NOVEMBER 2019 FREE
COMMUNITYNEWS.ORG
Ensuring Trenton’s water works
Your vote at risk?
New interim director discusses Sept. boil advisory and the future of TWW
By RoB AnThes
By RoB AnThes
ranthes@communitynews.org
It has been an eventful first few weeks on the job for Steven J. Picco. The new interim director of Trenton Water Works, Picco assumed his position Sept. 16. He dealt with his first crisis just 11 days later when a mechanical failure caused chlorine levels in the water to drop and a boilwater advisory to be issued. TWW uses chlorine to disinfect the drinking water. The advisory lasted 30 hours, but Picco says TWW will carry the lessons learned in that twoday span for much longer. Picco replaced Dr. ShingFu Hsueh as head of the utility after Hsueh resigned suddenly in early September. While Hsueh accomplished plenty in his year on the job, he also left behind plenty for Picco to handle. Picco, 71, is no stranger to TWW or Mercer County. He grew up locally, living in Hamilton, Ewing and Trenton. He is a graduate of Ewing High School and Rider University. He moved out of the area 18 years ago, relocating from Pennington to See WATER, Page 11
State’s aging voting machines dogged by questions of vulnerability
ranthes@communitynews.org
In 2004, Hopewell resident Stephanie Harris went to her polling place for the presidential primary, never expecting what was about to happen would alter her life and the public discourse around voter security for the next decade and a half. When Harris entered the privacy booth that day, she saw one Helen Cor velyen and Hopewell Valley Regoinal School District superintendent Tom of Mercer County’s then-new touchscreen voting machines facSmith get their hands dirty on Timberlane Middle School’s recent planting day. ing her, a model called the Sequoia AVC Advantage. She found her candidate of choice on the large paper ballot overlay, pressed the box next to the candidate’s name Though the initial proposal and then hit a large button at the ment and sustainable practices that can help protect the had no relation to the rain bottom right of the machine to cast garden, it inspired Wolff and her vote. Typically, at this point, the ecosystem. In September, FoHVOS part- Hunter to consider other proj- AVC Advantage will make a noise nered with Hopewell’s Timber- ects that could be done to help to indicate a vote has been counted. lane Middle School to create a create a water drainage system For Harris, nothing happened. By JenniFeR GoeTZ Harris exited the privacy rain garden that would serve while creating a sustainable An ecosystem is a delicate not only as a solution to a water space. Thus, the idea for the booth slightly confused. A poll balance. Throwing in dif- drainage problem, but also as Timberlane Middle School Rain worker stopped her, and said ferent plants can mess with a beautiful, aesthetically-pleas- Garden was born. her vote didn’t register and that everything from the soil to the ing space filled with native and Timberlane Middle School she should try again. Harris did, insects that rely on plants for deep rooted plants. needed a water drainage sys- four times with the same results. food. Invasive species can take After the fi fth time, the poll Hopewell Valley Regional tem, due to the amount of water over the land, affecting the eco- School District STEM Coordi- that pooled in front of the build- worker shrugged, and said, “Well, system entirely. nator Greg Hunter was working ing after a storm. Commonly I think it worked.” Harris never Understanding the impor- as a Teacher-In-Residence at referred to as “Lake Timber- received definitive confirmation tance of native plants in an area the Watershed Institution when lane,” or in the winter, the “TMS her vote had been cast. can make a huge difference for he submitted a grant proposal Ice Rink,” the land was a safety Harris couldn’t shake the feelthe ecosystem, and for the envi- for review to Sustainable Jersey. issue, especially during the win- ing that her vote had been taken ronment as a whole. This is one The grant was denied at first, ter weather. After a need was away. She asked the county for of the reasons why the Friends and Hunter went to Lisa Wolff, identified, Wolff and Hunter confirmation or at least an explaof Hopewell Valley Open Space executive director of FoHVOS, worked on a proposal to help nation. She didn’t get answers, is determined to educate the for assistance with the revised redirect stormwater. but she did earn a new nickname, community about the environ- proposal. See PLANTING, Page 7 See VOTING, Page 8
Learning to balance the ecosystem Timberlane students learn about sustainability
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