NJQSAC, City Web Site, Etc.

Yesterday I was asked to put my PRESS hat on to write about the impending release of the NJQSAC report on the Plainfield school district. Read all about it in the Courier News. The state Department of Education began releasing the reports on Abbott districts this week. Click here for the first DOE press release on the reports.

Meanwhile, the moribund city web site showed signs of life. It still needs work but at least the city administrator and the finance director are finally up there, six months after they came aboard. I sent over a chart detailing the balance of City Council meetings for 2007, but it bounced back. FYI, the August meetings are 7:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 20 for the agenda session in City Hall Library and 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 22 for the regular meeting in Municipal Court. There will be a special meeting at 8 p.m. Aug. 9 in City Hall Library solely for a public hearing and final passage of Bond Ordinance No. 1244. The ordinance combines several previous ordinances for a bond issue of $13.7 million. Details are in a legal notice in yesterday’s Courier News, pages E-12 and E-13.

Dottie G. reported a victory for citizens who opposed the Abbott Manor expansion. Residents opposed the expansion, arguing it would have marred the Van Wyck Brooks Historic District. After the Zoning Board approved the expansion, a group organized to fight the decision. Yesterday it was overturned, Dottie reports, in a two-hour oral ruling. Apparently no reporters were in the courtroom. Not sure how the story will come out in the newspapers.

All six residential historic districts are supposed to have district associations, but only Van Wyck Brooks and more recently, Crescent Area, seem to have viable support groups. The associations are valuable for their ability to bring out issues affecting a district, as well as to keep up the camaraderie and pride of living in a designated historic district. The local historic preservation movement put Plainfield on the map several years ago, linking the city to others nationwide where Victorian buildings are a draw for tourists and home buyers alike.

Kudos to all those who work hard to preserve the districts. Click here for news of the Van Wyck Brooks district and here for Crescent.

--Bernice Paglia