May 30, 2018 • www.theobserver.com • Vol CXXXI, No. 3
HIGHLIGHTS Nutley PD’s annual bike rodeo thrills youngsters, teaches safe riding skills See Page 6
COVERING: BELLEVILLE • BLOOMFIELD • EAST NEWARK • HARRISON • KEARNY • LYNDHURST • NORTH ARLINGTON • NUTLEY
WRITER’S RAVE REVIEWS
Photo by Ron Leir
Harrison first-graders autograph the book they wrote for visiting author Jay Isip. See the story on page 26.
Funds being raised for late Vitorino Cirne By Kevin Canessa kc@theobserver.com
M
ore than two weeks after the death of Vitorino Cirne, 51, the Lyndhurst resident who worked as a Kearny postman for more than a decade, his friends and loved ones are
rallying together to ensure his wife and daughters aren’t left in a financial lurch. More than two weeks into the GoFundMe campaign, more than $12,000 has been raised — all of which will go to his immediate family. The campaign was started by Rose Cirne. “Vitorino Cirne was unexpectedly taken from the
lives of his loving wife, Maria, and his three daughters Jamie, Lindsay and Casey,” the GoFundMe site, at www.gofundme.com/vitorinocirne, says. “Vit was a wonderful husband to Maria Cirne and a dedicated father to three young ladies, Jamie, Lindsay and
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THE OBSERVER | WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 2018
Jefferson Avenue residents: slow down, drivers! By Ron Leir rleir@theobserver.com
S
ome residents of Kearny’s Manor section saw municipal government in action upclose and personal May 23 at Town Hall. Three Town Council members, supplemented by a last-minute appearance by Mayor Alberto Santos, along with a consulting engineer and two representatives from the KPD Traffic Unit, huddled with 18 Jefferson Avenue homeowners on a safety issue. Residents, led by Mary Lynn Fassold and Noreen Silvers, had previously presented a petition —
inspired by the late Rich McCluskey — signed by many people who live on the block calling on town officials to install some type of traffic retardant between West Bennett Avenue and the Belleville Pike. Something is needed, residents say, to deter motorists — particularly those turning off a backedup Pike or Passaic Avenue — from using Jefferson as a “speedway,” thereby posing a hazard to residents and to children using a nearby playground. Councilwoman Eileen Eckel said she was first alerted to the problem several months ago by concerned residents. At that
Photo by Ron Leir
Jefferson Avenue residents scan a schematic of a proposed speed hump on their block. They say drivers treat the street like a speedway.
point, she said, she asked the KPD’s traffic experts and Neglia Engineering, the town’s consulting engineers, to come up with ways of
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thwarting the speeders. One resident said the block has become a pathway for “thousands of cars gunning it to beat the light on the Pike, then cutting up Bennett — this street has become Passaic Avenue.” Another resident said the block is besieged by traffic from “funerals in the morning and every landscaper in the area” and, about six months ago, there was a hit-run on the street. Sideview mirrors on cars parked near the corners of the block often get clipped by turning vehicles, one person said. “It’s every day — it’s busy as Passaic Avenue.” David Silva, a Neglia representative, proposed the installation of a “speed hump” – 3 inches high and 12 feet wide – and stop sign in the middle of the block, along with striping extending 100 feet north and south, with warning signs positioned at each approach. A speed “hump” has the
advantages of being “less aggressive and quieter” than a speed “bump,” Silva said. Eckel put the cost for the traffic configuration at $30,000 – which, she added, would be allocated from the municipal budget. Asked by residents how soon they might see the project happen, Silva said it’s anticipated that the job “would be [made] part of the next [local] roadway improvement project,” that the design could be done during the summer, that the job could be bid out by the fall and that work could be completed “before winter.” Still, Councilwoman Carol Jean Doyle offered a cautionary note, reminding the group that when a similar operation was pitched for Madison Avenue, also in the Manor section, some residents “objected strongly” to the notion of a 30-footby-30-foot or 24-by-24-foot sign going up in front of their house. And, indeed, several of the Jefferson Avenue group agreed that they would prefer not to deal with an unsightly obstacle placed along their frontage. (Those objectors were invited to give their names and addresses to the engineer so as not to be unduly inconvenienced.) Meanwhile, the town officials took under advisement a suggestion for installing four-way stop signs at either corner of the block. “That’s a good idea,” said Eckel, and Councilman Susan See HUMP, Page 27
Inside this edition ... Opinion....................................................................8 Food & Dining Directory.............................................12 Sports & Recreation...................................................13 Health & Wellness Directory.......................................17
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THE OBSERVER | WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 2018
03
Taxes decreasing by $26+ in Harrison PILOT, grants, interest all contributed to economic stability without state aid By Ron Leir rleir@theobserver.com
P
ROPERTY OWNERS in Harrison can breathe a bit easier — taxes are going down, thanks to the efforts of Mayor James Fife and the town administration. As per the 2018 municipal budget adopted in April, the owner of an “average” house assessed at $145,000 can expect to see an overall drop in real estate taxes of $26.38 for this year, according to town CFO Gabriela Simoes. Much of that is because the local tax share of county expenditures on that same house is expected to decrease by $51.90 — thereby offsetting projected local tax hikes of $1.60 for the municipal share and $23.92 for the school/school debt component. That’s not to say, however, that local Board of Education costs are spiraling up and away. In fact, state aid is up by 2.8%, school debt is down and the local school levy remains unchanged from the 2017-2018 school year. However, Simoes explained, there is a projected increase in the amount of the school levy, from $9,321,913 in 2017 to $9,413,912 in 2018, for an increase of $91,999 in this calendar year or $23.92 on the local tax rate. Back on the municipal side of the budget, meanwhile, the fiscal evidence suggests that Harrison is headed for better times ahead. As noted by Simoes, the town positioned itself to adopt its budget in the absence of oversight by a state monitor — under whom it labored for 15 years — and, for the past
two years, it has functioned without special state transitional aid. “Slowly but surely,” Simoes observed, “we have achieved a structural balanced budget supported by recurring revenues and not one-shot revenue deals – which accounted for onethird of the revenues in our budget in 2010 and, by 2014, we were down to only transitional aid as one-shot revenue.” This year’s municipal blueprint calls for total appropriations of $45.6 million, requiring $17.298 million (including library) in local taxes for support, versus last year’s budget of $43.5 million, supported by $17.272 million (including library), accounting for an increase in local taxes of just $26,000 — a rise of less than 1%. Simoes attributed the approximately $2 million hike in overall spending to: • The hiring of eight new firefighters with the aid of a federal SAFER grant that raised the table of organization for the HFD to 37. • The hiring of seven new police officers concurrent with the expanded work schedule of the HPD and the raising of the department’s T.O. to at least 40. • An increased capital budget to fully fund capital projects, including a new $1.15 million fire engine and $95,000 for new air packs for the HFD, and thereby avoid incurring additional debt. • A new garbage contract and tipping fees accounting for an additional $250,000. • Statutory increases, including $130,000 more for employee pension contributions. Those hikes were partly
HARRISON NEWS offset, she said, by $1.3 million in new PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) revenues, new tax ratables of $582,000 from new
homes built, $491,000 in SAFER funding and an additional $90,000 in interest on investments. “All (municipal) programs and services are maintained with an augmentation in the number of public safety personnel. The town continues to invest in
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IT and public works equipment to increase productivity and efficiency,” Simoes said. “We’re looking at getting a second sweeper.” All employee union contracts are locked in for now, with the firefighters’ agreement coming up for renewal Dec. 31.
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