Sesame Place
turns 35 this year
p. 43
Tips on how to live a
‘greener’ life
p. 25-36
Colonial Court Apartments
sell for $5.1 million
p. 10
TOWN TAX INCREASE 3.98¢
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Volume 19 • Issue 16
by Gabe Donio
GAZETTE STAFF WRITER
HAMMONTON—Following a
lengthy discussion during the regular meeting of town council on
April 20, council members voted 6
to 1 in favor of the first reading of
a municipal budget that has a tax
www.hammontongazette.com
increase of 3.98 cents. Republican
Councilman Steven Furgione was
the lone dissenter, with the remaining Republicans joining the Hammonton First majority in voting for
the budget.
On a home assessed at
$150,000, the property tax increase
would be $59.70.
Prior to the vote, there was a
presentation by the town’s Chief
Financial Officer (CFO) Robert
Scharle regarding the budget, followed by a discussion and the vote.
“My feeling is that it’s a solid
budget … The town doesn’t have
a spending problem, and I’ve said
this for several years. It has a revenue problem … that burden usually falls on the taxpayers,” Scharle
said.
Debt service payments have increased as have increased investments in the town’s parks and
fields in recent years, while the
town has seen a decrease in state
aid and losses in revenue, which
has led to the 3.98-cent tax increase, Scharle said.
Other expenses may be coming,
he said.
“My only concern is that next
year or the year after that, I don’t
know what’s going to happen with
pensions. I don’t know if that burden is going to be put on the municipalities or the employees,”
Scharle said.
The result of a greater pension
Koenig sentenced LoBiondo addresses students
to 5 years in prison
by Gina Rullo
GAZETTE STAFF WRITER
MAYS LANDING—A Hammonton man previously employed
as Hammonton High School’s
marching band director was sentenced on April 17 to five years in
prison for the sexual assault of a
See COUNCIL, Page 12
16 year-old student, Atlantic
County Prosecutor Jim McClain
announced in a press release.
Jason Koenig, 27, of the 600
block of Wilbur Avenue, Hammonton, was sentenced this morning by Atlantic County Superior
Court Judge Michael A. Donio, for
Koenig’s December 2014 guilty
$750K for HVAC
at HMS approved
by Brittany Mauro
GAZETTE STAFF WRITER
HAMMONTON—At the regular Hammonton School Board
meeting on April 16, the board approved a capital reserve withdrawal for an additional local
share of $750,000 for the middle
See KOENIG, Page 2
school HVAC replacement project.
“The middle school project is
on its way. I am very happy to say
that we are pleased to announce
that we are ahead of where we
were this time last year. The contractors are taking field measurements, we have job meetings ...
THG/Joseph Bruno. To purchase photos in The Gazette, call (609) 704-1940.
Congressman Frank LoBiondo (R-2nd) addressed the juniors and seniors of St. Joseph High School on April 20. He
discussed the role of the federal government, his responsibilities as a congressman and he answered students’ questions.
Giannini remembers town’s vets $190K received for
14th Street repairs
See SCHOOL, Page 10
by Paul J. Macrie IV
GAZETTE STAFF WRITER
HAMMONTON—On April 16
and April 20, the Public Works
and Transportation and Water and
Sewer Committees (PWTC/WS)
of the town met at the Civil Solutions building on North Second
Street, a division of Adams,
Rehmann and Heggan (ARH).
A letter received by the mayor’s
office on April 16 indicated the
town has been awarded $190,000
from the New Jersey Department
of Transportation (NJDOT) 2015
Municipal Aid Program and the
Transportation Trust Fund for the
14th Street reconstruction project.
Public Works/Business Administrator Jerome Barberio broke that
Cruisin’ MainStreet
coming on May 15
by Paul J. Macrie IV
GAZETTE STAFF WRITER
THG/Joseph Bruno. To purchase photos in The Gazette, call (609) 704-1940.
Hammontonian Lindsey Giannini, Miss Central Coast 2015, placed flags on the graves of veterans in Greenmount
Cemetery on April 18, the National Day of Service through the Miss America Organization. Giannini was aided by a
group of volunteers.
ON SALE AT 70+ LOCATIONS • SUBSCRIBE TO The
HAMMONTON—As
the
weather continues to warm up,
flowers blooming and the birds
chirping signal the evolution of
spring. It also indicates the annual
spring Cruisin’ MainStreet is rap-
See PWTC, Page 4
idly approaching. On Friday, May
15, hundreds of classic cars will be
lined up throughout downtown
Hammonton from Bellevue Avenue, Egg Harbor Road and locations in between. It is a spectacle
that continues to draw locals each
and every year, twice a year, as
long as the weather cooperates.
Gazette • $20 FOR 52 WEEKS
See CRUISIN’, Page 14