Letters-Oct. 23, 2003

Holcombe House

needs more ‘friends’
To the editor:
   Lambertville City Hall occupies the former residence of A.H. Holcombe, a wealthy Lambertville businessman and attorney.
   The house was constructed in 1870 as a wedding present for his new wife in the fashionable Third French Empire Victorian style. The front porch now documented by a 1912 Sanborn fire map is in the Tuscan Victorian manner similar to the porch on the Reinboth building on the northeast corner of Delaware and Union.
   Upon receiving permission from Mayor Del Vecchio in 1997, I was free to pursue means of rehabilitating this historic resource of our city. To this end, a series of fund-raising events were held and grant applications written and filed by the undersigned.
   A grant application for a preservation plan was awarded by the New Jersey Historic Trust in a highly competitive application process based entirely on the merits of the rehabilitation of the city’s historic treasure. This application process is absolutely free of any political or outside influences. By its very construction by the State of New Jersey, the Trust answers only to its own board of recognized experts schooled in the fields of historic preservation and material culture.
   The initial fund-raising event was held at the River Horse Brewery with food donated by Dan Whitaker of the Lambertville Station with the Lambertville Fire Company and the Lambertville-New Hope Ambulance and Rescue Squad exhibiting their equipment while explaining the roles they play in our town emergency response structure to new residents.
   Two more social fund-raisers were held — Gourmet Grazing at the Fish House and the Spring Soiree at Hamilton’s Grillroom, both successful due to the generosity of our restaurant community, the squad. the Fire Police and concerned citizens.
   An unexpected civic pride event that evolved into a fund-raiser was the restoration and redux of the Skinner Nanni Depression Era films by Bob Heath. Over 100 copies were sold, and the film is now in the New Jersey State Police Museum. It received a wonderful review in a film festival this spring.
   The funds generated paid in full for the Victorian gas luminaries in front of our City Hall. Funds remained, so after an exhaustive search, an appropriate cast and wrought iron fence was located, purchased, restored. The front of the A.H. Holcombe House is now graced with part of the inventory of the fence; the remaining to be placed after the building is rehabilitated. Again, no taxpayer monies were spent in this process.
   However, in conclusion, participation is needed in another fund-raiser because the installation process unfortunately ran into more cost than there is money in the checking account. The town’s folk have shown tremendous support and the business community’s open generosity in the attempt to impart a period residential look to a historic structure we, as citizens own. Without Jim Hamilton and my most tolerant wife, Barbara, these installations would most likely not have occurred.
   In other matters of the same subject, the cost associated with the rehabilitation of the building documented by the preservation plan prepared by a firm that only specializes in this discipline of architecture are as follows: $1,200,000 to completely rehabilitate the structure from top to bottom inside and out. These costs to the taxpayer would be reduced by $600,000 from a successful 50 percent grant from the New Jersey Historic Trust.
   The use of a grant for barrier-free bathrooms, elevator and a second set of fireproof stairs from a federal program that is passed through the state that counts as part or the town’s 50 percent obligation, about $300,000. The net cost to Lambertville taxpayers would therefore be about $300,000 for the complete use of the 6,000-square-foot building.
   The Friends of the A.H. Holcombe House, the financial legal structure instituted to raise monies to purchase furniture, art and objects of Victorian era material culture, have already realized their goal of enhancing the exterior to a residential period look. The next phase would be to purchase art, furnishings and objects to redefine the municipal use of the building into a sense of the residence of the Victorian period.
   In order to accomplish this, the process needs "doer" folks to keep on, keeping on. A meeting will be scheduled shortly to plan this next phase of fund-raising.

Council president

asks for vote
To the editor:
   For the past four years I have had the honor to serve as New Hope’s Borough Council president.
   During that time, with the support of some hard-working council members and wonderful volunteers, much has been accomplished.
   I want to thank all of you who have supported our goals, and I ask for your vote Nov. 4.
   I also urge you to vote for my running partners, Geri Delevich and Rey Velasco.
   If you have any questions or need an absentee ballot, please call any one of us. My number is (215) 862-9175.

Why did

horn stop?
To the editor:
   Am I the only one who’s noticed the noon horn sound-off down at Columbia firehouse has ceased?
   It was always such a lovely sound, yes?
   I only pray the situation is not a temporary one. Any idea to whom I should send my thank-you card?

‘Liars’ follow

Torricelli
To the editor:
   What a dilemma for us small-town bumpkins.
   Who do we believe, the Lambertville police officer doing his duty or a big time politician who recently moved to the area after ending his bid for re-election during a scandal?
   If I’m not mistaken, during the scandal, Torricelli was always being quoted in the newspapers as saying, "David Chang is a liar."
   I picked up the paper today, and now Torricelli says, "Officer Housman is a liar." What a dilemma.
   Here are a few thoughts. Maybe David Chang is Officer Housman’s uncle? Liars are following Torricelli around the countryside, just waiting to tell a lie about him? How about this one, we may be small-town people, but we are not stupid.
   I hope this type of conduct doesn’t affect our local government or is my hope a little late?

Mayor is

‘ethical guy’
To the editor:
   Let me see if I have this right: Larry Keller received money for marrying people — something I thought was an option, but not a duty or responsibility of being mayor.
   Then he gave the money to local organizations such as the fire company and the rescue squad, kept none of it for himself and gave thousands of dollars to diverse charities.
   He did this on his own time, often on weekends, and sometimes even offered his own home for the service.
   I think the mayor’s political opposition has accomplished one unfortunate thing: to guarantee the Mayor never performs another marriage. And who can blame him if he doesn’t.
   Unfortunately many local charities will be out substantial sums of money that is important to their survival.
   Speaking of charities I haven’t heard one word of support from any of them. I guess they "didn’t want to get involved." Hopefully, that will change.
   By the way, when you look up ethics in the dictionary, it is defined as a discipline that deals with good and evil or moral principles or practice. I’d say our mayor is a very ethical guy.

Del Vecchio ‘listens’

to community
To the editor:
   I have been living in Lambertville nearly two years now after about 35 years in suburban Mercer County and am happy to say that I am glad I made the move.
   This is a great little community with great benefits to the residents, not just the visitors.
   I have had the pleasure of meeting Mayor Del Vecchio and am impressed with his dedication to this community and the leadership he has given it. He is one of those rare public officials who listens to the community and responds with a solution.
   The community has benefited from his leadership in obtaining state and federal funds to improve community facilities and programs. He deserves our support for re-election.

City should review

closed session policy
To the editor:
   I was very surprised to hear Lambertville City Council holds closed session meetings.
   I thought that only happened in Washington, D.C., during intelligence briefings, but several sources have assured me it is OK, and that it should be used for special situations.
   After inquiring more into the matter, I discovered closed sessions are conducted or declared during council meetings, and the results are not always made public. It’s starting to sound like intelligence briefings, without the intelligence.
   Not making the results known only generates mistrust, gossip and allows things to be passed without public knowledge.
   Maybe it would be a good idea for City Hall to review the closed session policy and put restrictions on its use. What do you think?
   It may be another good question to ask the mayoral candidates when they knock on your door.

City ‘prospered’

under mayor
To the editor:
   We are writing to express our support for the re-election of Dave Del Vecchio as our mayor.
   The reasons are simple. Dave has kept the tax rate stable while leading the fight to maintain a high quality of life in our town. We love our historic library and look forward to the new community building.
   Dave has worked tirelessly to keep Lambertville our community. He led the fight to ban massive tractor-trailers from barreling through Route 29, Route 179 and Route 165. Most recently, he spearheaded the development of a traffic-calming plan that will make our streets safer for our children.
   Dave also promoted the redevelopment of Connaught Hill to provide families with the opportunity to build affordable homes.
   And Dave knows there is still work to be done. That’s why he wants to expand our recreation fields so our children have even more opportunities. Dave also wants to broaden the truck ban to increase the safety of our streets.
   Lambertville has truly prospered under the leadership of Dave Del Vecchio. We urge everyone to support our mayor Nov. 7.

How would noise

law be enforced?
To the editor:
   It’s grand thing what the mayor and others are doing regarding the issuance of a noise ordinance.
   Motorcycles and music from the Stockton Inn are being cited for the reason to institute this ordinance.
   A few things come to mind. How is this ordinance to be enforced? And what about the noise created by quarry trucks?
   As was mentioned in a previous letter to the editor, another township, Hopewell, recognizes that when these behemoths, quarry trucks downshift instead of braking, they cause a lot of extra noise. Hopewell has signs posted when entering the township stating that there is an ordinance prohibiting engine braking. This is easier to enforce than arbitrarily saying something is too loud.
   Since we do not have a police force, maybe we should get something like Solebury has that photographs the offending vehicle only. Instead of measuring speed, the device would measure decibels and photograph the vehicle, then a ticket would be issued.
   Big question is, why is the issue concerning quarry trucks and their noise not mentioned? Why?

Congressman Holt

endorses Del Vecchio
To the editor:
   I know first-hand how hard Dave Del Vecchio works on behalf of Lambertville.
   That is why I am writing to urge Lambertville voters to re-elect him.
   I often hear from Dave about ideas he has for helping the people of Lambertville. When I reflect on what makes Lambertville such a good community, I immediately think of Dave’s work in preserving the historical integrity of buildings in the city, renovating Ely sports field, banning large trucks on routes 29, 179 and 165 and planning various community events.
   In a difficult economic climate, Dave has held the line on taxes for municipal services and provided cost-effective government. Dave is persistent and creative in pursuing federal and state grant funding for needed improvements in Lambertville. And his persistence has paid off time and again.
   From personal experience I can tell you that Lambertville has a fine mayor.
   I hope the voters will keep him.

City has ‘positive’

improvements
To the editor:
   I do not write a lot of letters, but found myself so disappointed in the viewpoint expressed by the "real Lambertvillian" in the Oct. 16 edition that I wanted to reply.
   Lambertville is my home but I was not born here nor have I lived here all my life. I know a lot of my neighbors, old and new, and we look out for each other pretty well.
   The quality of life in our city is obviously a high priority for all of us, regardless of our increasingly diverse backgrounds, and it serves no useful purpose to draw lines between who is and is not regarded by the author as a "real" resident. We, all together, make this community great.
   It seems that there is less "complacency" in Lambertville than overall satisfaction with the improvements, restorations and renovations that have occurred in recent years. I have lived in Lambertville long enough to know that it is not Mayor Dave Del Vecchio’s fault that the grocery store came and went or that there is a water problem sometimes when it rains a lot.
   In fact, it seems to me that things like stable taxes, the renovated Ely Field and upgrades in the city’s roads and drainage systems and a bustling downtown are proof that our quality of life has increased in many ways during recent years.
   I wholeheartedly support those kinds of positive improvements and Mayor Del Vecchio.

Gazzillo is

‘people’s mayor’
To the editor:
   To the people of the town of Lambertville who don’t know Chris Gazzillo, as being the sister of Chris, growing up with him, I know he believes in his town.
   Chris stands by his words and fights for what are right.
   Chris was born and raised in Lambertville. He was married to the late Donna Gazzillo. They resided in town. He and Donna had a daughter, Erin, who was raised here.
   Chris comes from a large family with many brothers and sisters who are still residents of Lambertville. They are raising their families here.
   Chris was a fire commissioner for years. He is still a very active and dedicated volunteer fireman.
   Dedication is just one of many of Chris’s strong points. He has seen some good and not so good changes in our town over the years.
   Chris is very concerned about our seniors, our children and the cost of living in the town for them. We need to get our city back to being affordable to live and stay.
   Chris believes in his town and the people in it. Please help do your share by getting out Nov. 4 and voting for Chris Gazzillo, the people’s mayor.
   Let’s get our town back to what it once was!

Walkathon, fall

carnival, success
To the editor:
   Oct. 17 and 18, the community spirit of Delaware Township came alive as the Delaware Township School PTA held a walkathon and fall harvest carnival to raise funds for a new school playground.
   The walkathon had the students in grades pre-K through eighth, teachers, parents, Mike Hesington and Barbara Blackwell go on a .7 mile walk around local community roads. Delaware Township Police helped by crossing the children and closing these roads for approximately three hours while the walk took place.
   ShopRite and the Colalillo family was generous as always and supplied lunch, beverages and DTS aprons to all adult volunteers that day. Parents and members of the Board of Education cheered as the students left the building and returned.
   The PTA served cherry Italian ice to all walkers. Smiles were seen on all faces that day around the school. The day ended with a high-spirited pep rally in the gym. The pep rally celebrated the success of the walkathon and geared everyone up for the harvest carnival the next day.
   The Student Council led cheers by grade and as a large group. The wonderful teachers challenged the principal that if they raised funds for the playground would she match it.
   At the pep rally, Mrs. Blackwell (Mrs. BB) handed the PTA an envelope containing $1,000 — $500 from the teachers and her personal matching contribution of $500. Way to go. The students, teachers and PTA all cheered this fantastic donation.
   Barbara Berardo, walkathon chairperson, then told all the students that as a single person, the goal to meet our playground needs would be difficult to meet, but when we work as a team, we can achieve our goals. Barbara, Linda Ubry, Carole Pulkowski and Michele Wu then took our playground fund thermometer and added tape that put up the amount that was raised by the walkathon up and over the goal of $59,000. Cheers, clapping and tears were seen throughout the gym.
   Way to go, DTS!
   A big thank you goes out to all students, teachers, Mr. Hesington, Mrs. BB, parents and the community for helping us raise $28,000 on our walkathon. The weather was beautiful the next day for the carnival, which helped celebrate the success of the walkathon. Families started arriving around noon and left with tired, happy children around 4 p.m.
   Everyone was treated to 27 games, seven inflatable rides, food, vendors, crafters, a silent auction, spirit wear and bake sales and music. Members of the Student Council, parents, teachers, members of the Board of Education, community leaders, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts volunteered to work the games and the inflatable rides throughout the day.
   Parents, students and teachers volunteered ahead of time to work, but we had many teachers, students and parents show up the day of the event and volunteer their time because they had a free hour and wanted to help. Smiles were abundant that day on all in attendance.
   To quote a saying heard at the carnival, "Delaware Township School Rocks!"
   A large thank you goes out to the chairpersons and families of these events — Ms. Berardo and Ms. Pulkowski, walkathon chairpersons; Ted Ellis, operations chairperson; Ms. Wu, spirit chairperson; Scott and Karen Falk, logistics, capital contribution and silent auction chairpersons; and Ms. Ubry, carnival.
   These folks started work on these events back in July and have done a fantastic job of pulling this all together. They put together effective teams of volunteers, sacrificed a lot of family time, brought their children to many meetings (that sometimes ran late into the night) and gave unselfishly of themselves. They made my job as president of the PTA easy.
   Thank you to all the parents that were on these teams. You did an awesome job.
   The Delaware Township Police Department provided security and parking for both events; the Stockton Fire Company Rescue Squad provided trained first aid personnel and their ambulance both days to assist with any first aid needs that may have arisen; the Sergeantsville Volunteer Fire Company provided tables and ice for the carnival; and the Racioppi and Kell families, along with Hot Rods in the Lebanon area, kept the masses fed during the carnival with wonderful food.
   Thank you to all of these wonderful people.
   Both days would not have been the success they were without the DTS custodial team. These folks helped with setup and cleanup at both events, and they opened up classrooms for our working meetings and continued to have a smile on their face throughout it all. Thank you.
   To all the local businesses that donated funds, gift certificates and products for our silent auction, thank you.
   As you can tell the weekend was a great success. The Delaware Township community is extremely generous with the volunteering of their time and energy.
   As a parent and long-time resident of Delaware Township, I am proud to be a part of the DTS School community. Thank you to all.
   Our playground construction will start soon. Look for our ribbon-cutting ceremony. Everyone is invited.

Buchsbaum works

hard for township
To the editor:
   As five former mayors of West Amwell, we want our friends and neighbors in the township to know it is very important that they join us and re-elect Peter Buchsbaum to West Amwell Township Committee Nov. 4.
   We have known Pete for many years. One of us has run against him, but mostly we have worked with him to make West Amwell a better place to live. During the last three years we have watched as Pete has earned another term on Township Committee through his hard work and dedication to the people of West Amwell.
   Pete has been a leader in preserving open space in the township and in addressing the needs of township residents on Connaught Hill. His professional experience has helped the township identify tens of thousands of dollars in cost-savings by updating insurance coverage. He has also shown leadership as the township finishes revisions to a master plan that is designed to preserve West Amwell’s rural farming community character.
   In the coming years, West Amwell residents will see increased pressures to drastically alter the way of life we enjoy. We need Pete’s proven ability to meet these forces head-on so we can keep West Amwell the way it is.
   There are many other things that Pete has done for West Amwell. But in addition to the hard work and countless hours he has devoted to our township, we have seen in Pete someone whose heart is in the right place. He and his wife, Elaine, have been in West Amwell for many years, and we have watched them raise their three sons here.
   West Amwell has benefited greatly from Pete’s service to our community.
   He overwhelmingly deserves re-election for another three years on the West Amwell Township Committee.