Proposed Frankenstorm creates fears of flooding, high winds

By Steve Janoski

As Hurricane Sandy rages up the Atlantic seaboard in what looks like yet another October surprise for North Jersey, the promise of heavy rains, high winds, and the possibility of heavy flooding has local officials activating their emergency management offices, ramping up their preparations, and bracing for the worst.

The great fear, Pequannock Township Manager Dave Hollberg said on Thursday afternoon, is that a separate west-bound storm will collide with the hurricane as it arrives, drawing it into the continent and feeding off its energy to create a massive low-pressure system that would rival 1991's now-infamous "Perfect Storm."

That gale, which led to the 1997 Sebastian Junger book (and later movie) of the same name, occurred when a nor'easter absorbed Hurricane Grace to create a wildly violent disturbance over the North Atlantic that led to waves of unprecedented heights and later evolved into another, smaller hurricane.

But that storm, which was never officially named, didn't make landfall until it was significantly weakened. And for flood-prone towns like Pequannock and Pompton Lakes, exactly where Sandy arrives will play a direct role in how much the waters of the Pompton and Pequannock rivers rise.

"Our biggest concern is that... those two storms could potentially come together and become basically a nor'easter that taps into a large amount of tropical moisture and produces copious amounts of rain over a very short period of time," Hollberg said.

With many residents of low-lying areas still reeling from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Irene in August 2011, further flooding of that magnitude could be ruinous.

However, as of Friday afternoon, it was still too early to determine the storm's course, said David A. Robinson, the state climatologist and professor at Rutgers University. This is because a 50- or 100-mile shift in where the eye comes ashore could mean the difference between 3 inches of rain and 10 for the Passaic River Basin.

The situation looked better on Friday than it did on Thursday, he said - instead of making landfall near Asbury Park as previously predicted, Friday's models said that it was more likely to hit the Delmarva Peninsula, sparing North Jersey the brunt of the precipitation.

This, said Pequannock Mayor Rich Phelan, will make a tremendous difference, especially considering that the reservoirs, which are about three-quarters full, can contain 4 to 5 inches of rainfall, but will be swamped if the totals careen higher.

"If we get 3 or 4 inches...we'll be OK," he said Friday. "But if we get 10, that will be catastrophic."

And don't be fooled by the "Frankenstorm" sobriquet, Robinson said. This is very much a hurricane, and regardless of where it lands it will be a "significant event" that is coming for an extended stay. A high-pressure system sitting to the northeast combined with the other westbound storm will leave Sandy with no immediate outlet.

"It's very unusual," he said. "It's going to be a prolonged period of rain, very strong rains, and you'll have strong winds affecting the Passaic River Basin, which could result in stream flooding and tree damage...no one should let their guard down."

Robinson expects the first inklings of the storm to be felt on Sunday before it ramps up on Monday. The bulk of the hurricane is likely to arrive Tuesday.

Officials are urging residents to sign up now for email blasts through Pequannock's website (peqtwp.org), pay attention to local weather forecasts, and listen to the town-run radio station, AM 1620, for updates as the weather intensifies.

Hollberg also said that a letter has been sent off to Governor Christie urgently requesting that the reservoirs be drawn down (as they were prior to Irene), and that the gates of the Pompton Lakes Dam be "gradually opened" and remain open throughout the event.

Pompton Lakes officials have echoed the request, and at an Oct. 25 meeting of the Pompton Lakes Flood Advisory Board, Pompton Lakes Mayor Katie Cole told worried residents of the South End that she had called the Governor's Office to ask that the gates be opened and that an engineer from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) be present to monitor operations.

She spoke about how she believes that the status of the local reservoirs, especially those that drain into the Ramapo River, will determine how badly the community floods, and urged residents to read the blue flood manual in the borough calendar and sign up for the reverse 911 system by calling the borough clerk (973-835-0143) or registering online.

In Pequannock, Phelan said that town workers have already put barricades out near oft-flooded roads, and electronic trailers are sitting on the highway, ready to be activated the second Route 23 begins to take on water. With the town facing what could be the sixth major flood in three years, the township has "gotten this down to a science."

Should the power go out, plans are in place to conduct manual door-to-door notifications if evacuations become necessary.

"It's sad that we're getting really good at this, but we've got a great town, and I know our residents will rise to the challenge," said the mayor.

But they also need to be ready to leave. Just in case.

To contact the governor's office to ask that the Pompton Lake Dam be opened, call 609-292-6000. To contact the DEP to request an engineer be in Pompton Lakes to monitor the flood gates, call the DEP Dam Safety Department at 609-984-9859.

Staff writer Leslie Scott contributed to this story

Email: janoski@northjersey.com

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Pequannock has their two game winning streak snapped

By Steve Janoski

PEQUANNOCK —  If the past two weeks' wins against Boonton and Whippany Park were big steps forward for the Pequannock Panthers, Friday night's 35-12 loss to the Kinnelon Colts was a full step back as the team fell behind early and was never able to recover its momentum.

Most of the points came from the Colts' brutal duo of quarterback Sean Robbins and receiver Connor Villante, who hooked up five times for 205 yards and three first-quarter touchdowns of 40, 50, and 71 yards.

Robbins also managed to hit receiver Joe Presti mid-way through the second for a 19-yard touchdown that extended the lead to 29-0.

"It's so hard to simulate what it is that they do in practice, the speed and the physical play that they presented to us," head coach Ed Kopp said after the game. "We kinda challenged our guys to go 'mano y mano' with their wide receivers, make (Robbins) throw the ball…but Robbins is a hell of a player and you gotta' tip your hat to his performance."

The game was not without its highlights for the 2-6 Panthers, however — as always, senior quarterback Luke Foukas led the way, and his hard running would lead him to the endzone twice — once in the second quarter, and again in the culmination of a six-minute drive late in the fourth that saw him turn three fourth-down conversions before scoring on a 23-yard dash.

He would finish with 25 carries for 193 yards, but Kopp said the strain of playing both ways is taking a physical toll on the keystone player. However, with Pequannock receivers dropping a number of balls throughout the game, the coach's options sometimes appear limited.

"Ultimately, we need to be able to throw the football…it's hard on a kid to tackle on defense, then run as hard as he is …and then sit back in the pocket and throw the ball," he said. "(Foukas) has been a solid performer all year-long, we just need to get a little bit more out of everybody else."

There were other bright spots as well: the Panthers defense, so porous in the first half during the midst of Kinnelon's fireworks show, strengthened in the second half as well — twice, they stifled the Colts' red-zone drives, and forced them to go for field goals of 26 and 32 yards (both of which kicker Evan Argiriou made.)

However, there were no moral victories for the Panthers, said Kopp.

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Vernon poet S. Thomas Summers to read at the Ringwood Public Library on Oct. 20

By Steve Janoski

RINGWOOD — Of the thousands upon thousands of books written about the Civil War, there are but a few that, instead of relying on battle maps, lists of dates, and casualty rolls to tell a black-and-white history, seek to illustrate the conflict’s sanguine horrors by peering through the eyes of those who fought — and fewer still that abandon flowery prose and adapt the terse, sheer style of poetry in order to do it.

But that’s exactly what Vernon poet S. Thomas Summers has done in his new book, entitled "Private Hercules McGraw: Poems of the American Civil War," which he will be reading from at the Ringwood Public Library on Oct. 20.

The book, published by Anaphora Literary Press and written from the perspective of a southern everyman named Hercules McGraw, uses poetry to follow this "uneducated, rural, pig-farmer kinda guy" through America’s greatest tragedy as he fights for the South only to learn that "the cause" was not quite what he thought it to be.

Summers, 43, teaches English literature at Wayne Hills High School and at Passaic County Community College, and said that his character’s motivation stems from a hope to one day have enough money to purchase a slave (which he considers the ultimate status symbol) in order to impress his girl, Martha Lane. Should slavery be abolished, he reasons, that will never happen.

But as so often happens, the horrors of war bring out both the best and worst in men — and although McGraw is himself an active participant in creating some of those horrors, he also witnesses the bravery of the former slaves who have put on the blue uniform to fight against their oppressors.

In the end, said Summers, he realizes that they are no different than he.

"He gains a huge respect for them because of what they’ve been through as a persecuted race, and he sees that they’ve fought as hard he has," he said.

The epiphany leads McGraw to lose interest in both Lane and the southern cause, and his metamorphosis is completed when, upon returning home, he helps a slave escape on the underground railroad. Although Summers acknowledges that at first glance, he appears to have little in common with his simple farmer, writing through McGraw’s eyes gave him a deep understanding of what the man might have gone through, especially as he explores the parts of history that "fall into the cracks, that the historians can’t see."

"As I wrote, I kind of became my character… in the back of my head I was bleeding, I was scared, I was crying, I was doing everything that he was," he said. "It’s why at readings, when I read certain poems I sometimes tear up because it’s become so personal to me."

There’s also the larger narrative, Summers said, in which McGraw could be any man, in any war, that gazes into the Medusa-like eye of combat and suffers the consequences of witnessing that which is "not for humans to see" — even the juxtaposition of "Hercules" and "McGraw," with its demigod lead followed by a routine Irish surname, reflects the God-like power of giving and taking life the common man possesses during battle.

"The things that these guys see and experience… it messes (soldiers) up, because they’re not supposed to see this, they’re not supposed to decide who lives and who dies," he said. "I thought that was meant for the gods."

But, Summers said, much of the writing process was not so dark, and he enjoyed experimenting with the unfamiliar southern dialect to create phrases that his character might actually have uttered.

"I liked the way they talked, I liked the metaphors they used, it was fun for me as someone who has grown up in the North, who doesn’t talk like that, to make that voice authentic was the fun part," he said.

He’s now in the process of writing a sister book, which will speak on the Civil War from the point of view of an educated northern English teacher who, although he is a pacifist, enlists due to a feeling of being obligated to protect his students, many of whom had signed up to fight. But that story may not have such an upbeat ending, the writer said, as the former pacifist discovers a darkness within him that he never knew existed and finds out that he is indeed quite good at killing. 

The projects are certainly keeping Summers, who has been writing poetry since college, busy; although his first works weren’t quite up to par, he joked, he has honed his craft over the past 20 years, and has since had works published in The Atlantic, Loch Raven Review, and Literary Bohemian. His interest in the Civil War has been more recent, however, and stems from his first reading of the famous novel-turned-movie "Cold Mountain." Initially, he said, he picked it up because its construction mirrors the Greek epic "The Odyssey," which he often teaches to high school students, but he was soon enveloped in the drama.

"I thought it would be interesting to read the book…but that reflection stirred my passion; it was no longer just dates and battles, it was people and blood and heartache and victory," he said. After a few visits the fields where the violent fights took place, there’s been no turning back.

"It’s been pretty much all I’ve written about since," he said.

Summers will be reading at 1 p.m. at the library, which is located at 30 Cannici Drive, along with poet David Vincenti, who will offer a "view of the life of astronomer Galileo Galilei." Vincenti’s poems have appeared in the Paterson Literary Review, the Edison Literary Review, and The Journal of New Jersey Poets, and have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. For more information, call the library at 973-962-6256.

Email: janoski@northjersey.com

One soldier's last full measure

By Steve Janoski

For those of us born in the shadow of the new millennium, the very idea of knowing anything about the daily life of a man born in the 1830s might seem slightly crazy.

But for some, like 25-year-old Antietam park ranger Dan Vermilya, who routinely walks the fields where his great-great-great-grandfather Elwood Rodebaugh was killed 150 years ago, not only knowing that story, but retelling it, has become a way to show people that, as Faulkner said, "The past isn't dead. It's not even past."

Rodebaugh's figure has always loomed over the native Ohioan's life in one way or another — as a child, his grandfather used to tell him the story about the young man who went off to war back in 1861, and the tale sparked a lifelong passion for learning about the conflict. Eventually, it led him to choose a profession that carried him back to these same acres that once soaked up the blood of that man, whose narrative he has filled out through his own research.

Rodebaugh, he said, was a 30-year-old Pennsylvania shoemaker when the Civil War erupted in 1861. He and his wife Josephine (just 25 at the time) had two young children: a 4-year-old daughter named Heloise and a 3-year-old boy named Charles.

Had this family man chosen to stay home and ignore the bloodletting, he would have hardly been the only one (especially in the North), but whatever convictions compelled him to enlist in the 106th Pennsylvania in the summer of that year must have been deeply-held, because they sustained him through heavy fighting in Virginia during the spring of 1862 and into the fall.

And on Sept. 17, Rodebaugh's unit was at Antietam, charged with the unenviable task of storming a section of rebel line that sat in what's now known as the West Woods. It's here that words frustratingly fail the writer, because there is no way to adequately describe what must have been a scene of chaotic violence; though many of us have undoubtedly felt similar sensations — the tunnel vision, machine-gun heart rate, the shaking hands — at least once in our lives when we've felt threatened, how can we who have never seen true combat understand that kind of terror?

It was a vicious fight, to be sure, one that went on too long and took too many lives. Vermilya has read numerous accounts, and said that it appears that Rodebaugh was last seen along a fence-line, desperately trying to make a stand against the rebels who had fallen with crushing weight on the Union flank. At some point after that — it's not known how or when — he became one of the 23,000 to fall upon that field.

And when Rodebaugh received his fatal wound, be it by bullet or artillery shell, we will never know where his final thoughts wandered as he lay dying on the soft Maryland grass — this again, we can only imagine. Unfortunately, Vermilya said, Rodebaugh had shaved his beard just before the battle, which made him unrecognizable to the burial parties. As such, no grave or monument marks where he fell.

Perhaps the saddest part of all, however, is that this is but one of thousands upon thousands of stories from that war just like it; in the end, that's why Vermilya tells it.

So as the tall, lean ranger approaches the same age his distant relative was when he died, one man's tragedy has become a way to illuminate the fact that history was not fought in the ivory pages of history books, but in the fields, and that every dot of ink in that blue line on the battlefield map was a man (or, more likely, a boy of 18 or 20) who had a mother he loved, a father he respected, a girlfriend or wife he missed uncontrollably, a son or daughter who was everything to him.

Working at Antietam has made the story more important, and more emotional, than ever before.

"In general, working as a park ranger carries the responsibility of knowing how important this battle was, but to know that I had a direct bloodline to it…. it's (become) more than just a professional obligation. It's a personal obligation," said Vermilya. "It reminds us that these battles are fought not by lines on a map, not by numbers in a book, but real people with real families making sacrifices for the things that they believe in. 150 years ago, tremendous sacrifices were made (at Antietam), and they were selfless sacrifices."

The ranger has a blog entitled "Our Country's Fiery Ordeal," where he goes into great detail about his thoughts on that most brutal of wars. In one passage, he quotes historian Dr. Joseph Harsh, who wrote that we should honor the soldiers' legacy, "For we are the future for whom they fought."

For Vermilya, that is quite literally true, and he must never let us forget that.

Dan Vermilya's blog on the Civil War and Antietam can be found at fieryordeal.blogspot.com.

Email: janoski@northjersey.com

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Butler council mulls new proposal for Argonne Woods development

BUTLER - In another sign that the struggling housing market continues to take a heavy toll on developers, the owners of the still-under-construction Argonne Woods development on Route 23 are seeking to finish out their project by building rental apartments instead of the originally planned-for townhomes.

Mounir Badaan, CEO of property owner Badanco Holding LLC, appeared before the Borough Council with his son, Brandon, on Oct. 2 to present the revised plan, which Borough Attorney Bob Oostdyk said would likely require a zoning overlay before it could move forward due to apartments not being approved for the R-7 zone Argonne Woods sits in.

Much has changed since the company first got the approvals for the condo development back in 2005-06, Badaan told the councilmen, and the pool of potential buyers for the 2,800-square-foot, $400,000 townhomes has shrunk due to the economy.

Only 18 of the planned-for 69 units have been finished, and just 10 have been sold in the year and a half since their completion. Some of those have been sold for $50,000 under cost, he said.

"We are losing a fortune," he said. "It hasn’t been benefitting us and it hasn’t been benefitting the town… we’re just getting to be in a very bad situation."

Badaan asked the council for permission to finish out the second construction phase — bringing the total number of condos to 38 — but then change course and finish the project out with one- and two-bedroom, 800- to 1,000-square-foot rental units that would go for about $1,000 a month.

"Renting today is doing unbelievable… that’s what everybody’s looking for right now, and that’s where the shortage is today…nobody has $300,000 - $400,000 to buy homes," he said.

This would leave Argonne with a total of 90 apartments, which would raise the number of overall units to 128 but remain within the same physical footprint due to the smaller size of the floor plans.

Badaan’s son Brandon said that the three-story building would reach a height of 55 feet, 20 feet higher than the borough allows, and would require a variance. However, before spending an estimated $250,000 on new site plans, he said, they wanted to get a feeling from the council as to whether it would perform the zone overlay.

After a brief conversation, Councilman Bob Fox, the governing body’s liaison to the Land Use/Planning Board, suggested that he be allowed to bring the idea to that body and discuss it before the council made any decision.

The rest of the council agreed, and Oostdyk noted that with the increased density and zoning change, getting the board’s approval before borough officials put the effort into reviewing plans would be appropriate.

The Badaans concurred, with Mounir stressing the importance of being allowed to move forward with the new proposal.

"That’s the only way we’re going to be able to survive," he said, "because the way it is right now, it’s just bleeding and bleeding."

Email: janoski@northjersey.com

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Football: Fake field goal sparks Pequannock

By Steve Janoski

PEQUANNOCK — It may have taken four weeks of struggle, but things finally fell together for the Pequannock Panthers on Friday night as a powerful running game combined with a suffocating defense to lead the team to a 21 – 7 victory over the Boonton Bombers.

That running game, which was led by back AJ Adamcyzk (15 carries, 89 yards and a touchdown) and quarterback Luke Foukas (10 carries, 145 yards and a touchdown), was a result of the Pequannock offensive line finding its stride, Adamcyzk later said.

"The line blocked amazing tonight, the holes were there… it was an all around good effort," he said.

After a slow start, the Panthers fell into a rhythm late in the first quarter as five straight runs by Foukas and Adamcyzk took Pequannock from the Boonton 41 down to the 11. From there, they set up to attempt a 28 yard-field goal — or so everyone thought, until holder Anthony Rosano tucked the ball and dashed for the endzone in a well-masked fake.

After the game, Rosano said that he and head coach Ed Kopp had spoken about the play beforehand and agreed to give it a shot.

"(We) were talking about that before the game and we said that if we got inside the 10 or 20, we'd definitely run our fake field-goal," he said. "We executed it, and it worked out well."

The play put the Panthers up by seven, a lead which they added to late in the second quarter on a long drive that was kept alive by Foukas, who, on a second and two from the Pequannock 28, turned a broken pass play into a 55-yard gain when he took off down the center of the field. He was stopped from scoring only by a shoestring tackle by Boonton safety Isaac Spann.

Two plays later, Adamcyzk saw a huge hole open for him on a second and eight from the Boonton 15, and after what he called "a few arm tackles" that barely slowed him down, he broke through for Pequannock's second score of the night. Going into halftime, the Panthers held a surprising 14-0 advantage.

"(The line) blocked, the hole was there, and I saw the endzone and I went for it," Adamcyzk said. "If I see that thing (the endzone) I'm going for it."

Boonton struck back quickly, however, with Spann taking the opening kickoff of the second half 63 yards for a touchdown. In the past, this is where Pequannock might have faltered, but instead, they rallied on the following drive to take the ball 69 yards over six plays and score, this time on a 17-yard Foukas touchdown run.

It was that drive, Kopp said, that might prove to be the turning point in the season.

"This was the first time our team actually responded, and we drove the ball down the field and punched it in… that takes an awful lot of belief and confidence in each other," he said.

Pequannock's defense then took over, forcing Boonton to punt on the ensuing drive and stopping them on fourth down twice in the following two.

The win means everything not only to the Panther seniors, the coach said, but also to the younger players, of whom there are many on the inexperienced squad.

"This is huge in terms of building the (winning) habits and making it through the grind of the season," he said. "Every little thing that goes right gives you a little more confidence to do it well the next time…and we finally came out on top."

Email: janoski@northjersey.com

Butler Quick Chek controversey not a closed book

By Steve Janoski


BUTLER - When the borough’s Land Use/Planning Board decided to approve a proposal to build a Quick Chek convenience store/gas station complex on a sliver of land between Bartholdi and Boonton avenues back in June, it appeared that the final chapter of the 17-month saga of proceedings had been closed.

A new lawsuit appealing the decision has added another facet, however, and might give hope to the handful of residents who opposed the 12-pump, 24-hour station/store on Route 23 from the start.

The suit, which was filed in the Morris County Superior Court on Sept. 10, is being brought by Lafayette Avenue resident Janice Harper-Young, whose back property borders the site.

Harper-Young had testified during the proceedings that she believed her 19-year-old son, Ryan, who is multiply disabled and wheelchair-bound, would be adversely affected by the construction of the station/store, which would require 19 variances to build, and might force her to move from the house.

According to the court documents, Harper-Young is being represented by the Pequannock-based attorney Dave Dixon, who also represented Kinnelon resident Craig Brinster throughout the initial hearings. Brinster owns the 7-Eleven across Boonton Avenue from the Quick Chek site.

The suit names the Land Use board, the Borough of Butler, and Quick Chek as defendants, and alleges that Quick Chek "failed to present the required evidence to support the board’s grant of Preliminary & Final Major Site Plan, Conditional Use Variance, Use Variance, Bulk Variance, and/or Site Plan Waiver approvals."

Therefore, it said the actions of the board in granting site plan approval were "in all regards unreasonable, arbitrary, and capricious, and unsupported by the evidence."

The suit also alleges that Quick Chek failed to apply for or give "sufficient, adequate, or specific notice" of either its variances or the "substantial changes" made to the application during the process, and it charges the Borough Council with changing the local zoning ordinance without giving the correct notice to the affected neighbors.

As a result, Dixon said in a phone conversation, he feels the notices were "defective and didn’t properly apprise the public to the nature of the application."

The attorney admitted that these were mostly procedural issues, but said that "if the court follows the law," it will be enough to send the case back to the Land Use/Planning Board for a re-hearing.

"I honestly believe that there were insufficient proofs to grant the variances, and there were procedural and jurisdictional issues that were raised that call into question the validity of the decision," he said, adding that he believes there to be a "very high likelihood" that the ruling will be overturned.

Quick Chek can begin building if it wishes to, but Dixon said to do so would be "at their peril" because if the ruling goes against Quick Chek, it would be forced to tear down whatever had been built.

Fred Azrak, whose Pequannock-based Azrak & Associates is representing Quick Chek, dismissed the validity of the lawsuit and said that he thought the case would be settled quickly and end in a ruling allowing construction of the store to move forward.

Attorney Peter McArthur, the lawyer from Azrak’s firm who presented Quick Chek’s case before the Planning Board, concurred. He said that Quick Chek would "vigorously defend the allegations in the lawsuit" and that he is "confident that at the end of the day, we’ll prevail."

Email: janoski@northjersey.com

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