Pequannock officials, residents angry over slow-moving utility

By Steve Janoski

Local officials are running out of phrases to describe their frustration with Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) as 10 days removed from Hurricane Sandy, just under half of Pequannock remains without power.

On Tuesday, Mayor Rich Phelan said that about 44 percent of the township has no electricity — according to JCP&L's website, that equates to about 1,965 customers — and residents' patience has run out, especially because they're not seeing utility trucks working in the streets.

Weary, frustrated citizens have been calling, said Phelan, but he is no longer sure what to say.

"We don't have a magic number that we call JCP&L on; it's the same phone number that everybody else has," he said. "It breaks my heart to tell them that there's nothing I can tell (the residents)…there's absolutely nothing."

Although he's participated in several conference calls with the JCP&L officials, he called them "a joke," and berated the utility for offering information that has "absolutely no local connection" to what is going on in the streets.

"I don't want to hear how many linemen you have in the State of New Jersey — I want to hear when you're going to get to Sunset (Road), when you're going to get to Jackson (Avenue)," he said. "This has just gotten ridiculous, beyond ridiculous, and there's no information, there's nothing."

He was told that there would be another 1,200 homes restored by Tuesday night, but said that not one had been brought on-line.

JCP&L spokesman Mark Nitowski said that with 51,000 customers still out of power, Morris County is "one of the hardest hit" of the utility's service areas, and that a large amount of tree damage was to blame. And, although he said that the utility has brought power back to about 944,000 of its 1.2 million customers in NJ, that statistic likely provides little solace to those sleeping in the cold, dark houses in places like the Village.

There was nothing in particular about Pequannock that was slowing down the restoration process, he said, but unfortunately, "no matter what storm hits, there's always going to be the one area, the one individual customer…that are the last ones to be restored, and they're going to be frustrated and upset."

However, he still could not offer information about the township, such as what streets will get electricity first or when, and said only that the utility is planning to have "the vast majority" of its customers restored by Wednesday night.

"We appreciate the continued patience…it's just a process to get to that point," he said.

When the outage ends, Phelan said, he's going to be pressing for changes in the way the township deals with the utility. He suggested Morris County municipalities withhold payments to JCP&L to force it to recognize their anger over the affair.

He also wants a point of contact that town officials can call for specific information about their region, and wants a better understanding of the power grid as a whole.

"We're going to actively go after this," he said.

Nitowski said that there is an area manager that handles the region, but Phelan remarked that the rep had offered no local information, only the same responses that the power company as a whole was offering.

Email: janoski@northjersey.com

http://www.northjersey.com/news/177803071_Pequannock_officials__residents_angry_over_slow-moving_utility.html

Football: Kinnelon has their rally knocked down

KINNELON — Few imagined it would come down to this: the Kinnelon Colts, facing a fourth and 15 from their own 24 yard line, attempting to complete a remarkable 19-point comeback in under seven minutes against their cross-highway rivals, the undefeated Butler Bulldogs as time ticked down in the fourth quarter.

Quarterback Sean Robbins took the snap, dropped back to pass, and scanned his receivers, looking for Connor Villante streaking across the middle of the field three yards past the first-down marker.

But he wasn’t the only one who noticed Villante, and just as the ball reached the receiver’s fingertips, Butler safety Ryan Minogue hit him, jerking him away from the football and sending the Butler sideline into celebration.

It was the perfect play, executed flawlessly on the Colts’ part, said Kinnelon coach Kevin White after game, but it was also a perfect play by Minogue.

"We figured that with the double post (patterns) that you’re gonna’ stretch the safety and have a little bit of a window…but (Minogue) made a hell of a break on the ball, and he made a great, great play," said White. "The quarterback threw to the right place, the receiver got to the right place, and the kid just made a great, violent collision."

But as in all football games, although the last play might be the most memorable, the final score — in this case, 28-22 in favor of the now 4-0 Bulldogs — was decided by a collection of big plays, misplays, penalties, and missed opportunities on the part of both teams.

For White, however, it was his offense’s inability to get into a rhythm in the first half that became the deciding factor.

"I thought the most important thing is that we’ve got to get points on the board, because that builds as much confidence as anything," he said. "Cause if you walk away from a good drive with nothing…they walk off the field sky high, and you’re dejected."

That’s what happened to the Colts (2-2) time and time again throughout the first and second quarters after a strong nine-play, 65-yard drive led to a 22-yard Evan Argiriou field goal to give Kinnelon a 3-0 lead early.

From there, however, the offense fell into a pattern: five plays, then a punt, three plays, then a punt, seven plays, then a punt.

To the Colts’ defense’s credit, though, Butler was no different, and had little success against the stalwart unit until late in the second quarter when quarterback Chris Heredia scored on a two-yard dive. A two-point conversion followed, and gave the Bulldogs an 8-3 lead.

Butler opened the second half fast, however, and scored with on a 66-yard touchdown throw from Heredia to receiver Jason DaLattiboudere that gave them a 15-3 lead.

The Colts would answer later on when, on a first-and-goal from the nine yard line, a scrambling Robbins would hit Sean Walsh in the endzone for a touchdown. The extra point failed, but left the Colts within striking distance at 15-9.

Butler took back over later in the game, however, and scored on a 27-yard-run by running back Ryan Cirillo early in the fourth. On the next drive, they converted a Robbins fumble on a failed option into a 16-yard touchdown pass from Heredia to DaLattiboudere.

It was only his team’s natural grit, White said, that held them together while down 28-9 with seven minutes left.

"No one can ever say that Kinnelon does not play hard for the entire time…there aint’ no lying down here," he said, adding that he told his guys to "just keep playing" regardless of the deficit, because "you never know what happens."

In Kinnelon’s case, the nearly impossible happened as they scored on the first play from scrimmage when Robbins, on a first and 10 from his own 31, hit Joe Presti on a slant that the senior receiver broke for 69 yards and a score.

Walsh would recover the ensuing perfectly-placed onside kick, and five plays later, Robbins would take a quarterback keeper three yards for the team’s second score, bringing the score to 28-22 and setting the stage for the dramatic ending. Robbins finished with 236 passing yards and three touchdowns.

But regardless of the fact that the Colts didn’t pull of the miracle, White was proud of his team for never laying down, and, had the ball bounced differently on a few plays, it would have been the Colts celebrating.

"We knew we were up against a hell of a football team, and with a tight game like this, it’s a play here, a play there," he said.

Never was that more true.

Email: janoski@northjersey.com

Rumble along the Passaic leads to rude awakening

Wednesday, June 15
BY STEVE JANOSKI


The air is charged at the packed AmeriHealth Pavilion on fight night, especially among the followers of boxer Vinny O’Brien, the local kid from Morris County who’s seeking his third professional victory in as many bouts.

This show, smaller in nature, isn’t like a title match — if you’re here, you probably know one of the fighters. That alone changes the dynamics of watching the encounter, as your heart somersaults with each punch, and for six or 10 rounds, you feel that you share your fighter’s fate.

When I get there, I find out that O’Brien’s fight, which was supposedly going to be televised nationwide on ESPN, has been made the "swing bout." This, more or less, means that he’ll go on whenever they need him to, which plays hell with both his mind and his adrenal glands.

The night turns out to be a jumbled mess. One fight gets pulled at the last minute, and the arena’s lights fail in the middle of another, a la "Ocean’s Eleven."

The half-hour delay lets an already drunk crowd slip further into inebriation, and the atmosphere grows tense as time ticks by.

The redeeming quality is that Main Events has matched good boxers, and the action is ferocious. Several fights are near upsets, and knockdowns are plentiful.

Unfortunately, O’Brien somehow becomes the last bout of the night, and as the welterweight begins to carve his way toward the ring to a recording of a lion’s roar, the ESPN crews are rolling up the electrical cords and dragging out their camera booms.

O’Brien is adorned in white trunks with a blue and red stripe down the side; his opponent, a Puerto Rican from Philadelphia named Rafael Montalvo, wears trunks decorated with the Puerto Rican flag.

The first round starts slowly as both fighters feel each other out. O’Brien takes some punches; he hasn’t yet learned to slip the jab. Brief, sharp exchanges seem to favor Montalvo, but no one lands anything of consequence.

The intensity rises in the second round. Initially they’re content to box from a distance, but eventually they close on each other, and Montalvo lands a hard left hook and a straight right that wobbles O’Brien.

They separate briefly but engage again, two ships of the line going volley for volley. Montalvo lands another damaging blow but, as he comes in, O’Brien comes back with a magnificent left hook that whips the Puerto Rican’s head around and drops him to the canvas. For a moment I think, "Vin’s done it again."

But Montalvo is different. He rises quickly and is on his toes, dancing, nodding his head to referee Earl Morton as he takes an eight count.

O’Brien thinks there’s blood in the water, and he approaches looking to land the Sunday punch that will send Montalvo across the Delaware in shame.

In his eagerness, though, he leaves himself open, and gets caught with a momentous hook that sends him to the ground, sprawling backward against the ropes.

He rises quickly as well, but he’s got the legs of a newborn calf and can’t seem to gain his balance, and I know right then that the fight could be, maybe should be, called.

Morton lets it continue however, and gives him a standing eight count that finishes out the round. The bell sounds, and O’Brien staggers back to his corner as his cutman flings water onto his face from a sponge and his trainer, Lou Esa, tries to bring him back to the world of the living.



Montalvo begins to take over in the third. He’s landing crisp jabs that swell O’Brien’s face and heavy hooks that begin to rob him of his faculties, but the brawler never takes a backward step — he’s determined to a fault now even though it’s clear that he’s in with a slicker, more experienced fighter.

He spends the end of the third and the start of the fourth round trying to line up a knockout punch that never comes; blood is coursing down his cheeks and his mop of black hair is sweat soaked and wild.

In the final round O’Brien takes a beating that would level most men. He’s still swinging and landing the occasional blow, but Montalvo’s hooks are too devastating, and when one catches him on the temple, he stumbles backward and falls into the ropes.

Before he rises, Morton waves the bout off. O’Brien was right – there will be no decision here tonight… but he is the one who has been knocked out.

E-mail: janoski@northjersey.com

http://www.northjersey.com/sports/123974744_Rumble_along_the_Passaic_leads_to_rude_awakening.html

Butler waiting to hear of grant program's fate

Wednesday, March 30, 2011
BY STEVE JANOSKI

BUTLER- Budget cuts in Washington might be trickling down to Butler's streets a little sooner than anticipated as the federally funded Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program is on the congressional chopping block — and what's become a regular source of grant money to improve the borough's infrastructure may soon be eliminated.

The program has been very kind to Butler over the past decade. Since 2000, the borough has received 10 grants totaling $985,000.

These grants have gone to provide funding for a variety of infrastructure projects such as the 2002 installation of the Main Street water main and 2007's $80,000 replacement of the Carey Avenue firehouse roof.

The money's not free — the borough often puts up a percentage of the projects' final price tags — but it has been consistent.

At the Borough Council's March 15 meeting, however, Administrator Jim Lampmann told the governing body that the federal faucet might be dry and that funding for the program might disappear entirely in 2011.

'These are not superfluous projects'

Sabine Von Aulock, the director of the Morris County Division of Community Development, said that in 2010, Morris County received $2,453,876 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the CDBG program.

What the 2011 number will be will vary drastically depending on what budget Congress passes, and several proposals are currently being batted around the Capitol.

The grants are awarded in four categories: improvements (for municipal infrastructure), services (which fund adult daycares, battered women's programs, etc.), facilities (such as public health facilities), and housing (which funds the county's Homeowner Rehab Program, among other things).

Von Aulock said that the 2010 monies ended up funding 31 projects: 12 were for municipalities, while 19 were for nonprofits.

However, the House of Representatives has, in its zeal to cut the budget, taken aim at the CDBG, which is required to serve low- and moderate-income areas, and proposed a 66-percent funding cut.

It's likely that in this scenario, Morris County would receive just under $835,000. Of last year's projects, only 11 would have been able to be funded with that money.

Ironically, N.J. Congressman Scott Garrett (R-5) has proposed eliminating the funding outright, which is the doomsday scenario for Von Aulock.

The U.S. Senate has made its own proposal, however, that would only cut funding 12 percent and would likely leave the county with close to $2.15 million to dole out.

"There's all kinds of speculation, and I cannot pin my hopes anywhere. But these are not superfluous projects," Von Aulock said. "It's water mains and roads, and towns are relying on these."

"(The funding cut) may be a deal-breaker for them," she said.

'The work needs to be done'

Lampmann said that he, along with Borough Engineer Paul Darmofalski, made a presentation on March 7 at the Morris County Division of Community Development in the hopes of securing nearly $80,000 in grants, but that this was before he knew the funding might vanish.

"We don't know where that stands," he told the council, "(but) the hope is that our presentation wasn't wasted for a program that's going to go away."

The grants, if the borough receives them, would go toward relining the very old (and now leaking) brick manholes in the neighborhood of Arch and Main streets; the project is important, he told Suburban Trends, because sealing off the manholes stops fresh water from infiltrating into the sewer system.

"Any groundwater that leaks into the system is fresh water, and you're paying to treat that," he said. "If you can stop that (leakage), that's money down the road you're saving."

That is, of course, if the borough can afford to fix it.

Although the council has long talked about the project, other issues have been more pressing. Last year, $80,000 in CDBG money went toward replacing the water main on Bartholdi Avenue, a project that took precedence because Butler's century-old water lines continually cause water pressure issues.

Lampmann said that the federal cuts will directly impact Butler taxpayers. Officials over recent years have rued the decisions of prior councils to not keep up on infrastructure improvements, and they don't plan to follow suit.

"This (money) will have to be raised through a bond, and that's the route that we'll go. The work needs to be done, and it will have an impact on taxes," he said. "You don't want to continue going along without making (infrastructure) improvements."

E-mail: janoski@northjersey.com