The top 10 Millstone Twp. stories of 2005
Top issues have been strange and sensitive
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer

Covering topics such as a plane crash, a pet cemetery and an unidentified body, Millstone Township's newspaper headlines over the past year read like a good tragic comedy. Here are what the Examiner considers Millstone's top 10 stories of 2005.

Body discovered

Investigators are still trying to determine the identity of a man found dead on the Sun Sing Farm.

On June 19, a fisherman found the decomposed body near an irrigation pond off Perrineville and Battleground roads. According to the N.J. State Police, the death is considered suspicious, although police do not believe foul play was involved.

The victim was identified as a white or Hispanic male, between 30 and 40 years old. He had brown hair and was between 5 feet 4 inches and 5 feet 6 inches tall, weighing between 120 and 140 pounds. He was clad in bikini underwear at the time of his death.

Jeans, shoes and a Schwinn bicycle were found near the pond, where the man may have gone to swim.

Budget defeated

Millstone residents defeated the school district's proposed $26.3 million budget during the Board of Education elections in April. The budget failed in a vote of 356 to 329.

Had the budget passed, the school tax rate would have amounted to $1.77 per $100 of assessed property value, an increase from 2004 of 5.8 cents. Homeowners with a house assessed at the township's average of $400,000 would have paid an estimated additional $232 in school taxes this year.

Board of Education members said the budget increase came as a result of rising tuition costs for students who would attend school in Upper Freehold, and the rising costs of contractual obligations and health benefits.

The Township Committee had to review the proposed school budget and decide on cuts. Officials determined that $103,812 should be cut, as well as the proposed position of curriculum coordinator, at a salary of $80,953.

Bears on the loose

On May 14, the N.J. Division of Fish & Wildlife removed a 164-pound black bear from Woodbridge and a 140-pound one from Trenton, placing them both in the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area, which exists adjacent to Millstone, Roosevelt and Upper Freehold.

During the June 1 Township Committee meeting, the mayor addressed recent reports from Fish & Wildlife that black bears and coyotes had been spotted in the area.

Abilheira warned residents not to leave pets outside. He advised parents and guardians to forewarn their children of wayward wildlife, and told people they should tightly seal garbage, feed and other containers.

On July 1, an unexpected visitor arrived at resident Charlotte Miller's home on Pine Drive. At 6:15 a.m., Miller found an approximately 250-pound black bear on her porch. She said her pooch chased the bear up a tree, but the bear ultimately climbed down and ran back into the woods.

GOP gains control

For the first time in a few decades, Millstone Township residents voted in an all-Republican Township Committee.

On Nov. 8, residents delivered decisive victories for Republicans Steve Sico and Ray Dilfanian over six-year Democrat incumbent Bill Nurko and his running mate, Frank Cotter.

In a town where elections were once decided by as little as 32 votes, the citizens placed Republicans in office for three straight years with wide margins of victory.

"The Republicans have been successful in elections for the past six years," Dilfanian said, "and the fact that we now have the supermajority means we're doing right by the voters."

Approximately 51 percent of the voting population in Millstone Township cast ballots in the election. Of the 6,522 registered voters in town, 3,316 went to the polls.

Investigation pending

Investigators from the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office entered the Millstone Township municipal building on Millstone Road on Nov. 3 to serve a search warrant and seize documents. The prosecutor's office ordered township officials not to discuss details of the ongoing investigation.

Although investigators seized documents and records from the township administrator's office, the content of those items has not been released.

Pet cemetery causes uproar

Millstone Township officials voted against the creation of a pet cemetery on Showplace Farms, which is located on Route 33.

Developer Howard Schoor, Bix DiMeo, the manager of Showplace Farms, and Larry Nicola, a human cemetery and crematorium operator, wanted to build a pet cemetery and animal crematorium on a 16.5-acre portion of the 140-acre Showplace Farms. The proposed $1 million project would have included ash-scattering gardens with meandering pathways, a chapel, a mausoleum and three crematorium ovens.

During a special meeting at Wagner Farm Park on June 2, the Township Committee voted 4-1 to reverse a decision by its Zoning Board to grant a variance that would have allowed the construction of the pet memorial park.

As a result of the pet cemetery situation, Township Committee members passed an ordinance in August that amends the township's planned commercial development (PCD) zoning district regulations to clearly express that cemeteries and crematories for human or animal remains are not a permitted use within this zoning district. Showplace Farms exists in the PCD zoning district.

Plane crash kills two

On Sept. 24 at about 2 p.m., an unregistered, amateur-built Air Creation Clipper 912 airplane was substantially damaged when it struck trees and terrain near Millstone. Kenneth Nolan, 43, a student pilot from Hazlet, and 14-year-old Andrew Bernstel, of Lacey, died from injuries received when the aircraft crashed into the woods off Old Noah Hunt Road. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) continues to investigate the crash. The pilot had not filed a flight plan for the local personal flight, which originated at Pearl Acres Airport in the Clarksburg section of the township. The NTSB reported an examination of the engine revealed no evidence of malfunction or failure before the impact. The airplane was equipped with a parachute system, but it was not deployed.

Shelter causes controversy

The township's Zoning Board is still in the process of hearing an application for the expansion of an animal care facility at the corner of Ely Harmony Road and Route 524.

Sharon and Alan Gaboff are seeking a bulk and use variance to construct a 7,057-square-foot building on their property for use as an animal shelter and a training and boarding facility. The couple operates a grooming and boarding business at the site, where they also house unwanted and stray animals.

Although Sharon Gaboff said former township Zoning Officer Frank Como said the family could use the property as a kennel, dispute arose over whether the property is zoned for such use.

Current township ordinances do not permit animal care facilities anywhere in the township, but representatives for the Gaboffs have argued that the facility is a pre-existing, nonconforming land use. Some neighbors have complained about the current animal facility and argued against its expansion, while others have praised the couple for the current work they do and have lobbied for the expansion.

Signs are first of their kind

In September, the township became the first in the state to put up signs aimed at slowing down drivers when they are passing horses.

After horse riders experienced a few close calls with drivers on township roadways, the Horsemen's Association of Millstone Township (HAMT) created a set of signs designed to protect horses and riders on the roadways. The signs were approved by the state Department of Transportation (DOT), and the township put up its first official set on Sept. 23 in front of Nearway Farm on Bittner Road.

The set consists of two signs. One reads "Speed Limit 25 mph When Horse and Rider Are Present," while the other says "Obey Hand Signals - It's the Law."

Legislation signed in December by acting Gov. Richard Codey states that motorists approaching or passing a person on or with a horse should reduce vehicle speed to 25 mph or less and then proceed with caution. The legislation also states that a person on or with a horse can signal a motorist to stop by putting out a hand or otherwise. The driver must stop the vehicle and remain stationary until the horse has passed.

Wanted for assault

The N.J. State Police continue to search for a man wanted for getting into a shoving match with a Millstone boy in May.

Officials received a report of a potential abduction of a 12-year-old male in a wooded area behind a Patterson Lane residence at 3:30 p.m. on May 17.

Despite their efforts, the state police remained unsuccessful in locating the alleged suspect, whom the victim described as a white male in his 30s. The male reportedly had on faded blue jeans and an orange T-shirt. His hair was dark and appeared matted down, as if he had recently been wearing a baseball cap.

Upon investigating, the state police discovered that the boy had approached the suspect and the two grabbed one another, getting into some sort of pushing and shoving match. The wanted man faces charges of trespassing and simple assault.