Volume LXXVI, Number 4
PPPL Science on Saturday Series Returns . . . . . . . .5 Rose Wong Joins YWCA Princeton as COO . . . . . .7 All in a Day’s Work with PPS Transportation Coordinator Pammie Vandermark . . 12 Reading and Watching Station Eleven . . . . . . 14 Our Town Continues at Kelsey Theatre . . . . . . 15 PU Men’s Hockey Gets Back on Track with Big Weekend . . . . . . . . . 23 Hun Swimming Looking Forward to Competing at County Meet . . . . . . . 27
Ada Metaxas Stars for PHS Girls’ Track at County Meet . . . . . . . 25 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 21 Classified Ads . . . . . . 31 Healthy Living. . . . . . . 18 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 29 Performing Arts . . . . . 16 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . 6 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 31 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6 Valentine’s Day . . . . . . . 2
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Local and NJ Cases Continue Decline in Pandemic’s Third Year The recent COVID-19 surge continues to decline sharply in Princeton and throughout the state. The Princeton Health Department on January 24 reported 126 new cases of COVID-19 in Princeton over the previous seven days, down more than 50 percent from the highest ever seven-day total of 287, recorded just two weeks earlier on January 10. Cases for the previous 14 days totaled 313 on Monday, also down significantly from the record two-week total of 568 for December 28, 2021 to January 10, 2022. Princeton’s declining numbers are reflected throughout the state, as New Jersey on Tuesday, January 25, reported a seven-day average for new cases down 47 percent from a week ago. COVID19-related deaths in New Jersey, with deaths following weeks after a surge in cases, continued to rise to a total of 1,892 so far for the month of January, but hospitalizations continued to decline, down 33 percent from a January 11 peak. The COVID-19 transmission rate for New Jersey on Monday, January 24, fell to 0.64, down from 0.68 Sunday and well below the recent high of 1.92 on January 1. A rate below 1 indicates that the virus is in decline with each case leading to fewer than one additional case. Local public officials expressed some optimism in seeing the case numbers dropping, as the Omicron variant, which accounts for almost all of the current infections, is generally proving less severe than previous variants, and more people are gaining immunity from past infection and from vaccines. The Princeton vaccination rate is about 87 percent for residents age 5 and over, with 62 percent of those 18 and older having also received booster shots. In a January 24 phone conversation, Dr. Meredith Hodach Avalos, internal medical specialist at Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center and vice chair of the Princeton Board of Health (PBOH), was cautiously optimistic but not willing to speculate on the future of the unpredictable coronavirus. “It’s encouraging for sure to see the numbers going down, to see declining cases from the incredibly high numbers we had a few weeks ago,” said Avalos. “But it’s important for us to recognize that there’s still a lot of disease circulating in the community.” Continued on Page 8
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Wednesday, January 26, 2022
Council Votes to Disband Site Plan Board Despite numerous pleas from members of the public, Princeton Council voted on Monday, January 24 to disband the Site Plan Review Advisory Board (SPRAB). Some members of the municipal staff had questioned the need for the advisory committee, which is made up of architects, landscape architects, engineers, and other planning professionals. At a discussion earlier in the day that was a continuation of an earlier meeting on the issue, the town’s Planning Board voted to recommend to Council that SPRAB be disbanded. The consensus was that its work could be streamlined, and that changes were necessary to conform with New Jersey’s Municipal Land Use Law (MLUL). Council voted 5-1 to pass the ordinance, with Councilmember David Cohen, who also serves on the Planning Board, casting the only vote against the measure. “My preference is not to pass this ordinance tonight,” he said. “We heard a lot of dangers of throwing out the baby with the bathwater [at the Planning Board
meetings], and it would be a mistake to get rid of a useful body like this without knowing what you’re going to replace it with.” Councilmember Mia Sacks, who also serves on the Planning Board, said that while she values the work of SPRAB, there is a “legal gray area.” Starting over with a new process would be more efficient than untangling what already exists. “I think everyone wants to end up in the same place. It’s just a matter of what is a faster way to get there,” she said. “After today’s discussion, and listening to community members, I feel like I’m going to go with what our attorneys and staff advise.”
SPRAB Chair Louisa Clayton said she was shocked when she heard that the board’s future was in question. “We need more eyes on these projects, not fewer,” she said, noting some instances when SPRAB’s input had improved the final designs. While some of the town’s professional planning and engineering staff are not Princeton residents, those who have served on SPRAB are residents who have local knowledge of the community, she added. Barbara Vadnais, who chairs the town’s Flood and Stormwater Commission,
In past years, sustainability was not a high priority for Princeton Public Schools (PPS). But recent efforts to make the four elementary schools more energy-efficient, and plans to continue that work at the middle school and high school, have signified a change in focus.
Sustainable Princeton and PPS want members of the public to know about the improvements that are in place, and help brainstorm some new ideas for those to come. A Zoom presentation on February 16 will detail current efforts, and a town hall on March 16 will give the public an opportunity to identify which kinds of sustainability programs they feel are most important. “These are the first sustainability efforts in the schools in recent years,” said Jenny Ludmer, program manager for Sustainable Princeton. “The objective is to educate the community about everything the school district has been undertaking to make the schools more energy efficient, and what the plans are for the future.” Utilizing New Jersey’s Direct Install program, “we were able to pay 20 cents on the dollar for energy efficiency upgrades throughout the four elementary schools,” said Matt Bouldin, business administrator for Princeton Public Schools, in a press release. David Harding, director of plant and operations, said the middle and high schools come with a hefty price tag because of their intense energy use. “But that means they are ripe for significant energy savings,” he said. Older buildings present a particular challenge in improving energy efficiency. “There are ways to do it sustainably, and ways to just keep managing the buildings the way they are,” said Ludmer. “The goal here is to do it sustainably.” State programs such as Direct Install help with the transitions. “So mainly, it’s just a matter of steering through the processes the state has in place,” said Ludmer. “It can be a challenge in terms of
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Plans for Sustainability in the Schools To Be Detailed at Upcoming Events
SKATING ON THE SQUARE: Skaters enjoyed Palmer Square’s “eco-friendly” outdoor synthetic rink, located on Hulfish Street behind the Nassau Inn, on Sunday. The rink is open through February 27. (Photo by Charles R. Plohn)
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