Councilman Nick Fazzio intends to step down
The abandoned Watson Turkey Farm has been a hot button issue in Washington Township for some time now. Mayor Joann Gattinelli addressed the demolition process at the latest council meeting.
“If you have driven by Watson Turkey, you may feel that demolition progress is slow, but the interior is what’s really happening right now,” Gattinelli said. “They are demolishing from the inside out because of the debris — they want to be mindful of that.”
The contractors in charge of the demolition are being mindful of the debris that could scatter in the wind if they started from the outside.
Gattinelli said a drone video of the demolition is available on the township website, www.twp.washington.nj.us/. There, residents can see the progress.
“The level of work behind the walls has been substantial,” she said. “We would like to encourage you to visit the township website to play a brief video of a drone flight over the work area so you could see the progress. It’s really neat what they did — they were out there with a drone and you can actually see, almost like a timeline, you can see everything that happened, everything they have cleaned up so far. It is something nice to see.”
In other news:
- Gattinelli, alongside Chief of Police Pat Gurcsik, swore in a new police officer at the meeting. Gurcsik spoke about the newcomer.
“Tim Jordan is 28 years old, he’s from Pennsauken. He has a bachelor’s degree from St. Peter’s University, he is engaged to be married in a few weeks. For the last three years, he has worked as a police officer in one of the most dangerous cities in the nation, Camden. We conducted a lengthy background investigation into Tim, about a month and a half. His background investigation revealed that he is a person of high moral character. The type of person you want to build your brand around, and we think he will fit nicely here with the culture that we’re building.”
- Council passed a number of resolutions including a grant for the police department to buy new bulletproof vests, contracts for snow removal, and providing a plan for the Municipal Alliance grant, worth up to $33,300, for July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020.
- Councilman Nick Fazzio said he intends to step down from his position at an upcoming meeting because he is moving out of town. He plans to make an official statement at a council meeting in November.
- Council President Joe Perry said 125 residents have already signed up to be on the “No Knock” list. The ordinance has been in place for a month.
- The next council meeting will take place on Nov. 7 at 7 p.m. at the municipal building.
