meeting, Grady called residents on Maple Avenue “wackos” and mispronounced Commissioner John Moscatelli’s last name, which some members of the public and Moscatelli felt was an attack.
According to the resolution, Grady was given numerous opportunities to apologize for his remarks, but failed to do so. To put the issue to rest, the commissioners chose to censure Grady to formally address the remarks, memorialize their displeasure with him and to proclaim such conduct and language as unacceptable. Mayor Jeff Kasko and Moscatelli voted in favor of the resolution of censure and Commissioner Neal Rochford was against it.
The censure did not impair Grady in his duties on the board. He was able to remain on the board, vote, speak and carry out his duties as normal. However, it did publicly denounce his actions and the commissioners’ displeasure with them.
Grady remained on the board until October.
At a Sept. 22 meeting, commissioners adopted the borough’s revised guidelines for board members for all appointed members of borough boards and commissions. The first guidelines were approved in 2008, so the borough decided to update the guidelines. Commissioners thanked the Human Relations Commission for its help in doing so.
• New Jersey American Water’s acquisition of the borough’s water and wastewater system had been approved by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, and the purchase was completed on May 21. NJAW began serving the 4,500 water and wastewater customers in Haddonfield on June 1.
The company plans to make numerous upgrades to Haddonfield’s water and wastewater infrastructure, including upgrading sewer pump stations and replacing water and sewer mains that are nearing the end of their useful lives. NJAW planned to invest approximately $6.5 million over the year and $16 million over the next five years to improve the systems.
NJAW also formed a citizen’s advisory panel, meeting quarterly, and maintained the senior benefits program for at least the next 10 years.
The proceeds, $28.5 million, were used to cover all of the utility debt, and almost all of the borough general obligation debt. The only debt the borough has left is about $600,000 that was authorized in 2015, mostly for purchase of Public Works equipment. Eliminating the vast majority of the borough’s debt frees up about $1.3 million per year in taxes borough residents are currently paying, according to Moscatelli.
In 2015, the commissioners used this money primarily to increase the cash spending on the roads program. Going forward, a large portion of these funds will continue to be used for the roads program, but can also be used for other purposes, including tax reduction.
• Commissioners gave final approval to the borough’s annual budget on Tuesday, June 23. For the second year in a row, there was no property tax increase.
The $16.2 million spending plan represented a 5.98 percent increase over 2014, but froze the local property tax rate for municipal purposes. This was possible due to a healthy surplus, Kasko said.
The Bancroft property could see possible purchase
On March 16, Recovery Centers of America, owned by CEO and developer J. Brian O’Neill, announced it was interested in purchasing the site of the Bancroft School in Haddonfield.
RCA said it plans to continue to operate a licensed behavioral health facility providing drug and alcohol treatment services including assessments, residential, inpatient recovery and outpatient treatment as well as providing resources for family therapy, spiritual services and recovery support meetings such as Al-Anon, Al-Ateen, AA, NA and others.
RCA’s proposal is the latest in a series for the Bancroft property over the past decade. In early 2013, Haddonfield voters defeated a proposal by the school district to purchase the 19.2-acre Bancroft parcel as part of a $15 million bond.
Upon hearing about the pending sale, borough commissioners released a statement that explained their understanding of what the land will be used for, the process RCA must go through for approval and their stance on the proposal. Overall, they would like all those involved to be open and fair in all discussions of the proposal.
Due to the fact that this property is zoned as R-2 (residential, single-family detached homes) with a current, non-conforming use as an educational institution, the commissioners believe RCA will need to seek approval for a use variance by the borough’s Zoning Board of Adjustment.
Any decision by the Zoning Board on a use variance may be appealed to the commissioners. For that reason, the commissioners said they’d remain impartial and refrain from making any public pronouncement or judgment on RCA’s plan or on the merits of an application for a use variance.
RCA said it would enter into a series of public meetings and forums to discuss in detail its intentions for the property. RCA will also work closely with borough officials, stakeholders and residents of Haddonfield.
Citizens came out to the next commissioners’ meeting voicing their concerns over the Bancroft sale to RCA. Citizens felt it was not safe to have a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility so close to the schools, it didn’t meet the R-2 designation and that it would cause traffic problems. Citizens also asked that officials purchase the property, to use for borough and residential use.
In April, hundreds of Haddonfield citizens filled the HMHS auditorium as O’Neill held an open forum to explain his plans for the Bancroft property and to hear citizens’ concerns.
O’Neill unveiled at the community meeting the facility would feature a 120-bed facility with in- and out-patient care in “boutique, hotel-like accommodations.”
O’Neill started off the meeting talking about RCA’s mission, which is “to provide education, treatment and recovery support for substance use and mental health disorders in every neighborhood in America” with the goal “to get 1 million Americans into meaningful recovery.”
He plans to accomplish this with eight rehabilitation and detoxification centers throughout the Northeast.
O’Neill said drug and alcohol problems, especially in Haddonfield, are a “raging epidemic.” He supported his claims with daunting statistics as well as drug- and alcohol-related news articles nationally as well as locally.
In the end, O’Neill said he wishes for a “win-win outcome” for RCA and Haddonfield.
He was met with a mix of hostility and politeness by members of the crowd, receiving boos as well as commendations. While citizens did say a drug and alcohol treatment facility has its benefits and would be great to have, most were against putting it at the Bancroft site.
Most objections revolved around the safety of children at Haddonfield Memorial High School and Tatem Elementary School, traffic problems that could be caused by the center and that the proposed plan didn’t meet the variance required on the site.
Nothing was heard from O’Neill or RCA after that until Tuesday, Aug. 18. According to Rochford, the construction office received a request for a permit on Aug. 3 without a use variance. The borough denied that permit, saying it felt RCA needed a variance. RCA appealed the permit back to the borough on Aug. 17, again denied.
In September, commissioners approved a resolution at their meeting that called for the reinvestigation of the Bancroft site as a redevelopment area. The resolution will reaffirm the two parcels making up the Bancroft site are indeed areas in need of redevelopment and possibly change the designation of the parcels as R2 residential housing areas.
In October, a special planning board meeting was held to look at the Bancroft site as a redevelopment area. Planner Philip Caton of the Trenton firm Clarke Caton Hintz, representing the borough, gave his testimony as to why the Bancroft site should be listed as a redevelopment area. Caton listed five conditions at the site that are persistent problems, qualifying Bancroft for redevelopment. Those five conditions were parking, traffic circulation, storm water management, impervious surface coverage, and the conditions of its buildings and grounds.
A decision by the planning board was not made that night, as after Caton presented his case, attorney Jack Plackter of the Atlantic City-based Fox Rothschild, LLP asked the board for a continuance on behalf of RCA and O’Neill’s holding company, II Hopkins Lane, LLC due to lack of time to study Caton’s reports and the unavailability of their engineer that night. The planning board unanimously approved the continuation of discussions for redevelopment to be moved to December.
At the December meeting, Plackter once again asked for an extension of the redevelopment determination as he revealed a tentative agreement signing over the Bancroft property to Haddonfield is very close to being met.
Plackter said the agreement would sign over O’Neill’s agreement of purchase with Bancroft to the borough and, in turn, the borough would agree to allow O’Neill to do renovations and have developmental rights for a residential development on the site.
According to Borough Solicitor Mario Iavicoli, the two parties have come to a settlement with a purchase price agreement, development agreement and other agreements, however there hasn’t been a final agreement. The necessary documents to move forward were not received until 5 p.m. the night of the meeting, so Iavicoli, as well as the commissioners, did not have time to review it. He also said it would need to be put before the public at a meeting.
Plackter said he believes an agreement would be made by the next Planning Board meeting on Jan. 5.
The redevelopment proposal would still need to go through,whether an agreement is made or not. Moscatelli said if an agreement is made RCA may be there in favor of it, however, if not, they may come with their experts to testify against the proposal.
Haddonfield Public Library renovations are underway
The Haddonfield Public Library sought improvements and an expansion to its site on Tanner Street. The expansion will provide an elevator and handicapped accessible bathrooms. The library’s interior will be reconfigured for complete handicapped accessibility. The renovation will also provide an opportunity to modernize the library to serve Haddonfield residents in the 21st century.
Bids for construction for the library expansion and renovation went out in January.
The board had to go out to bid twice for library improvements, as each time the borough’s estimation on costs were too low. An ordinance was created and approved, calling for an increase of $400,000 for the improvements. This increased the estimated cost of the improvements from $1.8 million to $2.2 million.
Commissioners approved the awarding of the library renovations/addition to Premier Builders Inc.’s bid of $1.77 million for the base bid with three alternate amounts of $185,000, $35,000 and $18,000.
Construction began in June. As of December, the 2,000 square foot addition on Tanner Street is under construction. The addition will house an elevator and handicapped accessible bathrooms. The library roof is being replaced as well.
The library will be closed into spring 2016.
To help provide funding for the library’s long awaited expansion and renovation, the HPL Library Board of Trustees launched the “We Love Our Library” campaign to provide fundraising for the project. The campaign will raise funds for the enhancements, such as contemporary furnishings, equipment and newer technology throughout the building.
Grove Street construction is close to completion
In August, Camden County started a supposed two-month construction project on Grove Street to address the poor condition of the street and sidewalks. Through a $2.5 million federal highway grant, Grove Street would be completely reconstructed, including new drainage, pedestrian improvements, concrete work and paving.
The improvements on Grove Street had been a year-long endeavor, as the borough and county worked to get the project started. Earlier in July, Grove Street upgrades had been delayed as the county ran into some funding and contracting issues, according to Moscatelli. However, the Grove Street reconstruction project was finalized when the county awarded the project to Lexa Concrete.
According to a release on Aug. 24, traffic was being detoured south on Wood Lane to Hawthorne Avenue. The northbound lane of Grove Street would be open to traffic. Once all concrete work was completed, the contractor would begin road reconstruction for that section. There wouldn’t be a complete shutdown of the road and that the project would hopefully be done by mid-fall, however, those words didn’t remain true as the road was closed until Dec. 1.
According to a release from the borough on Facebook for Dec. 1, the Grove Street project is just about complete. The county replaced all the curbing and driveway aprons, as well as quite a bit of sidewalk along Grove. They also installed some medians and bike lanes for traffic calming. Finally, they paved the entire length of the road. The work is substantially complete, but there are a few minor punch-list items that need to be complete. Decorative street lights will be installed on the two large islands in the streets and trees will be planted in the spring.
605 Warwick Development brought before Planning Board
Last year in December, the borough planning board rejected a proposal, by a vote of 8–1, to divide 605 Warwick Road into three parcels and build three new homes on the site. Applicant/developer Mark DeFeo took it to court, but ultimately suspended the lawsuit.
At the October meeting, the developer submitted a change application to the board, and the board deemed it complete. The developer and his team came back in December to once again propose a three-lot subdivision, but with different dimensions and proposals, addressing concerns from the previous application.
Donald C. Cofsky, attorney for DeFeo, and Salvatore Siciliano, attorney for neighborhood residents who object to the subdivision, faced off afresh addressing the new application that was put before the board by the developer.
The new proposal saw a 13,000 square foot lot fronted by Warwick Road, a 15,600 square foot lot fronted by Warwick and Gill roads, and a 21,400 square foot lot fronted by Treaty Elm Lane and Gill Road.
Topics of the comments and questions included stormwater management, lot depth, lot lines, parking areas and traffic studies.
The biggest issue, stormwater management, was addressed by having two types of drainage systems. The one would control roof and patio runoff, creating a subsystem of pipes and chambers that would allow for slower release, easier cleaning and easier repair if a problem were to occur. The second was a subsystem underneath the driveways. The system would allow for water runoff storage and release of water at a slow rate. Each house would have its own completely separate system. For these systems, a maintenance manual would be provided for future owners. Each property has discharge points that would allow the system to dissipate the water release. This would help to meet the reduction standards recommended, according to Quay.
The meeting, like many before it, was cut short due to time constraints. The next planning board meeting in January will host the hearing beginning with the public’s comments and questions from the public. That meeting will be Jan. 5 at 7:30 p.m. in Borough Hall.
