Courier-Post from Camden, New Jersey • Page 19

Thursday, August (, COURIER -POST in Our owns Mil Burlington County acts to build new fire training school the first aid council advisory group. Half of the $5 million bond will be used for renovation of the former Occupational Training Center at the coun- t'c Woctamntnn rnmnlpY into bined with the fire training school. The fire academy currently operates classes five nights a week and on weekends in a one-room, temporary trailer. Modular classroom space at the adjacent Burlington County Institute of Technology has been added to accommodate recent enrollment growth. "There is a great training need in fire service," said county Fire Marshal Robert F.

Rose. hiring of an architect for the project "This is a small amount of money at the moment, but this is a significant step in the direction of planning and constructing a new training facility at the county's Westampton complex," said Freeholder James Wujcik, also a fireman who took the training years ago. The total cost of a new classroom building for the fire acad He said the new associate's degree in Fire Science Technology at Burlington County College has spurred more interest in advanced firefighting. He said enrollment in classes has increased from 500 students in 1991 to 3,000 last year. There are 44 fire departments and 44 emergency squads in the county, with more than 4,000 firefighters and an estimated 1,000 EMTs, said Rich Litton, president of emy, as well as other improvements to the existing site on Woodlane Road in Westampton, could be as much as $2 million, county officials said.

The facility could qualify for federal funds under a proposed $5 billion Firefighter Enhancement Act being considered by Congress. Wujcik said the new Emergency Training Center also would allow the now-homeless first aid academy to be com Collingswood concerned about violations, safety 'orough may sssz apisims it By SHARON CHUNG Courier-Post Staff COLLINGSWOOD Citing a recent increase in police calls, major mismanagement and numerous safety violations, borough officials Wednesday introduced an ordinance that would allow them to seize control of the Eldridge Garden Apartments. They also approved a resolution that will declare the 84-unit complex at Eldridge and Taylor avenues a condemned building. The $2.2 million bond ordinance, expected to be ratified at a commissioners' meeting next month, would cover the estimated $1.6 million cost of the complex and the relocation of its tenants as early as December. Each tenant may receive up to $3,000.

"The property has gone down quickly. We're not saying the building is uninhabitable, but there are outstanding fire code violations," said Mayor Jim Maley, who along with Commissioners Lou Cappelli and Joan Leonard voted 3-0 for the resolution. Many residents interviewed Wednesday were stunned at the news. Some even charged that the borough's decision is racially motivated since many Eld- 7 the new home for the county Extension Services of Rutgers University and an educational media center to serve local schools. The rest is slated for various capital projects.

Margate expanding fall festival celebration Doicn Shore By TOM LOUNSBERRY Courier-Post Staff MARGATE This resort town has an nounced plans to expand its fall festival, which drew more than 25.000 neoDle when it de buted last year. The two-day celebration will exDand bv two citv blocks on the bayfront, running for seven blocks along Amherst Avenue between Decatur and Coolidge avenues. The Margate Fall Funfest by the Bay, to be held on the weekend of Sept. 25-26, reflects growing competition as resorts try to attract post-Labor Day visitors. The festival, to run from 10 a.m.

to 7 p.m. both days, is free. "People loved the Funfest last year," said Joe Tozzi, president of the Margate Business Association. "It was wonderful for kids of all ages, so we're making it bigger and better." The festival will add new educational attractions, working artisans and craftsmen, bigger and more bands, flnri an antinnps shnwrap nr. ganizers said.

Organizers also will mount an expanded dis- nlav nf rrafts anH artwork The evpnt will inrlnrlp nrv ny rides, a dunk tank and in-' teractive games such as a basketball throw, pitching and batting cages, and a hockey shot-on-goal. Other new attractions will include sea life "touch tanks" operated by Clean Ocean Ac- tion and Historic Gardner's UnpiM 'if- umll nn 111-" aw hibits and demonstrations. A professional child-care 1 service aiso is oeing auuea. Proceeds from the event will benefit Lucy the Margate aiepnani, a local scnoiarsnip program and several chari-. ilea.

ridge Garden tenants are black. Officials denied the charge, saying they're trying to save the integrity of the West Collingswood neighborhood. "The condition of the property is getting worse, and over the last six or seven months, we've had an increase of (the number) and severity of police calls," Maley added. "Twelve arrests were made recently We had to put two police officers there at night to patrol." Calls to Toms River attorney Robert Paschon, who owns the complex along with partners, were not returned Wednesday. If the borough goes through with the acquisition, it would not be the first time it has seized property it viewed as substandard.

In 1995, Collingswood condemned the Denby Hall apartments on White Horse Pike, then razed them. In 1996, the borough, in partnership with a private developer, purchased Sutton Towers, also on the pike, renovated the complex and renamed it Parkview Apartments. The borough's proposal to seize the Eldridge Garden complex came as a shock to many tenants, including some who blamed recent disturbances on nonresidents. "I'm a law-abiding citizen. I pay taxes and I vote," said Tina Pearman, 35, who has lived at Eldridge with her two children for three years.

"If we have to call this a racial thing, we will. Some people in Collingswood are much more comfortable not having the black persuasion here." Pearman's neighbors, Constance Martin and Anthony Balkman, said residents were not properly notified of the proposed acquisition. "You see situations like this happening on the news all the time, but you never think it'll happen to you," said Balkman, who has lived at Eldridge for eight years. "They're kicking you out into the streets." A Cherry Hill woman won three medals for bowling at the recent Special Olympic World Games in Raleigh-Durham, N.C. Lucy Archambo won two silver medals in the female singles and female doubles events and a bronze medal for Team USA.

She is the daughter of Ann and Walter Archambo. Stacy E. Holland of Sick lerville has joined the board of trustees at The College of New Jersey in Ewing, Mercer County. Holland is deputy executive director of Philadelphia Youth Network an organization that helps prepare youths for the workplace. Three students from Camden County Technical Schools earned a silver medal at a national competition in Kansas City, Mo.

Marion Rachel Dangler of Clementon, Brian Clark of Bellmawr and Kevin Haugh of Sicklerville participated in an event sponsored by the Vocational Industrial Clubs of America. Their project was a multi-media display with an electronic crossword puzzle in the middle. Four South Jersey natives have earned Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degrees from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. The graduates are Linda K. Aquilino, daughter of Leonard and Barbara Aquilino of Somerdale; Donna Di-Bruno, daughter of Jose-phand Elaine DiBruno of Sewell; Renee Marie Kend-zierski, daughter of William and Janice Kendzierskl of Barrington; and John B.

Sl-reci, son of John and Rita Sireci of Barrington. Quintet Jenkins of Camden participated in a summer research program in the chemistry department at Clemson University in South Carolina. Jenkins, a senior majoring in chemistry at Tennessee State University, was one of 38 students chosen for the program. The 1996 graduate of Camden High School is the daughter of Lillie M. Jenkins.

Michelle Tetreault of Southampton won first prize, a $50 U.S. Savings Bond, in the essay contest of the 1999 Pine Barrens Festival in Tabernacle. Honorable mentions went to Jimmy Achey, Becky Scott, Kristina Sheasley and Philip Stepler, all of Tabernacle. Got an item for South Jersey People? Send it to the Courier-Post at P.O. Box 5300, Cherry Hill 08034; fax it to (856) 663-2831; or e-mail GOT A NEWS TIP? Call the Courier-Post.

Camden County editors Bill Shralow and Laura Gery (856) 486-2402 Burlington County editor Jim Namiotka (856) 486-2407 Gloucester County Bureau Call Bureau Chief George Clark at (856) 845-6520, fax (856) 845-8823 or visit the bureau at 39 S. Broad Woodbury 08096. LAUREN GERMINARIOCourier-Post Teens Daniel Pearman, 13, and Tamara Clay, 17, are some of the residents who may suddenly be displaced from their Eldridge Garden Apartments homes. By CAROL COMEGNO Courier-Post Staff MOUNT HOLLY The Burlington County freeholders announced plans Wednesday to build a new fire training school and took the first step to implement the project. A $5 million capital improvement bond ordinance the board adopted Wednesday night includes $125,000 for the 2nd teacher says district is biased By MIKE FRANOLICH Courier-Post Staff CAMDEN A second teacher at Sterling Regional High School in Somerdale is accusing the district of sexual discrimination in its hiring practices.

Adjunct instructor Laurie Rourke of Sicklerville filed a lawsuit in federal court last week claiming she was better qualified for the job of head coach of the girls' softball team than a man who was given the job. Earlier this summer, a full-time teacher at the school said she left her job as full-time athletic director after being denied a raise and an assistant. "The district feels it has not discriminated against either individual. The action taken was appropriate and legal," said the school district's attorney, Thomas Sumner. He declined to comment on specifics of either case.

Rourke, a part-time employee who coached the high school's girls' varsity and junior varsity softball teams for seven years, applied for the head softball coach's spot in 1995. The job was awarded to a male candidate who had no experience coaching girls' soft-ball, said Michael Daily, Rourke's attorney. "The school has a policy that when they are going to hire for a sport, they are looking for the candidate with the most experience in that sport," Daily said, but did not follow the policy in this case. Sterling teacher Kris Foster filed a lawsuit earlier this summer that also accuses the district of sexual discrimination. Her complaint alleges she was shortchanged as athletics director, a job she quit in October 1994 after she was denied both a raise and an assistant, which she said she had been promised.

Her male successor got both within six months, she said. Foster also alleges that in almost 20 years of coaching girls' sports teams at Sterling, she was paid less than her male counterparts. Foster and Rourke are seeking the positions, back pay, unspecified damages and fees. Pharmacy By RICHARD PEARSALL Courier-Post Staff BURLINGTON CITY The firm that wants to raze the landmark Burlington Diner and build an Eckerd Drugs there presented its plans to township officials Wednesday night. "We're eager to get started zs soon as possible," Matt Williams, an executive with Commercial Net Lease Realty Services, told the planning board.

The planning board, which must vote on the proposal, took no action by press time. Louis Colagouri, a Burlington City attorney representing the developer, described the project as "an improvement" over the current use. But Mayor Herman Costel-lo, who sits on the planning board, said before the meeting that he considers the proposal "insensitive." Costello also said he was not sure the city can do anything to save the diner, which was built in 1927. "Legally they can tear the diner down if they want to. It's rzrr.

fl 1 3 sir. 4 i Commercial Net Lease has entered into an agreement of sale with the Stratis family, owners of the diner, who have said in the past that they did not put the diner on the market, but that Commercial Net Lease made them "an offer they could not refuse." Diner patrons had expressed dismay when plans to raze the building were first announced, but Wednesday's hearing was sparsely attended. Commercial Net Lease has built about 100 stores for Eckerd Drugs in the last seven years, said Williams. The company identifies sites and builds the structures, then leases the properties, he said. ill 4 LAUREN GERMINARIOCourier-Post Collingswood officials introduced an ordinance Wednesday that would allow the borough to seize control of the Eldridge Garden Apartments at Eldridge and Taylor avenues.

Went fishing, but the fish were gone would replace diner MiW'-. "Legally they can tear the diner down if they want to. It's their property. But it's an emotional thing." Burlington City Mayor Herman Costello their property," said Costello. "But it's an emotional thing." Commercial Net Lease plans to build an store at the diner's site, then enter a long-term lease with Eckerd Drugs, said Williams.

The pharmacy, with two drive-through lanes and 57 parking spaces, would be located on an entire block between the northbound and southbound lanes of the divided Route 130. Customers would enter the site from High Street and Lawrence Street, which run between the divided lanes of Route 130. Williams did not give a cost for the project AL SCHELLCourier-Post Looks like the fishing trip to the Delaware River in Gloucester City Wednesday failed to produce dinner for Chris Storms, 12, (left) and Stephen Crank, 9. They were on their way home..