North Plainfield Library Offering Black History Month Event

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 21, 2009
NORTH PLAINFIELD PUBLIC LIBRARY
CONNECT YOUR CHILD WITH BLACK HISTORY AND CULTURE
BOOKS! ART! MUSIC! FOOD!
Featuring Dynamic Storyteller Julie Pasqual of the Big Apple Circus!
Recommended for ages 5 and up
11:00 AM-12:00 PM
Afterwards, stick around for African American appetizers, music, and literature information while the kids play fun games with African American books as prizes!
12:00 PM- 1:30 PM
Refreshments donated by the Somerset County Mocha Moms. Come meet the Mocha Moms and learn more about this nationwide support group for mothers of color.
Sign up by phone 908-755-7909 or online

Grants give something back to boroughs – mycentraljersey.com

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20090206/OPINION03/902060306/-1/newsfront

When Somerset County freeholders were running out of land to buy with the county’s open-space fund, they wanted to start spending a little of that money to upgrade some of their preserved properties. The idea was to provide more public access to the land, to derive benefits from it beyond the preservation itself.
It was a sensible plan to best use available resources, and voters agreed in 2005, granting permission for up to 25 percent of the fund to be redirected for that purpose.

But the freeholders have had difficulty coming up with worthy projects to which to devote the money. So late last year they hatched a new approach – grants to be awarded to municipalties and school districts to fund athletic-field improvements, particularly artificial turf installation.

The plan was also designed to address another ongoing problem, the inability to give residents of the county’s smaller boroughs a return on their open-space tax dollars. Since those communities have little if any land left to preserve, taxpayers in some municipalities haven’t seen a penny in open-space money come back to their towns. So freeholders said from the start that the boroughs would be given priority in considering grant applications.

This week, freeholders approved the first two grants under the program, both providing up to $1 million for construction, for the Somerville and North Plainfield school districts. The Somerville grant will provide a synthetic surface for the high school’s Brooks Field, while North Plainfield will overhaul Krausche Field.

The program should provide a welcome end to the long-running Brooks Field saga, where supporters of renovations have been working for years to try to raise enough money for the project. The grant will now allow the funds already raised to be devoted to upgrading a nearby field hockey field.

The turf fields aren’t just a matter of aesthetics. In communities with a shortage of playing fields, natural grass gets beaten up by overuse, raising safety concerns and limiting to some degree the availability of the fields. So artificial turf can, in effect, increase a community’s field capacity. School districts accepting the county investment are also required to open the field to broader public access.

When everybody wins, that’s a hard program to beat.

Technology and the municipality

Jumping off from the post by Frank D’Amore from September [Categories: Uncategorized

Volunteers Help With Tax Preparation

February 1, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Volunteers Ready to Help Out This Tax SeasonAppointments Taken Starting Feb. 2.

Sixty-five volunteer tax counselors have been trained to assist Somerset County residents in preparing their federal and New Jersey income tax returns. After passing the IRS and AARP tests, these volunteers are ready to help low- and middle-income residents prepare their tax returns. Special emphasis is placed on helping senior citizens and residents with disabilities.

Of this group, 50 volunteers took additional training in order to help county residents who wish to file their returns electronically. E-filing enables taxpayers to obtain a more rapid refund if they have money coming back to them.

Tax-preparation volunteers will be working at locations around the county. Starting Feb. 2, five sites – in Hillsborough, Raritan, Manville, Franklin and Warren – will be designated for e-filing.

In 2008, approximately 1,600 tax returns were filed with the assistance of county volunteers.

To take advantage of this free service this year, gather up all the required documents – W-2 forms, bank, broker and Social Security statements, medical and other expenses, and a copy of your last year’s returns – and call the Somerset County Office of Volunteer Services at (908) 541-5710 for an appointment.

The program runs Feb. 2 to April 15, and is by appointment only.

Categories: Uncategorized

NPCCR To Hold Monthly Meeting On Thursday, Febuary 5 – Topic Is Public Safety

February 1, 2009 · Leave a Comment

NORTH PLAINFIELD CITIZENS FOR COMMUNITY RIGHTS (NPCCR)

Contacts: Committee Co-Chairs Antoinette Rinehart and Mark Williams-FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -

NORTH PLAINFIELD, NJ -North Plainfield Citizens for Community Rights will hold their monthly meeting on February 5, 2009, at 7 pm, at the Vermeule Community Center at 614 Greenbrook Road. The focus of the meeting will be Public Safety and the speakers will be Police Chief William Parenti. Topics will include addressing home and public safety concerns, neighborhood watch, and school safety controls. All residents are welcome and encouraged to present their questions.

NP Citizens for Community Rights is a nonpartisan group of North Plainfield residents intent on empowering free and equal citizens to solve local problems through open public discussion and use of our democratic right to self-governance.

Categories: Uncategorized

Special-Needs School in Watchung Plans Move To North Plainfield

February 1, 2009 · Leave a Comment

WATCHUNG —The McAuley School for Exceptional Children will move to a new location, North Plainfield, perhaps in time for the 2009-10 school year.

The school, founded 43 years ago on the Mount St. Mary Academy campus in Watchung by The Mid-Atlantic Community of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, provides instruction to children with cognitive disabilities.

With the closing in late summer of the St. Joseph Catholic School on Westervelt Avenue between Manning and Jackson avenues, the nonprofit McAuley School bought the property and will begin renovations and construction projects this month.

See full article here:

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20090201/NEWS/90201010/-1/newsfront

Categories: Uncategorized

Barbara Habeeb’s e-mail to County Freeholders

February 1, 2009 · 19 Comments

Good article from Mark Williams. A sign of the times wouldn’t you say?

While I was still on the Council, back in November I had sent this exact e-mail to the Somerset County Freeholders.

To:
Honorable Freeholders:
Mr. Tom Miller:

The purpose of this e-mail is to inquire if the County is still interested in purchasing the Villa Maria property located at 641 Somerset Street, North Plainfield, Block 110, Lot 2, in Somerset County, to be used as a County Park. As you know, it would benefit not only North Plainfield, but Greenbrook and Watchung as well, since the property sits on the border of all three Boroughs.

If you respond yes, I will have Dave Hollod contact Mr. Miller to set up a meeting with representatives from the Borough Council in order to discuss the matter further.

If you should respond no, the subject will be closed and I will not approach you again with this matter.

Please respond ASAP so I can go through the proper channels to either move forward with this, or close the subject once and for all.

Thank you for your consideration.

Best Regards,
Barbara Habeeb
Council Woman
North Plainfield

I sent that to the Freeholders because I wanted to be sure that I would know once and for all if the Freeholders were or were not interested in hearing a proposal. Well, guess what?

I received POSITIVE responses from 4 out of the 5 Freeholders. One Freeholder however did not respond at all. 4 out of 5 ain’t bad though. I submitted that e-mail to the blog once before, but I’ve submitted it again to prove a point. The point being that no one said “NO.” The Freeholders have left the lines of communication open, but again, the communication must come from the Borough. It’s a shame that Skip Stabile said, and I quote “It’s not gonna happen.”

And just to make something clear. The Borough has not formally approached the County. The Villa Maria was discussed some years ago but nothing ever came of it. More recently there was a casual conversation between the Borough Attorney and the County Attorney regarding Villa Maria. Somehow, that conversation transpired into a belief that the County is not interested in hearing a proposal from the Borough. This is not true. That conversation was not and is not a formal request from the governing body. Maybe with some new blood on the Council, someone will bring up the subject of approaching the County again, and he or she will get a more positive response than I did.

Categories: Uncategorized

More on Villa Maria and County Freeholders, In Regard To Land Acquisition – By Barbara Habeeb

February 1, 2009 · 3 Comments

I was recently informed by Mayor Mike Giordano’s office that Somerset County freeholders were approached by the Borough and that the County Freeholders were not interested in discussing the Villa Maria property.What is the Borough’s definition of approaching the County? Does a casual conversation between Borough Attorney Eric Bernstein and County Attorney Tom Miller constitute approaching the County?” No, it doesn’t. I just think this was Mr. Bernstein’s way of convincing the Council that the County isn’t interested. Sad thing is, the Council just takes his word without checking for themselves. Bad way to run things, don’t you think?

So, this whole thing puzzles me. I had conversations with Four of the County Freeholders, just this morning, 1/31/09. We did discuss the Villa Maria, and all four of them did say that the Borough has not approached the County in any way, shape or form. One Freeholder even said to me “We have been willing to talk but it appears they (meaning the Mayor & Council) are just not interested.”

Well, this is no news to me. I know they are not interested or they would have done something about it while I was on the Council. I even offered to get the lines of communication open with the County, but not one person on the Council had the guts to say “yes” and go forth with forming a committee to meet with the County. Our Governing Body has had every opportunity to discuss possible uses for that property other than high density housing. So, what do you make of this?

More to come……

Categories: Uncategorized

Plainfield Animal Shelter In Danger of Closing Doors, Seeks Donations For Repairs

February 1, 2009 · Leave a Comment

PLAINFIELD -The Plainfield Area Humane Society is on state probation and in danger of closing unless major renovations can be completed within the next two months, society officials said Wednesday.

Full article:

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20090128/NEWS/901280368/1018/NEWS0401

Categories: Uncategorized

Newer Entries →