Volume LXIX, Number 34 Reading Walker Percy’s Novel The Moviegoer on the 10th Anniversary of Katrina . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Artist Lucy Graves McVicker’s Exhibit Opens at D&R Greenway . . . 13 Princeton Women’s Soccer Emphasizing Defense as Driscoll Era Starts With Opener Against Howard . . . . . 22 Looking to Solidify Defense for Lehigh Men’s Soccer, PHS Alum Davis Excited for Final College Campaign . . . . . . . . . 27
Lawrenceville Resident Hester Young Is Launching Her Debut Novel, The Gates of Evangeline, at the Library Next Wednesday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Area Exhibits . . . . . . . 14 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 16 Cinema . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Classified Ads. . . . . . . 30 Clubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Home Improvement . . . 32 Music/Theater . . . . . . 15 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 12 New to Us. . . . . . . . . . 21 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 29 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 30 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Topics of the Town . . . . 7 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . . 6
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Extra Week Of Leaf, Brush Pickups Added Responding to requests from residents for additional pickups, Princeton’s Public Works department has added an extra week of municipal-wide brush collection for the week of November 16. In addition, the town will add two extra weeks in July 2016 and another brush collection in October 2016. “We’re always looking to improve service,” said Bob Hough, Princeton’s director of Infrastructure and Operations, at Princeton Council’s meeting on Monday. “We know there was concern about going from October to January without any brush collection.” Any brush that is put out by 7 a.m. on Monday, November 16 will get picked up during the week. The collection will not be done section by section, but will take place town-wide through the week. “We will basically flood the community with our staff,” Mr. Hough said. “We’ll have eight days to do the sweep.” Residents will be reminded of the additions through robo-calls and other notifications. In January, Christmas tree and brush collections will be divided into sections for the first week of the month. For the ensuing three weeks, collections will be done town-wide. There are no collections in February. Annual brush and bagged leaves are picked up starting at the end of March and continue through the end of June. Hearing from residents that it is too long to wait until August to resume pickups, the town has added the weeks of July 5 and 25, Mr. Hough said. Since consolidation of the former borough and township, there have been some challenges in coordinating collections. “We’ve learned a lot this year,” Mr. Hough told Council. “Finally the old borough guys know the township roads, and the old township guys know the borough.” Mayor Liz Lempert stressed that residents learn about “leave the leaves” and other sustainable practices that help lawns while reducing the amount of leaves to be collected. Mr. Hough added that residents who have gotten rid of their land lines remember to register their cell phones in order to receive robo-calls from the town. Councilwoman Jo Butler suggested Continued on Page 10
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Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Old Bills Hit Homeowners: “A Major Screw-up”
Some 300 Princeton homeowners are receiving proposed sewer inspection and repair bills for work that, in some cases, was done a decade ago. Acknowledging the delay as “a major screw-up,” in the words of Princeton Council member Jenny Crumiller, the governing body heard from staff members at its Monday meeting that the problem is being tackled. “We understand it is a serious situation and we are taking corrective steps to address the issue,” Town Administrator Marc Dashield said. “We are reviewing our processes so we move forward to make sure this does not happen in the future.” More than 100 property owners were the first to get billed earlier this month for inspections and replacement of sewer laterals done some 10 years ago. Those homes are on Harris Road, Hillside Road, Loomis Court, Oakland Street, Cuyler Road, and Walnut Lane. The second round, in the area of Tyson Lane, Littlebrook Road, Abernathy Drive and Clover Lane, are scheduled to receive proposed assessments next month, for sewer laterals inspected and replaced seven years ago. A third group of approximately 100 homeowners in the area of Gallup Road, Grover Avenue, Roper Road, Battle Road, and Westerly Road, will also get assessments in September, for work done be-
tween 2010 and 2012. Homeowners on Park Place and the surrounding neighborhood are to be billed as well, for work done last year. Mr. Dashield said the bills were not sent at the appropriate times because the Princeton Board of Improvement Assessors never confirmed them. Chief Financial Officer Kathy Monzo said that the board does not have regular meetings. The one held this month — a hearing on the proposed assessments — was the first one since consolidation. Councilwoman Jo Butler asked staff members what made it evident that the bills had never been sent to homeowners. Ms. Monzo said, “We’ve kind of known all along it has been out there. It just hadn’t been done.” She added that title searches for those who purchased
their homes after the projects were done should have turned up the assessments. “The title companies do not do an official search,” she said. “It does not relieve title companies from their responsibility. Homeowners may have a claim with their title insurance companies. It should have shown up on the title.” It was suggested that the board hold meetings annually to help prevent similar problems in the future. Ms. Monzo said the town should put a policy in place that dictates billing six months to a year from a project’s completion. Council is planning to vote on the proposed assessments for the first group at its October 12 meeting. “After they are confirmed, bills will go out to residents saying Council confirmed your assessment and here is your bill,” Mr. Dashield said. Continued on Page 6
Health Intern Goes Undercover To Check on Tobacco Sales Since approving an ordinance last April that bans selling cigarettes and other tobacco products in Princeton to anyone under age 21, the town’s Board of Health has been making an effort to enforce the law. The department recently went undercover, with the aid of a teenaged intern, to make sure none of the 16 area vendors
that carry these products is violating the new ordinance. In just two days, the high school student visited each of the retailers, including McCaffrey’s, Molisana, and Wawa markets, Rite Aid, the Exxon station, and several others, and attempted to Continued on Page 10
OFF AND RUNNING (AND SWIMMING): A view from the dry land portion of Sunday’s Kids “Splash ‘n’ Dash” Aquathon sponsored by the Princeton Recreation Department. The run/swim/run event began and ended with a run at Community Park South and a swim at Community Park Pool in between. (Photo by Emily Reeves)