It was a year of both good and bad for Mantua in 2022, but mostly the former. One perennial controversy continued, and there were stories of people doing good things.
The rail line
The year saw the return of an old project that was first introduced in 1996. The Glassboro-Camden Line (GCL) light rail train is proposed as an 18-mile-long route that will go back and forth between downtown Camden and Rowan University in Glassboro. The line will also run through a number of towns, including Mantua.
The GCL would offer riders an environmentally clean and fast way to beat the dreaded traffic of I-295 and other area highways. The project is being headed by the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA), which will handle the construction.
“It’s very clean diesel,” authority CEO John Hanson said in January. “If you do the research, there are studies that say clean diesel trains can be cleaner than electric trains, depending upon how the electricity is manufactured.”
But despite such reassurances, the project drew almost immediate backlash from residents, whose concerns ranged from environmental issues to eminent domain that could force some of them from their homes. And they wondered whether the $1.6 billion price tag was worth the investment.
“We don’t know what’s in that soil and in those track beds,” Joseph Hetzel, a former member and chairman of Mantua’s environmental commission, said in August, referring to the ground on which the line would be built. “When they start testing, we’ll have a better idea.
“It might be nothing, but I’m sure that there’s something in there,” he added. “Now, I’m not saying that just because they dig it up, that every lake and stream is going to be polluted. But is there a possibility that something could happen? There’s always a possibility.”
Many GCL detractors united in the Facebook group Say No to GCL, which has amassed almost 3,000 members.
“I got involved almost two years ago when I was driving in Mantua and saw the “Say No” signs,” said Hetzel, also a member of the group. “I called my niece, a Mantua resident, and asked what’s up with these signs? She said, ‘Uncle Joe, they’re bringing that train back.’
“Growing up in Wenonah along the tracks, I knew what that meant and joined the resistance,” he added. “We aren’t the best at what we do; we’re the only ones that do what we do.”
Concerns about the GCL spread to Wenonah and Westville.
“I don’t want to lose my home,” said Lisa Masterson, a Westville resident who received a letter saying her home would be taken at a Land Use Board meeting in August. “I was proud to move here, I had a great school. It’s heartbreaking, because I thought it was the end of my road.”
“Nobody should have to start over,” said Westville Land Use Board member Dennis Morina at the same meeting. “I don’t think that’s the intention of the borough council to do that.”
In Mantua, detractors regularly attended meetings hoping for a no vote on the GCL.
“The government needs to be a little bit proactive in seeing the future,” said resident Sean Sepsey at the August township committee meeting. “I think that’s what the resolution would do. If you have every town along those tracks saying we don’t want this, we have concerns about it.
“I think the GCL project is gonna say, ‘If we don’t have government support on it, why are we gonna invest all this money in a project that might not be that successful?’”
Mayor Pete Scirotto and Deputy Mayor Robert Zimmerman have told people multiple times that they have no say on whether the project will happen.
“One thing is 100-percent factual,” the mayor said. “We do not have a say on whether the train comes through Mantua Township, period. I don’t know how much clearer we can be about that. We have no say.”
As of October, the project was in its design and engineering phase, though construction has yet to begin. The line is expected to be completed in 2028.
Government
Scirrotto and committeewoman Eileen Lukens were both reelected to their positions on the Mantua committee this year. In December, it was announced that the township would undergo a property tax revaluation conducted by Gloucester County, the first time in 11 years.
“Our town was slated to be assessed by the county,” said Scirrotto. “It happens when your re-value goes below 80 percent. Property values have gone up in the past few years, so if your property was worth $350,000 before, it’s gonna be $500,000 now.
“People get the wrong information that says their property taxes are gonna go up, but that isn’t the case,” he explained. “It (the property tax) won’t increase because the tax rate will decrease. It’s a complicated process, as some people won’t let the evaluators in because they feel they’re infringing on their privacy.”
The tax rate will not be determined until July.
Education
Clearview Regional High School reintroduced residents to its newest bond referendum this year, one that will support improvements and renovations at the middle and high schools. They include replacing the roof at the middle school, synthetic turf for the high-school’s football field and new emergency generators.
The referendum was on the ballot in November, garnering 6,527 yes votes and 4,748 no votes.
“We appreciate everyone coming to support (the bond referendum),” said Clearview Business Administrator Esther Pennell. “We appreciate the time they took to study it. We’re excited to get the projects.”
Once the referendum passed, the Clearview board of education took the next steps by approving a voice-activated fire alarm system, along with the generators and the roof repair.
“They will be the first (projects) to get started,” said Pennell. “A lot of our systems are beyond their useful life. They’re old. The roof replacement should happen this summer (2023). The fire alarms will happen in both schools this summer as well.
“The emergency generators depend on when they arrive, which is 12 months after we’ve ordered, so it should arrive sometime next year,” she added. “But they probably won’t be installed until February or March of 2024.”
The May murders of 19 students and two teachers at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school shocked Mantua and the country. Township officials took notice and decided something needed to be done to increase security at its schools.
Beginning in June, the township began hosting private, three-town roundtable discussions between officials in Mantua, Wenonah and Harrison Township. Wenonah shares a police department with Mantua, while both Harrison and Mantua students attend Clearview schools.
“We have to try everything that we can do,” Scirrotto said at an August meeting. “We’re all trying to stay on the same page. One of our ideas is to try and get bulletproof glass in the foyer of our schools. “The second idea that was brought up was upgrading the camera system.
“We’re in the last part of our budget this year,” he added. “The schools have their own tax system, and we have to work with them.”
Scirrotto was joined at the meeting by Harrison Mayor Louis Manzo and Wenonah Mayor John Dominy.
Mantua schools held a Parents as Partners event in October at Centre City Elementary School, to keep the district’s parents informed about emergency response protocols.
“The district’s Parents as Partners event reviewed … improvements and changes to school security,” said school Superintendent Christine Trampe, specifying a review of Standard Response Protocol (SRP) implemented in schools this year. The protocol organizes tactics for response to weather events, fires and other safety threats.
“The development of the SRP was created with extensive collaboration between experts such as first responders, public safety, school, districts, and communities,” Trampe noted. “Its tactics are data driven, researched and based on experience and contemporary practices.
Stories of goodwill
Scirotto decided in 2022 to swear in newly promoted police officers at committee meetings, including officer Tyler Ciaccio in March.
“It was great,” said Sgt. Jason Lipsett, an officer sworn in by Scirrotto in October. “We all went through this promotional process where we had to study and do an oral presentation. Everyone did exceptionally well. I was already a corporal at that time and was lucky enough to get this spot.”
The police department also gave residents a glimpse behind the police uniform at its Coffee with a Cop event in October.
“The goal is to have a simplified event where people get to interact with officers, so it doesn’t require a whole lot of organization,” said Wenonah Police Chief Darren White. “There is no agenda and no intimidation on our part.
“We try to set them up in a high traffic area so people can come and ask questions,” he added. “This time, we had a horse from the state police come out. We also let kids get involved by letting them inside our cars and letting them turn on the siren.
“There’s a national (Coffee with a Cop) day every year, but we try to hold a couple of them every year.”
June saw the Mantua school district host its first multicultural fair and art show. Sept. 18 was recognized as national Pitt Hopkins Syndrome Day through a proclamation presented to Anthony Mirigliani, a Mantua resident with the disease.
Pitt Hopkins Syndrome is a genetic chromosomal disease that can lead to delayed development intelligence disabilities, vision issues and difficulty breathing, among other issues. There is currently no cure, but there are treatment options for dealing with symptoms.
The township has for years worked with Mirigliani’s mother Claudette to host fundraisers and educate the community about the rare disease, which affects between 1 in 34,000 and 1 in 41,000 people, according to the Pitt Hopkins Research Foundation.
““I had no idea about the disease prior to Anthony’s diagnosis,” said Deputy Mayor Robert Zimmerman. “If you ask around Mantua, most people will not know about it.”
“Every year, the mother reaches out to me, and they do some type of fundraiser,” he added. “I’ve known the Mirigliani family for over 30 years and I’ve helped them since Anthony was diagnosed. I give credit to the family for being very open about it. They’ve helped educate us about it and we’re thrilled about helping.”
The year 2022 in Mantua closed with a winter festival held at Chestnut Branch Park this month to welcome the holiday season. Thousands showed up to see the park lights.
“We get everybody together (every year) to kick off the holiday season. It was beautiful,” said Scirrotto, who was at the four-hour event. “It was a little cold, but it was a great night. There were fireworks there, which people enjoyed because they’re usually a 4th of July thing.
“It seemed like they went on forever.”
