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Vol. 5 – No. 42 ♦
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6/28/21 9:08 AM
FR EE
July 24 - July 30, 2021
Fate of Atco Dragway May Ride on Whether Auto Auction Lot Needs Variance to Replace It
‘TOOL IN YOUR TOOLBOX’
IAA Now Says Site Not Intended for Storage, Despite Past Claims, But Rather as ‘Inventory Area’ By Bill Bonvie Staff Writer
Photo By Douglas D. Melegari
Congressman Andy Kim, of New Jersey’s Third Congressional District, meets with the firefighters of the Indian Mills Volunteer Fire Company.
Congressman Andy Kim Visits Indian Mills Volunteer Fire Company to Announce His Support of Its Effort to Obtain Federal Assistance for Replacement of 18 Air Packs Due to Expire in February of 2022
By Douglas D. Melegari Staff Writer
SH A MONG —T h e I nd i a n M i l l s Volunteer Fire Company, with its 18 air packs due to expire soon, in February 2022, has applied for an Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help fund replacement ones, and is anxiously awaiting a decision from the federal agency, which could come as
early as August. John Smith, chief of the fire company, which serves Shamong Township, told this newspaper in an interview that he hopes the third time will be the charm, as the local entity had applied to FEMA in 2019 and 2020 for funding to replace the air packs, also known as self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), but both those applications were denied due to the highly competitive nature of the federal assistance program.
“The urgency to receive a grant is higher for us this time around because they are nearing the age where they are no longer safe and usable,” said Smith, noting that Indian Mills could not afford to purchase the 18 air packs on its own, with an approximate total cost of $130,000. The grant would provide the local entity with as much as $117,000 toward new air packs. See FIRE/ Page 15
WATERFORD—According to those who are opposed to the prospective replacement of the iconic Atco Dragway with a lot for damaged and disabled cars, which would be auctioned off to online buyers, the issues that the Waterford Township Joint Land Use Board should be considering are whether the plan poses a threat to the area’s environment, as well as to the drinking water, safety, property values, quality of life and culture of local residents. But to the legal counsel for the company making the revised site-plan application, Insurance Auto Auctions (IAA), it all comes down to a matter of mistaken terminology – or to be more specific, the board’s categorizing as a “storage lot” what the firm wants to put on the property in question, a holding pen for more than 6,000 vehicles in various states of disrepair. According to the IAA attorney, Matthew Wait, it really is not going to be used for vehicle storage after all, despite descriptions to the contrary provided by the enterprise itself. How it should instead be described, Wait told the board at a July 19 Zoom meeting mostly devoted to the fate of the dragway that dragged on until midnight, is as a “vehicle inventory area” in which “vehicles are not stored, but actively sold at auction.” That corrected characterization, he contended, should exempt the proposed use from a requirement that gasoline be See DRAGWAY/ Page 6
INDEX Business Directory... 12
Marketplace.................14
Local News................. 2
Worship Guide.......... 10
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