Random Notes: 11-22-11

Thanksgiving, 1918

1. The town's new website can be viewed at : www.pohatcongtwp.org   Please take some time out to visit and get acquainted.  Feedback and suggestions are no doubt welcomed.

2. If you were planning to do your holiday shopping at the new Super Walmart, you may want to put those plans on hold.  The opening has now been delayed until February 10th, 2012.

3. This is not a joke dept: work has finally begun on repairs to the stone tunnel on Still Valley Road. Tentative reopening date is some time this January.  Realistically, expect it to open sometime in the spring.

The Municipal Consolidation Roadshow Visits Pohatcong

Pohatcong Mayor James Kern III with Courage to Connect NJ  Exec. Dir. Gina Genovese (Center)
 

It seems that not a week goes by these days without a plethora of new articles about the impending death of America's middle class.  Sadly, there seems to be more confirmation than not of this trend as consumers face rising costs for basic items such as food, energy, and healthcare at rates of inflation that far exceed official government indexes.  Meanwhile incomes are not keeping pace. Here in New Jersey, incomes have declined in both  real and nominal terms over the last couple of years.  For those who own homes, things have been especially bad lately with homes values dropping dramatically while property taxes continue to spiral upwards- despite efforts to forestall the rise by setting theoretical caps on new taxes.

Caught in this vice of declining incomes and rising taxes, taxpayers are starting to cast around for practical ways of easing the financial pressure.  Municipal consolidation is once again becoming a hot topic around the state - especially since this past November election  when the voters of Princeton  Township and Princeton Borough voted overwhelmingly to merge their two townships. The combined town will now be known simply as Princeton and  there is no doubt that this move will be closely studied by other officials and the public at large as they move forward and work out the logistics of their merger.

One of the organizations promoting municipal mergers is the independent, non-partisan organization, Courage to Connect NJ . On Nov. 2nd, at the invitation of Pohatcong Mayor James Kern III, Courage to Connect NJ, came to Pohatcong School for a presentation on this topic.  For those who were able to attend, it may have been a real eye-opener since while the concept of municipal mergers is easy to grasp, the process itself can choreographed in many different and intriguing ways. To better understand some of the details, I urge a visit to their well-designed and informative website:  www.couragetoconnectnj.org

In future posts, I intend to cover some of these details and maybe some breaking developments on a topic that seemingly will continue to get wide play with the public.  In the meantime, happy reading and maybe a few parting questions:   Have you ever given this any thought and if so, what are your initial feelings about it?
Which towns should merge?  And for fun, what would we name any of these new amalgamations?

Pohatcong Election Result

                                            
Landslide :

It's Van Lieu.

60%-38%

                              

Please Help Our Pohatcong Food Pantry

While I was dropping off a contribution this week at
the Finesville United Methodist Church, the nice ladies who staff the pantry every Wednesday morning informed me that the number of people who utilize the food pantry  has doubled over the last month.  Most of these people are senior citizens who struggle on fixed incomes.  The large jump in numbers is somewhat surprising but then again nationwide the number of people who are accepting government assistance via the federal food program known as SNAPS is now approaching a record 46 million.  It will not be a pretty picture when and if funding for this program begins to dry up as the federal government slips further into insolvency.  That is why the efforts of private local groups like the Finesville United Methodist Church are so important and worthy of support. Please consider donating to their pantry:

Where:  Finesville United Methodist Church
             150 County Road 627
             (908) 995-0115

When:  Every Wednesday morning from 10:00 a.m. till 12:00 Noon

Election Time for Pohatcong...Will The Positive Vibes Continue?

Mary Van Lieu : Looking for more of those good vibrations

There is no doubt that the citizens of Pohatcong are starting to become more involved once again in
matters local and attendance at town council meetings has improved dramatically since the inauguration of James Kern III the town's new young mayor.  The upcoming Nov.8th election for town council offers a stark choice for voters between retired school administrator and former mayor, Mary Van Lieu and the town's other former mayor Stephen Babinsky and whether or not the more recent upbeat feelings will continue. Retirement seems to have recharged Van Lieu who is eager to return to public service and float some new ideas on behalf of the town's beleaguered taxpayers. Her pleasant and cheerful demeanor certainly would be a welcome change from the dour old boys aura that has hung over this council for too many years.  Her opponent, the hapless former mayor, Stephen Babinsky, has been a thorn in his own side due to his inability to control his foul temper and tongue which would almost be excusable if he had something to show for his 8 years as mayor rather than a talent for alienating most of the town's residents. In these troubled times, with many people facing severe economic hardships, voters will be looking for candidates who they feel can empathize with their concerns.  On Nov. 8th, the voters of Pohatcong  will be face a choice between two starkly different candidates.  Can good vibrations prevail?  I wouldn't bet against it.

For Ravine Road the Future Has Arrived

Ravine Road view from Greenwich Twnshp. side of the tunnel.

Back in early January of 2009 I wrote that this lightly traveled road seemed destined to wash away one day under the right stormy circumstances.  Well that storm has come and gone and this road is no longer passable

and will probably shut down forever. In another era, funds may have been available to fix things up, but in our current downward economic slope, priorities lie elsewhere.

RIP: There once was a road here.

Water, Water Everywhere....the Sequel.

Yikes!  Closed again due to flooding : Municipal Drive

Another few days of battering rain in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene has taken it's toll again around

town with flooding rampant everywhere. More days and nights of bailing water, monitoring leaks , repairing washed-out driveways and landscapes.  Didn't we just do this last week? or as Yogi would have put it: It's like deja-vu all over again.

Is The Information Age Finally Arriving in Pohatcong?

Pohatcong Residents Celebrate Impending Arrival of New Township Website

Unlike most other townships in New Jersey these days, the residents of Pohatcong have found it a frustrating experience to access basic information about their town such as when, where and what time meetings are held, minutes and agendas for same, posting of township budgets, contact numbers for town officials and so on. Invariably,  excuses were always given as to why  maintaining and updating a website was mission impossible here in Pohatcong Township.  The dismal failure over the last several years of our hapless elected town council and the town's  ill-mannered and hostile former mayor to get this task done should be kept in mind by voters this November and every November thereafter.

When the township residents elected young James Kern this past May to be our new mayor, a new impetus for delivering the town from it's dark past of information blackout, to a more normative flow of bits and bytes that we have come to expect in our digitized culture- now seems at hand. According to sources in our pipeline, it may be no more than a week or two before the town rolls out our new website.  If this is true, then the long suffering taxpayers of Pohatcong  may finally have cause  to celebrate as we (somewhat belatedly) join in the information revolution  that has been ongoing since the previous millennium

Water, Water Everywhere

1. 

Closed Until Further Notice: Stone Tunnel on Municipal Drive

While Hurricane Irene may have disappointed in living up to the promised storm of the century hype, it did nevertheless leave the town feeling quite soggy.  Unlike the recent storm in early July, which ripped through the area with high winds and brought down a lot of timber, the wind factor was relatively mild but the wet factor was where the pain was this time.

No This Is Not A River.  This Is Ravine Road.

Play Ball? Don't Forget Your Scuba Gear and Canoe.  Baseball Field in Finesville.

After You've Grown Your Own....

Freshly picked and washed . Ready for processing...

In an earlier post entitled "Growing Your Own", I wrote about the importance of providing some food security for your family in times of increasing economic turmoil and uncertainty.  Since then, things have continued to take a turn for the worse with a record number of Americans now enrolled in  government food stamp programs (aka SNAPS).  Would you want to dependent on any benefit being maintained by our bankrupt federal government?  No thanks.  Alternatively, you can begin to help yourself by grabbing a shovel, digging up that useless lawn, and planting a survival garden for your family.  Sure, it will take some practice to develop a green thumb of sorts but like with anything else perseverance should eventually yield to some sort of harvest-bountiful or not.  If it turns out to be the former, then you will need to get some practice in the various ways of preserving your abundant output.

Here on our modest homestead, we are getting some good yield this year on our cucumbers- most of which are the bush variety which are ideal for pickling.  For shorter term use, we process some of these as "refrigerator" pickles.  Not a difficult process and we seem to like the taste of these more than the ones we "can" for longer term storage in our food pantry.  Of course there are always new recipes to be tried. Bon Appetit!

...into a  new batch of  refrigerator pickles!

Pohatcong Hoagie Face-Off

The Contenders:   On the left: Warren Glen Market   On the Right: Quick Chek

While we all try to maintain the pretense of eating only healthy foodstuffs there are of course the inevitable forays into less healthier realms to satisfy our primordial urge to consume copious quantities of the type of things that cause nutritionists to beat their chests and wail in despair. While the classic Italian hoagie may not qualify with the worst of offenders in our fast food universe, it will nevertheless give you a major wallop of your daily need for fat, sodium and calories all in one sitting.  With that out of the way, let's consider two places in town where that need can be met.  Our two local contenders, as shown above, come to us via the Warren Glen Market (a mom and pop operation) and QuickChek (yeah corporate America).  Here's the tale of the tape:

Warren Glen Market:  Price: 6.25    Weight: 1.05 lbs.   Cost per ounce: .37 oz.   Features:  Uses Thumann's Deli meat and cheese.  Bakery Quality Bread.

QuickChek: Price: 2.99  Weight: .64 lbs.   Cost per ounce: .29 oz.    Features:  Can substitute whole-wheat or Parmesan bread instead.  Custom condiments available. Generic type deli meat/cheese.

The Verdict: Warren Glen Market. I mean c'mon seriously, how can you have a good-tasting sub/hoagie without investing something  in quality meats and bread?  These are the basic building blocks of any good sub and your taste buds will certainly know the difference.  Study the picture above.  Need I say more?  Okay, if you have only three bits to your name - go to QuikChek.  If you want to do your appetite some justice-then it's Warren Glen Market.

Reader Bonus: Italian Hoagie connoisseur Smokey Joe weighs in: 


"I have sampled both hoagies and have determined that I do like both subs, but I like Warren Glen Markets because it tastes better and it uses quality meats, cheeses and bread.Although I would rather have both of these subs at anytime rather than the barely edible Italian subs at Pohatcong school"

After the Storm-How Prepared Were You?

Storm damage on Warren Glen Road

In the aftermath of yesterday's late afternoon  storm which unleashed a torrent of rain, sudden high winds, and even hail upon shocked residents the damage was evident everywhere you looked in Pohatcong and surrounding townships.  From flattened cornfields to a panoply of twisted tree limbs, trunks and downed power lines there was an eerie end of the days feeling if you took a drive around last night.  Many neighborhoods were without power for varying amounts of time and what struck me was how few households were providing their own back-up power mainly via generators. I only saw one in fact excluding our own.  Mostly a lot of candles and flashlights.  So the question to ask is how prepared is your family  for these kinds of emergencies?  Without back-up power it would only be hours before you are without water ( assuming you have a well and well pump) and the food in your refrigerator would suffer a full scale bacterial assault.  And this is only for starters as a full host of other knock-on effects would soon be upon you and yours.

The key word to keep in mind when calculating your preparedness (or lack thereof ) is FEW-Food, Energy and Water. How are your FEW resources? Are you stocked up or can you provide your own survival for 1 day, 3 days, 3 weeks, 3months or a year or more?  Interesting questions to ask in times when weather may become more unpredictable and when due to deteriorating infrastructure, the electrical grid may not be the reliable presence it once was.

The Surveilance State Comes to Pohatcong

When it came to spying on it's own citizens, the Stasi, the secret police of the now defunct German Democratic Republic (East Germany), certainly should be considered for top honors since they achieved the dubious distinction of having one of the highest citizen/spy ratios in recent history. Perhaps in an effort to do the Stasi one better, we are here in the home of the brave and the free, developing our own home grown snitch and spy program courtesy of head honcho and Big Sister Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security and Walmart, Inc. The creepy, "If you see something, say something" campaign may soon be coming to a new Walmart Super Center being built near you.

If spying and snitching on your fellow citizens while shopping for the usual gaudy junk from China doesn't appeal to you, then despair not because the Pohatcong Town Council has provided
us with some comic relief. By unanimous vote, our council critters have given the okay to have traffic cameras installed at certain busy intersections along our big box corridor on Rt 22. But it's all about public safety after all so that's okay right? Never mind that this has never been proven because as one of the critters said to me "hey, the town could use the money" and that seems to trump all these days. Keep that in mind as you mail out that first infraction check and remember to smile as you do so or someone from Walmart nation may drop a dime on you. Big Sister loves you. You will learn to love her too.

Pohatcong Has an Election

The people of Pohatcong seemed to be hankering for a change in direction and they may have achieved this in part on May 1oth with the overwhelming victory of young James Kern over the his one remaining and tarnished politic rival.

In case you were not already paying attention, the field this year was narrowed due to the sudden passing of former councilman, Sam Souders and the prudent decision of our unpopular current mayor to withdraw. Regardless of these events, Kern seemed to have the game well in hand going in and his well run , energetic campaign really caught on with the public who showed up in far greater numbers than usual to vote this year.

Of course, the real challenge for Kern begins on July 1st once he has been sworn in and sets about trying to get a few things done. Pohatcong is no different from any other small town in New Jersey where the entrenched permanent government of public workers and contracted specialists tend to rule the roost and change of any kind is a mortal threat to their interests.
To overcome this inertia, Kern would be wise to continue enlisting his supporters to help carry out the task of reforming the worn- out and failed business-as-usual approach that has prevailed on Municpal Drive for too long. The people voted for some positive change this year and at least deserve an honest shot at getting just that.