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MANVILLE: Graffiti ordinance passes first reading

By Audrey Levine, Staff Writer
   Despite prior concerns about the graffiti problem in town, Councilman Steve Szabo was the lone vote against the introduction of an ordinance that would require property owners to clean it from their buildings within a designated amount of time.
   ”I don’t believe property owners should be liable to clean it in 90 to 120 days, then get a fine if they don’t clean it,” he said in a separate interview. “We should make the perpetrators pay for it and clean it.”
   According to the ordinance, property owners will be required to remove any graffiti within 90 days of the date a note is sent by the borough.
   If the graffiti is not removed within the required time, the borough can take care of the removal and is authorized to require the property owner to pay back any costs incurred by the municipality. The borough also would be authorized to charge the owner for the assessment of the cost of removal.
   ”I would rather give a longer amount of time (for cleaning) than fine the owners,” Mr. Szabo said.
   This ordinance introduction comes on the heels of three juveniles charged Saturday in connection with the early morning spray painting of 33 buildings — including businesses along Main Street, the business office of Sacred Heart Church, the Veterans of Foreign Wars post and Firehouse No. 3.
   ”Unfortunately, it’s come to a head here,” Councilman Ed Komoroski said in a separate interview. “They were trying to make a mark, and it was a very costly mark for themselves. I want to make sure they get the full blunt of the law.”
   With regard to the ordinance, especially after the most recent incident, Mr. Szabo said he does not think it is fair places like the church will be required to pay for the cleanup of the property. In addition, he said, some business owners will have to repaint an entire outside wall while another will have to replace the roof because of graffiti sprayed there.
   ”I believe they should be able to take the time to do this,” he said. “I don’t agree with (possibly) fining these property owners.”
   The juveniles — ages 17, 15 and 15 with two from Hillsborough and one from Manville — were taken into custody by Manville police early Saturday for spray painting around town.
   ”I was embarrassed,” Mr. Komoroski said. “We are trying to promote a safe community. I look at this stuff, and it looks like an inner city.”
   Still, Mr. Komoroski said, the graffiti should not be construed as anything gang-related, but was merely some kids who “were probably bored.”
   Manville police Chief Mark Peltack said officers are putting together the necessary paperwork and evidence needed to lay charges against the three juveniles for criminal mischief. He said they each will be charged with 33 counts of it for each of the locations.
   If found guilty of the charges, Chief Peltack said, they will be sentenced by a Somerset County judge.
   In addition to the cleanup covered in the ordinance, another provision allows the borough to pay a reward of up to $500 to any person who provides information that leads to the apprehension and conviction of anyone committing an act of graffiti.
   Aside from rewards, Mr. Komoroski said he would like to look into what can be done to prevent these sorts of incidents from happening in the future through grant money for additional police officers or even neighborhood crime watch programs.
   ”(Maybe) we need to bring in additional help to make sure our kids are off the streets or have some kind of neighborhood watch program,” he said. “We can’t expect cops on every corner. Maybe there is grant money for additional officers at certain times of the year.”
   In addition, Mr. Komoroski said, it would be helpful if the 10 p.m. curfew for those under 18 years of age was enforced.
   ”It takes one or two kids to ruin it for everybody,” he said.
   Mayor Lillian Zuza said Monday that she does not understand why the kids were roaming around so late at night.
   ”I always knew where my kids were in the middle of the night,” she said. “That the parents could not know where their children were is reprehensible.”
   At the meeting, Mr. Komoroski said it would be important to have citizen participation in keeping the town clean.
   ”We need to get the citizens involved,” he said. “It’s their town.”
   The public hearing for the ordinance will be held March 23.