Volume LXXII, Number 28
Unique History of The Bordentown School . . . 5 Joint Effort Princeton Safe Streets Summer Program . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Journey to the Center of Planet Einstein. . . . . . 13 PU Lax Alum Schreiber Heading to World Championships . . . . . 23 PFC Boca 16U Soccer Team Wins Mid-Atlantic Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Science Teacher Anne Soos Retires After 50 Years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Berkshire Hathaway Fox & Roach Realtors. . 18, 19 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Cinema . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Classified Ads . . . . . . . 30 Mailbox. . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Music/Theater . . . . . . . 17 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . . 29 Police Blotter. . . . . . . . . 6 Service Directory . . . . . 33 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Topics of the Town . . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . . 6
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Parking, Recycling Costs Among Topics Discussed At Meeting of Council Following a work session on parking and the financial modeling workbook being prepared by the consulting firm Dixon Resources Unlimited, Princeton Council voted Monday to introduce a parking contract agreement with the IPS Group for single space smart meters. Last month, the Council approved a contract with PassportParking, Inc., for a new app that allows payment for parking through mobile phones. Monday’s vote was the next step in the revamping of the town’s parking system, and consultant Julie Dixon said she is hoping to schedule a kickoff meeting soon. She is hopeful that a rollout of the multi-layered plan can take place in mid-September. The public hearing on the agreement with IPS Group will be at the Council meeting on August 1. Bob Hough, the town’s director of infrastructure and operations, told Council that costs for recycling by Mercer County are about to rise as much as 40 percent over the next five years. A letter last Friday from the Mercer County Improvement Authority informed Hough of the expected cost hike. The current agreement with the county expires at the end of the year. In 2014, Princeton paid the county $190,689 for recycling; the prediction is that by 2023 it will be $318,909. Hough said the county intends to discuss the situation with the other municipalities that use their services. “My understanding is that the main contributor to this is glass,” he said. “It’s a major, major jump. Should we go out on our own to bid? There are a lot of things we need answered.” Upon request of Council President Jenny Crumiller, Hough said he will look into the practices of municipalities that do not use the county’s services for recycling. Kristin Appelget, director of Princeton University’s office of community and regional affairs, reported that a new traffic signal is being installed at the intersection of College Road and Alexander Street. The University is paying for the signal, ADA ramps, striping, and signal request buttons. The new signal, which is projected to be completed by September, is the result of numerous safety concerns expressed to the University, Appelget said. One parking space will be eliminated to increase sightlines. Municipal Engineer Deanna Stockton told Council that construction of the new Continued on Page 12
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Wednesday, July 11, 2018
Referendum May Be Split Into Two Questions
In response to public concerns about the $130M price tag and its effect on local property taxes, the Princeton Public Schools Board of Education is considering dividing its facilities referendum proposal into two parts, with the two questions to be voted on separately. “I think the entire proposed referendum is a sound plan,” said Board President Patrick Sullivan. “but we’ve gotten feedback from the community that it’s a big bite. We wanted to give people another option to postpone part of the plan for two — three years.” At a working session last night, which took place after press time, the Board discussed the referendum and the facilities committee proposal to split the question and invited input from the public. A decision will be made at next week’s July 17 Board meeting on whether to split the question, revise the referendum proposal, and possibly postpone the referendum vote from October 2 to the November 6 date of the general election. Superintendent Steve Cochrane wrote last week, in a letter to families, staff, and community members, “There is no question that as a district we have a need to expand capacity K-12, to address security in all our buildings, to improve HVAC and
electrical efficiencies district-wide, and to make some athletic improvements. The question we are weighing is whether the tax impact of addressing all of those needs at the same time is one the community is ready to shoulder — particularly in light of the recent decision at the federal level which will limit the ability of residents to deduct state and local taxes.” The proposal of the facilities committee of the Board would not eliminate any of the original elements of the referendum proposal, but would include in question
No. 1 improvements at the elementary schools; the construction of a new 5-6 school at Valley Road; the purchase of property at Thanet Road for central administration, transportation, and maintenance; security improvements; HVAC and other infrastructure improvements; a few additional high school classrooms; a second floor over the high school fitness center; and an athletic field at Valley Road, with a total price tag of $80.8 M. Question No. 2, according to the Continued on Page 8
Mayor of Hopewell Township Seeks Gusciora’s Assembly Seat Now that Reed Gusciora has been elected mayor of Trenton, his 15th District New Jersey Assembly seat is up for grabs. Kevin Kuchinski, mayor of Hopewell Township, has issued a statement saying he is pursuing the post. “Our district has a long history of strong representation and innovative leadership, most recently with Reed Gusciora,” he said. “Reed led the charge to bring fairness back to New Jersey, including a major victory on gay marriage several years ago. My goal is to build on Reed’s accomplishments in the Fighting 15th.”
Kuchinski has been on the Hopewell Township Committee since 2015 and was elected mayor a year later. He is a former vice president of marketing for Church & Dwight, and was formerly employed by Procter & Gamble. Kuchinski is currently a partner at Sourland Mountain Spirits, and he has a consulting practice focused on branding strategies. Kuchinski intends to share his platform in coming weeks, focusing on accelerating economic growth in central New Jersey. “As a mayor, I understand first-hand Continued on Page 12
PAYBACK TIME: At a recent Princeton Council meeting, Friends of Princeton Open Space (FOPOS) Board President Wendy Mager, left, presented Mayor Liz Lempert with a check for $200,000 as reimbursement of funds for the acquisition of 20-plus acres for the Mt. Lucas Preserve and 35 acres for the Tusculum property, originally the farm of John Witherspoon. FOPOS is a nonprofit devoted to preservation and stewardship of land in Princeton.