In 2018, Palmyra saw development in both the business and school districts
The Sun
By STEPHEN FINN
2018 was a year of development for Palmyra. The business district saw ordinances put in place to help drive traffic to the town and make it more attractive to new businesses. The borough was also submitted as an “opportunity zone” by Gov. Murphy, a designation meant to encourage investment through tax incentives and spur commercial development. The local school district saw some changes in personnel, as well as the addition of a stand-alone middle school, an issue the board of education had been attempting to address for some time.
Palmyra BOE presents findings of educational impact study to the public
Superintendent of Palmyra Public Schools Brian McBride attempted to offer a solution to the community’s concerns regarding the district’s lack of a stand-alone middle school with a presentation of a long-awaited educational impact study at the board of education’s Jan. 17 public meeting.
The “Grade Reconfiguration Feasibility Study” and “Demographic Study,” which the district outsourced to Effective Education Solutions, LLC, were part of a five-year strategic plan that in part aimed to solve the problem of where to put sixth, seventh and eighth graders who were split between Charles Street School and Palmyra High School due to the lack of a designated middle school building. The findings were presented by EES President David Hespe and consultant Richard Butcher.
The studies, McBride said, were commissioned to find out how to best organize the district’s middle school grades for the benefit of students. The goal going into the collection and analysis of data was to consolidate these grades on the high school campus and create a distinct middle school separate from CSS and PHS for all purposes.
“When I first arrived in the district six years ago, I was asked a really hard question: ‘Why don’t we have a middle school?’ We have a high school and an elementary school, but we have sixth grade in one building and seventh and eighth in the other,” McBride said. “Sixth grade went back and forth between a compartmentalized process, where students would stay in one classroom, to moving between classes throughout the day.”
The grade reconfiguration study, supported by a look at student demographics over the district’s history, set out to evaluate how practical creating the proposed stand-alone middle school would be, as well as to assess its financial feasibility, potential facility changes and impact on students, curriculum and staff.
The board of education voted at its April 11 meeting, 8–1, in favor of a plan to move sixth-grade students to the borough’s high school starting in the 2019–20 school year.
McBride recommended the board approve the move as a way to bring together sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students.
“It’s taken us a long time to get to this point,” McBride said. “I think we’ve reached a point where it’s necessary to get to tonight, to make this recommendation.”
The plan approved at the board’s April 11 meeting established a middle school for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students on the second floor of Palmyra High School.
Palmyra High School senior submits research for Princeton Prize in Race Relations
Palmyra High School senior Colin Cattell knocked on the door of his neighbors, Mary Louise and Ken Smith, offering snow shoveling services in 2015. A seemingly inconsequential act ended in the discovery of Riverton’s ties to the Underground Railroad and his candidacy for the Princeton Prize in Race Relations after years of research.
Mary Louise, who grew up in Riverton and later returned to purchase the waterfront property on Bank Avenue that captivated her as a child, wanted to prove once and for all the town’s wealthy Quaker founders were doing more than just spending leisurely summers along the Delaware River. After extensive digging through deeds, letters, lineages and other documents, Cattell’s role in the Smiths’ project not only garnered him eligibility for the prestigious prize, but in part explained why Riverton and Palmyra were racially integrated long before the civil rights movement or Brown v. Board of Education.
The Smiths’ home, Cattell said, was once owned by the Clothiers and later the Ogdens, whom Cattell’s research uncovered were staunch abolitionists and most likely used their position along the river to help fugitive slaves escape to freedom in Philadelphia and New York in the mid-1800s. The object of Mary Louise’s retirement, she said, was to gather enough evidence to authenticate this probable truth about Riverton’s origins via a curator’s inspection, but she and Ken couldn’t do it alone. They knew Cattell, an honors student with a passion for history and family dating back to Riverton’s founding, was the perfect person to lend a hand.
“He’s a very industrious young man, and quite talented,” Ken said. Mary Louise added Cattell’s poise and intelligence endeared them to the student right away.
Cattell, the youngest board member of the Riverton Historical Society, found connections to the abolitionist movements at two more homes along the river as well as a map that identified the Smiths’ home as the “Fish House.”
For Cattell, his submission to the Princeton Prize in Race Relations was not really about the potential personal benefit or recognition. There is little written information about his hometown’s position in abolitionist history, and he thinks it’s about time Riverton be put on the map of key players.
Palmyra, Cinnaminson first responders win awards from 200 Club of Burlington County
The actions of Cinnaminson and Palmyra police during the summer of 2017 garnered the recognition of the 200 Club of Burlington County, which distributed Meritorious Service Awards to seven officers from the departments.
In July of that summer, Sgt. Josiah Murphy of Palmyra PD noticed a kitchen fire while patrolling Morgan Avenue and called the fire department. Sgt. Andrew Johnson of Cinnaminson PD heard the call via radio and acted quickly, resulting in both Cinnaminson and Riverton officers arriving on location within minutes.
The tri-boro efforts led to the successful evacuation of seven residents from five apartments located within the burning building. Several of the officers also provided medical assistance to a volunteer firefighter who appeared to be in distress after exiting the burning building.
“The quick actions of Sgt. Murphy and the assisting officers most definitely saved lives of those residents and helped in minimizing the damage to the apartment building,” said Palmyra Chief of Police Scott Pearlman, who nominated Murphy and the assisting officers for the Meritorious Service Award. “We’re very thankful to the 200 Club for all that they do to to acknowledge local law enforcement.”
Palmyra High School students send support to Parkland shooting survivors
In February, Palmyra High School students reached out with a banner and letters of support to the students who witnessed the violence at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14. Kim Martino, school librarian and co-advisor of student council, and student council co-advisor Kelly Jones, moved by the response of the students at Parkland, helped council president Matt Yansick and his peers put together a banner to send to the survivors.
“I saw a photo that night, and I didn’t know what it was at first, but then I realized that it was students huddled in a corner while shots were coming in through the wall,” Yansick said. “We came in the next day, and we were working on it as fast as we could to get it down to the cafeteria for everyone to sign. We wanted it to be completed in time for them when they returned to school.”
The message painted on the roll of white paper was “Peace. Love. Strength.” But its purpose was anything but ordinary. PHS students and staff also wrote letters to send to Stoneman Douglas along with the banner, which Martino said hung in the halls of the school along with others from across the country for the students’ return.
Gov. Murphy recommends ‘Opportunity Zone’ for Palmyra
Gov. Murphy’s administration submitted Palmyra, along with 74 other New Jersey communities, to be considered “Opportunity Zones” under a program created by the tax bill President Trump signed in December 2017.
State and federal officials hope the designation, which encourages investment through tax incentives, will spur commercial development in low-income areas.
“It’s going to mean greater flexibility in redevelopment for the area, and also a mechanism to attract new businesses to the area,” Mayor Michelle Arnold said.
The Opportunity Zone program, which was sponsored by Sen. Cory Booker, was included in the highly publicized federal tax overhaul. It will allow private investors to defer taxes on capital gains by putting money into special funds that will be used to support development in the Opportunity Zones.
Palmyra students get into character for ‘Living Wax Museum’
At Charles Street School’s first-ever “Living Wax Museum,” fourth-grade students took on the roles of historical figures and celebrities for a fun and educational evening of performances.
About 75 students participated in the event on Wednesday, April 11. They dressed up as historical figures or popular celebrities, and each student created a backdrop to fit their character.
The students stayed still and quiet like wax figures until those who attended the event pressed one of two makeshift buttons on the backdrop. One button triggered the student to come to life and recite a memorized speech about their famous person and the other led the student to say an inspirational quote from that person.
“What we really like about this is it’s cross-curricular,” said teacher Deborah Falcone, who organized the museum. “Not only was there research involved, they had to memorize their speeches. It’s great public speaking experience.”
Palmyra Borough Council adopts 2018 budget with tax increase
Palmyra Borough Council voted unanimously at its April 16 meeting to adopt the 2018 municipal budget, which included a 1.99 percent tax increase for residents.
Residents with an averaged assessed home of $147,600 paid $35 more compared to the previous year under the approved budget. In total, the average homeowner paid about $1,800 in local purpose tax, according to the borough’s website.
According to Borough Administrator John Gural, there were no comments from the public concerning the budget voiced during the meeting.
The 2018 total general budget was just over $8.7 million, which represented an increase of about $600,000 from the previous year’s adopted budget.
Arnold told The Sun the tax increase was “conservative” and relatively consistent with past borough budgets.
She said the increase was mainly to step up maintenance of public buildings, parks and infrastructure within the borough.
Palmyra Board of Education cuts art teacher, high school counselor
With a vote on June 20, the Palmyra Board of Education decided not to bring back an art teacher at the Charles Street School as well as a popular counselor at Palmyra High School for the coming school year.
Jeffrey Graiff, the art teacher, and Christina Birch, the high school’s student assistant counselor, were let go “as a result of a reduction in force,” according to the board’s agenda.
In addition, the board voted to abolish their positions as well as an additional position in the district’s art department.
The previous month, more than a dozen high school students and several parents and residents urged the board to retain Birch and Graiff. However, at the June 20 meeting, there was no public comment on the issue and board members did not discuss the action.
All board members who attended the meeting voted in favor of the move. Board members Nicolas Sarracino and Tonya Washington were absent.
Palmyra officials work to solve sewer plant issues
After the discovery of an unpleasant odor raised some red flags, Palmyra officials discovered the ecosystem inside of the borough’s sewer plant had been jeopardized.
Palmyra’s sewer plant, which typically pumps 500,000 gallons of direct discharge from residents and commercial properties a day, had been pumping 800,000 gallons per day due to heavy rain. This increase was the cause for the issues at the plant, one of which was diluting the “good” microbes the plant needed to break down sewage, according to Gural.
Gural said that several weeks prior, a “strong” and “unusual” odor alerted sewer operators of another potential issue.
In response to the smell, the “sludge” from the sewage was sent to be tested, and the results indicated another problem.
Under the microscope, no “live microbes” were seen at all, according to Gural.
It was suspected an illegal discharge of chemical materials found its way through the plant, and killed the “good” microbes necessary for the breakdown of waste.
To expedite the issue, sludge from the borough of Riverton was added in Palmyra to encourage microbe growth.
Palmyra’s Porch Walk brings the music festival experience to locals
The streets of Palmyra were alive with the sound of music on Saturday, Sept. 15. After a week of almost non-stop rain, residents were granted a reprieve to come out and enjoy the town’s first Porch Walk Music Festival.
All over town, local musicians set up shop on any porches willing to host them. The event featured a wide variety of music from folk to classic rock to pop and world music.
The porch walk was the brainchild of the Palmyra Improvement Association starting with its president, John Casparro. The group’s stated mission is to instill pride in Palmyra residents and create an even stronger sense of community among its members and in their town.
“The town has a lot of talented people,” said Casparro of the participating musicians.
On the day of the event, Casparro met with friends and neighbors outside of a corner house on Cinnaminson Avenue hosting the aptly named Front Porch Ukulele Band. His biggest hope was the event would get people out of their homes and into their community.
“People can meet some of their neighbors they’ve never met before. There’s some outstanding positivity here,” said Casparro.
Council approves outside seating for businesses
Palmyra Borough Council passed two ordinances to allow businesses to offer outdoor seating options for their patrons during their regular meeting on the night of Oct. 1. Business owners and residents came out in droves to show their support for the ordinances that have been years in the making.
The ordinances allowed businesses and restaurants in Palmyra to install benches and tables outside of their storefronts for the purpose of outdoor dining. During the correspondence portion at the beginning of the meeting, Councilwoman Mindie Weiner noted they had received 82 emails in support of the outdoor seating ordinances.
Support carried into the public portion of the meeting. Weiner began by asking for a show of hands from everyone who was there to support the ordinances, and almost every hand in the room shot up. The council heard first from Casparro.
“I want to give my full support for it,” said Casparro. “I think it’s something that will really help out our businesses, and they’ve been looking for something for a while.”
The council also heard from business owners like Ross Scofield, owner of the Farmacy restaurant on Broad Street.
“What’s missing from this area is a bustling downtown business district. I don’t understand why we don’t have that going on right now. It’s only going to draw more revenue,” said Scofield.
Despite the ordinance’s initial popularity, over the course of the month following its approval, owner of Jeny’s Java Joint Jeny Stackhouse expressed her displeasure over the date restrictions of the ordinance and staged a protest at her storefront on Cinnaminson Avenue.
A table was set up outside the coffee shop and a sign in the window above it addressed to the zoning board read: “This is a protest. Change the date restrictions on the outdoor seating ordinance or we will not fill out your forms and we will not pay your fee. We will not follow absurd rules.”
During the public portion of a council meeting on Nov. 19, Stackhouse stated her case to the council which agreed that changes could be made to the ordinance, however businesses would have to wait for those changes until 2019.
“You pay me to give you the bad news,” said Gural. “There is no opportunity to introduce and adopt an ordinance in 2018.”
Gural pointed out an ordinance cannot be introduced in one year and adopted in the next, the process must take place within the same calendar year. This ordinance also affects the land development code, and as a result must go before the land use board before amendments can be made.
Gural said the most optimistic timeframe would be adoption by February and an effective date of March 1.
Timothy Howard and newcomer Michelle McCann win seats on borough council
In the race for seats on Palmyra’s Borough Council, Democrat Michelle McCann led the vote count earning 30.99 percent of votes cast, followed closely by Democratic incumbent Timothy Howard with 29.83 percent.
McCann is a newcomer to local politics but is ready to hit the ground running as part of the borough’s council.
“My plans for Palmyra are to continue the goals for the current council to make our Main Street and businesses better and thriving. Increase revenue and make it a place people want to go, walk around and visit,” said McCann.
As a teacher at Charles Street School, McCann has worked with local families and aims to support them and their school district with her new position.
“I am an educator in this town as well, and what is most important to me is raising and supporting families and maintaining and improving an already great little town and school district,” said McCann.
Howard said he was humbled by his victory and the voter turnout.
“It was an awesome feeling,” said Howard. “It shows you people appreciate what you do.”
Going forward, Howard wants to work to improve his town and bring people out to their downtown business district.
“Right now we have a big project, Grove Park, that will be completed soon. It might help attract people to our downtown businesses,” said Howard.
Republican candidates Francis Cosky and Susan VanEmburgh trailed their opponents, with Cosky earning 17.54 percent of votes and VanEmburgh earning 16.37 percent. Independent candidate Lewis Yetter earned 5.25 percent of votes.
With his candidacy, Cosky was looking to even out the numbers and add a Republican member to the council.
“I wanted to bring balance to the council. I am always concerned when one party has an overwhelming majority in any governing body,” said Cosky.
In the race for three seats on the Borough of Palmyra Board of Education, Amy Austin led the pack earning 28.44 percent of the vote, followed by Erica Campbell with 23.23 percent and Stefanie Ferrado with 20.50 percent.
Defeated in the race for BOE were James Dickinson, who earned 15.71 percent of the vote, and Robert Zoll Jr. with 12.03 percent.
