The Chatham Press from Chatham, New Jersey • Page 1

Tax Rebates Property tax rebate forma may be obtained by Chatham Boro residents at Boro Hall, the Post Office, the library of the Chathams, and all Boro banks, according to Kenneth Hume, Boro tax aiieaaor. The forms are self-explanatory, but property owners should have a current tax bill (or a copy thereof) handy for some of the information which they are required to put onto the form. If a property owner does not have a tax bill available, be may consult the tax records at Boro Hall. Filled-out forma should be brought fat or mailed to the tax assessor's office as soon possible NOR 1 ii the deadline- so that they may be checked and processed promptly. Refund checks will be mailed to householders in one (or possibly two) payments during 1077.

In the Township, the rebate forms will be mailed late this week and early next week to all property owners, according to Millicent Underwood, Township tax assessor. Her office also has stressed that filled-out forms should be completed and submitted as soon as possible before the Nov. 1 deadline. The property tax rebate was authorized by the New Jersey legislature as a way of off-setting the state income tax which was imposed upon state residents this year to help finance "thorough and efficient" education as mandated by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. Although the legislature has discussed making some form of tax rebate available to tenants as well as property owners, no information as to how and when this will be done has yet come out of Trenton.

Decision Soon The Citizens Committee which has been studying various suggestions for use of the soon-to-be-vacated Chatham Township Police Dept. building on Southern boulevard is expected to make a definite recommendation to the Chatham Township Committee early in October. Although chairman John Ceglowski has declined to reveal the substance of the Committee's recommendation until after its submission to the municipal governing body, it is known that the group has been approached by the Police Athletic League and the Green Village Fire Company with firm offers for future use of the old building. The Township PAL has proposed that it should use the building as headquarters for its organization's athletic activities and the Green Village Fire Dept. has suggested that a small auxiliary fire house be built on the site.

In addition, the Historical Society of Chatham Township has proposed that the building be employed as a civic center where all Township service and cultural organizations might meet. Three-Hoar Parking An ordinance permitting three-hour parking on South avenue which was thought to have been defeated at the September Boro Council meeting actually was adopted by a 3-2 vote. Councilwoman Arline Pailler was Joined by Councilmen Jervis Cunningham and J.C. Molitor Jr. in voting to adopt the ordinance, while Councilwoman Janice Fenner and Councilman Charles W.

Oskins voted against adoption. Councilman Edward V. Murphy was absent. The confusion over whether the ordinance had been adopted or not was due to a misunderstanding on the part of Council over the number of votes required for passage of an ordinance of this type (only three "aye" votes required) as opposed to an ordinance dealing with financial matters (four "aye" votes required.) Designed to make additional parking time available for patrons of businesses in the Passaic-Main street area, the ordinance authorizes three-hour parking in some 12 slots south of the railroad tracks on South Passaic avenue. Library Discussion In an effort to help the public get a clearer understanding of all aspects of the present County Library situation, the League of Women Voters of Morris County will sponsor a meeting providing a face-to-face discussion with all parties involved.

The session will begin at 8 p.m. on Oct. 5, with a diverse panel consisting of members of the State Legislature, the Board of Chosen Freeholders and various library-oriented groups taking part in the discussion. At the outset, each panel member will be given five minutes to comment on "The problem confronting the County Library system, including funding, legislation and RECYCLING DRIVE SATURDAY The monthly Chatham Jaycee recycling drive will beheld Saturday (Oct. 2) between 8 a.m.

and noon at the Boro High School lot on Main street. Glass items, with metal caps removed and sorted by color, will be collected by the Jaycees. Newspapers which have been bagged or tied, as well as magazines, bundled separately, will be accepted by Wes Pollard. The Knights of Columbus will collect crushed aluminum. Wyt Cfjatijam vr PUBLISHED In the INTEREST of CHATHAM BOROUGH and TOWNSHIP SINCE 1897 VOL.

LXXIX, No. 18 10c a copy, $3.60 a year THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30,1976 MErcury 5-7000 State Aid Received ARTIST CARROLL JONES HI Reception Opens Exhibit The October exhibit at the Library of the Chathams will feature pencil drawings by Carroll N. Jones, III of Summit. The public is invited to attend an opening reception to meet the artist on Sunday, (Oct.3), between 2 and 4 p.m. at the Library.

Pencil drawings by Mr. Jones reveal an ability for capturing the subtle realities of his surroundings. In a time when the discord of the avantgarde seems to prevail, Carroll, an artist of exacting self criticism, has resigned himself to defend a refined conception of beauty. His work is quiet and reflective and invites in- trospection. His style is his own, evolved in recent years from the influence and guidance of his father, Carroll N.

Jones, and his formal education in the New York Phoenix School of Design and the Hartford Art School The show will be on view during regular Library hours until October 26. Good news for Chatham Boro taxpayers but ominous news for the Board of Education shared billing when the Board's Facilities and Finance Committee held an open conference meeting Tuesday. The good news for taxpayers is that the Boro has received from the State Commissioner of Higher Education a check for $38,259 representing state aid to the district for September. In addition, the district probably will receive nine additional monthly checks for a total of $382,980 by June 30. This represents "full funding" under the 1995 law, Ray Kline, Board secretary, announced.

Since the Board had anticipated only $149,673 in state aid for the 1976-77 school year, the total of "unanticipated will, eventually, be credited to Boro taxpayers, he said. Whether the $232,917 in unanticipated aid will be applied to reduce the 1976-77 or 1977-78 school-year tax requirements depends upon Senate Bill 1503, currently before the state legislature. The bill as it now stands would apply unanticipated state aid to 1976-77 school budgets; but the application of the unanticipated aid to 1977-78 budgets is still under discussion and the bill may be amended to make this possible. In either situation, the taxpayer will receive the benefit in reduced real estate tax for school purposes, Kline pointed out. Board Member Marshal Wolf said that the setting aside of the unanticipated state aid until it can be applied to the 1977-78 tax rate would enable the money to accumulate interest to the benefit of the district.

Kline observed that many districts, which anticipated "no aid" and cut their school programs drastically as a consequence, might exert pressure on legislators to make possible application of the unanticipated funds to the 1976-77 tax rate so as to restore. the slashed programs. Although the Board budgeted only $149,673 in anticipated state aid (and was forced to slash approximately $78,000 from the budget when it was rejected by voters) no drastic cuts were made in the district's educational program. Further good news from Trenton was that the $86,000 which the district had budgeted for a state- mandated contribution to the teachers' pension and retirement fund may now be cut from the current budget. This contribution will this year, as it has been in the past, be made by the state.

The bad news for the Board was that under the "thorough and efficient" education mandated by the N.J. Supreme Court, each school district must come op with a detailed 10-year plan for its educational program and facilities to be submitted to Trenton. Approximately 95 per cent of the districts in Morris County have indicated that they will seek professional help to draw up these elaborate plans, Kline told the Board. "It's a crying shame that this sort of report has to be put together at taxpayers' expense when it doesn't really benefit the kids' education," declared Walter Bischoff, chairman of the Facilities Finance committee. Wolf urged him to look on the positive side and assume that a 10-year plan proposal which would satisfy Trenton could be put together by Board members and educators working, if necessary, with a minimum of professional assistance.

Kline reminded them that several northern New Jersey districts have already hired extra administrators to take care of the additional paperwork required by (Continued on ftgt 4) Application Request Postponed Plan IIB Proposal Stalled Because the plans he submitted were not drawn up either by himself or by a licensed architect, an application by G.C. Liddington lor variances to permit a second-story addition to his residence at 78 Center street was not heard by the Chatham Boro Board of Adjustment at its regular meeting on Thursday. Board chairman R.W. Hoagland declared that he would "not even look" at the plans which had been drawn up by Liddington's builder in violation of a state regulation which requires such plans to be drawn up by the applicant or by licensed professional architect (or engineer, if the application is for a variance involving an engineering project.) Pointing out that violators of the regulation are subject to a fine, Hoagland accepted the. builder's explanation that he was not aware of the regulation and would resubmit plans drawn up by a licensed architect.

The hearing was rescheduled for 8 p.m. Sept. 29 in Boro Hall. Meanwhile, the Board's Attorney, C.W. Foster, has been asked to revise and update the standard Board application form so that applicants for variances will be fully informed as to exactly what the Board requires of applicants Meetings This Weak Tonight: Special meeting Boro Council, 8 p.m., Boro Hall.

To be discussed will be application for extension of Sunday liquor sales. Oct. 5: Conference meeting, Boro Council, 8 p.m., Boro Hall. Agenda will include reports by Fire, Civil Defense, Water and Public Works Committees. Oct.

5: Conference meeting Boro Bd. of Education, 8 p.m., Administrative offices, 492 Main street. Administration will report on "Thorough and Efficient' requirements. Oct. 6: Twp.

Bd. of Assessment Commissioners, 8 p.m., Township Hall Discussion will center on assessments for drainage and street improvements in Gates-Mitchell area. Oct. 6: Boro Planning Board, 7:45 p.m., Boro Hall. Agenda includes minor subdivisions on Garden avenue and Kings road; proposal by Travelong for additional buildings; and Cannon Hill Racquet Club A closed executive session will follow.

Oct. 6: Boro Shade Tree Commission, 8 p.m., Boro Hall. Agenda will include public hearing on shade tree ordinance; consideration on tree removal bids; action on plans for tree trimming, new trees and stump removal. Thanks in great part to the efforts of the Passaic River Coalition and the League of Women Voters, Plan II-Ban Army Corps of Engineers scheme to control flooding in the Passaic river basin has been shelved, according to Don Haberstroh. Haberstroh, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Passaic River Coalition and of the Boro's own Environmental Commission, recently presented the Coalition's reasons for opposing Plan II-B in person to the Public Works Committee of the House of Representatives in Washington.

"The Coalition and the League played key roles in persuading the House Public Works Committee to accept a Phase I design memorandum rather than the structural approach which would have been exemplified by Plan II-B," Haberstroh declared this week. The Phase I design which will be funded by $12 million in Federal money, would involve flood plain management, moving of buildings and homes out of flood-prone areas, and possibly some limited structural plans for the Passaic River Basin, Haberstroh explained. Under Plan II-B, a series of dams, dikes and levees would have been built along 90. miles of the Passaic's course including the Chatham area at a cost of some 1 billion dollars, he said. The protests of the Coalition, the LWV and other environmentalists who opposed II-B were commended by Betty Wilson, assistant commissioner of the state's Department of Environmental Protection, as "articulate" and "well coordinated," redirection of the engineering studies demonstrates that "government can be moved," she said.

In April, 1974, the Passaic River Coalition had submitted over 100 reasons to Gov. Brendan Byrne why Plan II-B should be cancelled by the State. As a supplement to its testimony, a 76-point addendum was added to the original list of questions and objections. It called for an interim plan now, and presented an analysis of the cost effectiveness of a relocation- floodproofing program for the most critical structures in the flood plains of the Passaic River Valley. During his Washington appearance, Habersnroh told the Public Works Committee that the Board of Trustees of the Coalition have made as their number one priority the study of flooding impact and relocation and floodproofing as a possible solution because government seems to be reluctant to undertake such an evaluation.

In addition, the Coalition warned that because of the minor earthquake in March, 1976, along the Ramapo fault, a complete environmental analysis should be undertaken so, that massive construction with its accompanying load of water would not activate the fault. In conclusion, Haberstroh requested the Committee "to have the Corps develop a publicly acceptable program and reject Plan II-B because of its unsuitability for the watershed, the economy, and the citizens." (Continued an St. Patrick Church Benefits From Wisdom And Enthusiasm Members of St. Patrick's Roman Catholic church are currently the beneficiaries of the experience and wisdom of a pastor emeritus and the vigor and enthusiasm of a new pastor. The pastor emeritus is, of course, the Rev.

Monsignor John J. Shanley who, although he has retired after ten years as pastor, still lives in the rectory and remains actively involved in the work of the church. St. Patrick's new pastor, who was installed on July 23, is the Rev. James A.

D. Smith for whom his current assignment is his first post as pastor. Historically, there has been no "retirement" for Catholic priests and although the church recently mandated retirement at 75 for all parish priests it has not yet worked out definite living arrangements for retirees. "So I'm staying on here- for a while, at least-and Father Smith and I are trying it oat to see how well tine. tort.

Mttun Daily DMililLmlng Summit 277-0234 it will work," Msgr. Shanley observes with a twinkle. Although technically retired, Msgr. Shanley still celebrates at least one mass daily, hears confessions on Saturday, and serves wherever and whenever he is needed. In addition, he continues in his post as consul tor to the bishop of the Paterson Diocese and as diocesan moderator of the Council of Catholic Women and moderator of the Madison-Chatham district of the Council.

Msgr. Shanley's long career has been marked'by a deep commitment in and involvement with social welfare. He was the founder of Catholic Charities in the Paterson diocese in 1938 and served as its executive director until 1969. His outstanding service to the church resulted in his being made a monsignor in 1944. Born in Newark, he was one of seven children of Mr.

and Mrs. John T. Shanley He attended St. Joseph's parochial school and St. Benedict's preparatory school, at that time one of the finest Catholic prep schools in the East.

It was while he was a senior at St. Benedict's that he decided to become a priest, he recalls. After being graduated from Seton Hall University he became a member of the first class of seminarists to attend and be graduated from the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Darlington. He was ordained into the priesthood in 1932. Msgr.

Shanley's first assignment was as a curate to Queen of Angels church in Newark, where he served for five years, then moving on to S. Agnes' in Paterson. In addition to his parish duties, he took on graduate studies at the School of Social Work at Fordham University and, in 1934, was awarded a master's degree in social work. He later resumed graduate studies at Fordham and, in 1940, was awarded a Ph.D. in political philosophy and social science.

During his yean in Paterson, he not only was active in the foundation and operation of Catholic Charities but served in a number of that city's parishes as a member of the Board of St. Joseph's Hospital. In 1952 he was appointed pastor of St. Joseph's church in Paterson and served there until 1966 when he was assigned to St. Patrick's to succeed the retiring pastor.

Msgr. William Looney. "It was quite a challenge to be assigned to a sophisticated suburban community after so many years of city work," he remarks, "but I have found that people of St. Patrick's to be as generous and loyal and cooperative as any priest could have wished." During his first years at St. Patrick, Msgr Shanley continued as executive director of Catholic Charities, retiring from that position in 1969.

Looking back over his decade as pastor here, he is justifiably pleased with the way in which the parish has flourished despite the departure, some years ago. of approximately one-third of its members-who are now communicants at Corpus Christi in the Township. Msgr. Shanley is also pleased with the success of the annual pledge system which he instituted and by which means the parishioners are supporting their local church and elementary school. Now that he is "retired," Msgr.

Shanley expresses some regret that his busy professional life has left him little time to develop hobbies and past-times. "I never had time to learn to play golf," he observes wryly, "and it's a little late to start now." Reading and travel, however, have always been high on his list of leisure- time interests. He has, in fact, traveled widely: in 1950, a Holy Year, to the famed Passion Play at Oberammergau. Austria, and to Rome; in 1964 by way of the Holy Land, to Bombay, India to attend the Eucharistic Congress, and home via Southeast Asia and across the Pacific; in 1965 to the Vatican Council in Rome with the bishop of Paterson; and in 1972 on a return visit to Oberammergau. After a hectic summer during which he has had to cope with one stay in hospital for surgery and two Midden deaths in his family.

Msgr. Shanley is only now (Continued on Ptfa 13) RECTORY TEAM Rev. James A.D. Smith, new pastor at St. Patrick Church, (left) and the Rev.

Monsignor John 1. Shanley, pastor emeritus interrupt a busy schedule to be photographed..