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9th
Sep 2016

Discussed at the Town Hall Meeting - Sept 2016

 

By Chris Lundy

 

At the last Berkeley Township Council meeting, the governing body had a mix of good news and bad news about the children in town. While it praised some kids who were named All Americans, it remembered the struggle of a girl who lost her battle to cancer, and supported a boy who continues his fight. 

   Each year, Pop Warner holds a contest for All-American Scholars who, in addition to being involved in baseball and cheer, maintain a 96 percent grade point average during the previous school year. 

   Several kids from Berkeley were honored, said Joseph Robertazzi, president of the Junior Berkeley Golden Eagles. He said there were approximately 8,000 All-American Scholar applicants to compete with throughout the country.

   In Berkeley, Danielle Walker was named to the First Team All American. Only the top 35 5th grade cheerleaders nationwide win this prestigious award.

   The Second Team All American included Berkeley’s Dominic Rodenbaugh and Jason Yakovchuk. 

   The Honorable Mentions included Jon Bentivegna and Nathaniel Davis, also from Berkeley.

 

Emiliana’s Hope

   The O’Brien family changed in 2015 when, after months of misdiagnoses, their daughter Emiliana was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer. Her brief six-month battle with cancer ended on Dec. 1, 2015.

   Throughout her illness, Emiliana never gave up hope, her parents said. Therefore, they started a foundation in her name. Pink ribbons are well known for breast cancer, but not as many people know that gold ribbons are for childhood cancers. The funding for families is scarce, especially since a hospital stay could cost $40,000 a day, they said.

   Therefore, they are selling gold ribbons through the police station and municipal buildings to bring some funds to families dealing with childhood cancers. The Town Council also named September Childhood Cancer Awareness month. 

   For more information, visit www.EmilianasHope.com.

 

Team Trevor

   While the bone cancer that Emiliana had was extremely rare, it was very unusual that two children in the same town contracted it. 

   Trevor Kwatkoski, 5, was diagnosed last spring, his family told the audience members at the town hall.

   While at Robert Wood Johnson hospital, kids could pick out a toy from a “treasure box.” However, the treasure box gets depleted rather quickly.

Therefore, Trevor and his family have started Team Trevor to raise funds to fill that box with toys for kids who have to be at that hospital.

   For more information on Team Trevor and where to donate, look up Team Trevor on www.Facebook.com.

 

 

   Berkeley Township was dealing with some regulations from the state and federal government that are impacting local residents.

   During most meetings, the Township Council waives the taxes on at least one 100 percent disabled veteran. The state law put this into effect, that these people don’t have to pay property taxes. The governing body here has frequently said that although they are proud to support veterans in this way, they wish the state would reimburse them for the taxes that are lost.

   Mayor Carmen Amato said that about $800,000 worth of property taxes would have come from veterans. Instead, that money hole is spread out to the rest of the residents. 

   “We appreciate what the veterans have done for our country, and they deserve it, but it’s another state mandate (that the state) doesn’t fund,” Amato said.

 

A Dangerous Intersection

   Many residents have complained over the years about the intersection of Route 9 and Frederick Drive. Berkeley police have previously said that there have been three fatalities there since 1999. There have been at least 18 motor vehicle crashes recorded, three of which involved pedestrians. 

   The township can’t make any changes to the intersection since Route 9 is a state road. The governing body has pressured the state to make changes. They’ve asked in the past for a traffic light, a pedestrian walkway, more street lighting, and street lines painted. They’ve pledged to match funds with the state. The argument never moved forward.

   However, Amato announced at the last meeting that state representatives told him there was going to be some movement forward, but it got stopped by the deadlock with the Transportation Trust Fund. Gov. Chris Christie halted many “non-essential” projects until the Transportation Trust Fund could be funded. He and Senate lawmakers were at odds on how to do this.

 

FEMA

   Berkeley is continuing to monitor the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response to Super Storm Sandy. Many have been critical, stating that residents have not been given what they deserve for their damaged homes.

   According to statistics provided from the state, Berkeley residents received $9 million in individual awards from FEMA. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grants, which go through the municipality, received $27 million, although $34 million was awarded.

   There were ways to argue FEMA’s decisions, but not everyone did so. “Unfortunately, Sandy fatigue started setting in,” Amato said, describing how some residents lost the will to keep fighting for their money because the government made it so difficult.

 

School Issues

   Councilman Jim Byrnes issued concern over the school funding formula, a regular point at township meetings. 

   Currently, property taxes make up the bulk of school funding for each district. State aid is awarded based on such needs as the town’s economic make-up. Because of this funding formula, towns like Berkeley with a large proportion of senior citizens and less children in schools, Berkeley gets less state aid. 

   There is a movement toward a “fair school funding formula” that would give each district a flat rate per child. 

   Byrnes has been pushing for this formula, but warned that even if if passes, it could get backfire through “backroom deals” like the one in Lakewood. In this case, people would still be paying extra taxes to go toward these districts.

   Sen. Robert Singer (R-30th) had proposed a bill that would require the state to pay $7.2 million over the next three years to a group that would then pay for private school buses. Gov. Chris Christie signed it into law last month. The newspaper Hamodia had reported that religious leaders in Lakewood met privately with the lawmakers and created this bill.

   Additionally, Byrnes issued a “sincere apology” to Central Regional Superintendent Triantaphilos Parlapanides for comments made during a previous council meeting where Byrnes said that kids are graduating that can’t use a coloring book.

   “I’m very passionate about kids and education,” he said. “It was a heated discussion.” However, he was surprised no one on the governing body defended him for making those statements at another meeting.

   He has since met with Parlapanides. He said that there should be a committee for finding school drop-outs and providing them with training so they can learn a trade.