Volume LXIX, Number 18
Digitizing of Princeton Cemetery Will Help Find Who Lies Where . . . . . . 7 Board of Ed Approves Schools Budget . . . . . . 8 Report From Mercer Mayoral Roundtable . . . . . 11 Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists Perform Early Opera at Richardson . . . . . . . . 19 Chairman of PDS English Department for 25 years Stephen Lawrence, 77, Dies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 PU Women’s Lax Defeats Penn in Ivy Title Game, Heads into NCAA Tournament . . . . . . . . 26 Sparked by Connection Between the Black Brothers, Undefeated Hun Boys’ Lax Primed For Stretch Run . . . . . . . . 32
Dodger Great and Miracle Met Manager Gil Hodges Led a Hall of Fame Life . . . . . . . . . 14 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Books . . .DETAILS . . . . . . . 14 SEE PAGE.5. FOR Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 16 Cinema . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Classified Ads. . . . . . . 36 Music/Theater . . . . . . 19 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 35 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 36 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . . 6
www.towntopics.com
Residents Urged to Attend Meeting on Valley Road Work As part of the municipality’s capital improvement program, Valley Road, between Witherspoon and North Harrison streets, will undergo planned improvements in 2016. The work will be partially funded by a New Jersey Department of Transportation municipal aid grant. Mayor Liz Lempert will chair a discussion of Valley Road in the context of Princeton’s Complete Streets Policy, adopted in 2013, and the town’s master plan, in the Community Room at Witherspoon Hall Tuesday, May 12, at 7 p.m. The meeting is designed to elicit responses and ideas from local residents. Princeton Engineer Robert Kiser along with representatives from the Police Department and numerous municipal boards, committees, and advisory groups have been invited to share information and insights regarding the roadway and their vision for future improvements. “We are hoping for feedback as to how the road is functioning and to find out what residents would like to see and what they think needs improving,” said Assistant Engineer Deanna Stockton Monday. The meeting will take the form of a collaborative work-session with engineers and members of such groups as the Princeton Sewer Operating Committee, Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee, and Traffic and Transportation Committee. Topics to be discussed include repairs to storm sewers, sanitary sewer main and laterals, new curbing repair of sidewalks and/or replacement with blacktop pathways. The municipality will be imposing a five-year moratorium on any street openings once the work is completed. Currently classified as a minor collector roadway, Valley Road has a 25-mph speed limit and a five-ton weight restriction. It is estimated that approximately 6,000 vehicles per day use the road, which is part of the route of the Princeton FreeB. There are sidewalks along both sides of the road except for the northern side of Valley between Witherspoon and Jefferson. School crossing guards staff the Valley Road intersections with Walnut Lane and Witherspoon Street for elementary and middle school student crossings and excluding the North Harrison Street and Witherspoon Street intersections, 50 Continued on Page 12
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District / Teacher Talks Break Down
After months of contract negotiations between the Princeton Public Schools Board of Education (BOE) and the teachers’s union, Princeton Regional Education Association (PREA), both sides failed to reach a long-hoped for agreement Monday night. Talks broke down after almost five hours in which the two sides met faceto-face without the help of state mediator Kathleen Vogt. Princeton’s public school teachers have been working under an expired contract since July 1, 2014. Ms. Vogt was called last fall after negotiations reached an impasse. PREA members walked out of an October 2 meeting. If no agreement can be made in mediation, the next stage of negotiations would call for a fact finder. The expertise of Ms. Vogt, who helped the district and the union deliver the 2011-14 contract, has been provided at no cost to the district or to the union. A fact finder, however, could cost approximately $1,500 per day. At the BOE’s monthly meeting in February, Board President Andrea Spalla pointed out that the fact-finding process could take anywhere between six and twelve months and the daily cost would be split
between the district and PREA. Negotiations have stalled repeatedly over the issues of health care costs, and after Monday’s meeting, chair of the PREA Negotiations Team John J. Baxter said in a statement to Town Topics: “The Board came into the session with a counter proposal that was essentially unchanged from April 15. They made clear that they would not negotiate Tier 4 premium contributions. “Ultimately, they [the BOE] came back
with a ‘framework’ that appeared to require further devaluation of salaries, for some, and created substantial inequities for many. They were unable to provide specifics or reasonable explanations of the numbers. Nevertheless, they insisted that we come up with a counter proposal,” said Mr. Baxter. “We explained that we would not respond to a ‘conceptual framework’ the implementation of which raised serious questions even they could Continued on Page 4
Library Seeks to Raise $1.7 Million For Second Floor Redesign, Upgrade Princeton Public Library is seeking to raise some $1.7 million for a redesign of the second floor that is estimated to cost approximately $2.9 million. At last month’s meeting of the Board of Trustees, Executive Director Leslie Burger said that while some of this money is already in hand, along with a pledge of a $750,000 matching challenge grant, the Library would need to raise some $1.7 million in the coming months for the project to get started.
“We need to raise the money before the project can begin and we hope to do it through private donations,” said Ms. Burger. “We have a proven track record in raising private funds to supplement public support.” The renovation is thought to be necessary because of the changing needs of the library’s more than 2,200 daily users. “When the Princeton Public Library Continued on Page 12
AN EMBARRASSMENT OF RICHES: With Princeton blooming in the season of its glory, the riches are everywhere, and nowhere more bountifully than at the fourth annual Morven in May Celebration of Art, Craft, and Garden at Morven Museum & Garden, where festivities included an heirloom plant sale with perennials and annuals ready to plant. (Photo by Charles R. Plohn)
Feeling tired and struggling to accomplish all you need to do every day? In need of help to better understand how healthy behaviors can help you perform better?
See our Weber Grill ad on page 13.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
See page 26 for important seminar information.
See Free Family Event! Details on page 11.