A look back at 2006 in Millstone Township
A review of the stories that give the community its character
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer

Despite its rural nature and seemingly lack of drama on the surface, Millstone Township has lots of stories to tell.

The past year was yet another one dotted with tales of all types. While some tugged at residents' heartstrings, others prompted public debate while yet others still made people wonder, "This can really happen here?" Overall, much took place in Millstone over the past year. Some stories even broke out over the township's horizon to touch people across the state, whereas others actually provoked national interest.

The Examiner has selected a cross section of stories to recount from 2006 that we believe recreates the full character of the township and its people.

1. Space invadersThose who never knew what a bagworm was found out what these little pests are capable of in January when a Sweetmans Lane family broke the news that the critters were turning mighty neighborhood evergreens thin and brown.

While gypsy moths plagued township trees the year before, the bagworm, described by Rutgers University in New Brunswick as an interesting pest of ornamental shrubs and trees with a spindle-shaped bag that the larva carries around as it feeds, was noticed throughout the town in 2006.

In 2005, Millstone Township and other municipalities in the county sprayed a bacteria from airplanes onto the tops of trees in an effort to control the gypsy moth, but the product would have to be sprayed from the ground in order to control the bagworms. The Township Committee is still trying to determine how big a problem it's facing with these critters.

2.School's out forever After the township spent almost five years and $1.5 million, the renovation of the old Clarksburg school on Stagecoach Road came to a close when the establishment opened in the spring as the new municipal building.

Millstone Township officials got more than they bargained for when they bought the former school for $1 in 1999, as the ensuing renovation project cost more than some people ever expected. Following the township's purchase of the school from the district, underground contamination was discovered at the site. Not only was the unforeseen cleanup a snag in the restoration, but it was also considered a damper on the project that the school was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places, which put a heavy burden on the town to do all repairs and renovations consistent with historic preservation guidelines that are very costly.

Mayor Nancy Grbelja said the only way township officials could justify all the money spent on the school was to use it for something all residents could appreciate. Municipal employees started moving their offices into the old schoolhouse in March.

3.Barking up the wrong treePlanning Board officials denied resident Sharon Gaboff a use variance to construct an animal shelter and grooming/ boarding facility on her family's property on Ely Harmony Road. The decision at the Feb. 22 meeting brought to a close hearings that began in October 2004.

Gaboff said a former zoning officer had told her that her business would be a permitted use. However, township ordinances do not allow kennels to operate anywhere in the municipality.

Board member Steve Lambros said he could not permit emotions to guide his judgment with regard to the variance, and Chairman Michael Novellino called it the toughest application in his time on the board because of the important work Gaboff does with animals in the community.

After the board made its decision, Gaboff took another blow when area residents complained that she might be operating an illegal kennel on her property, and the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office ultimately investigated the use of her family's parcel.

Later on in the year, Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis A. Valentin said the Prosecutor's Office closed the case since it had determined that Gaboff was not operating a commercial kennel business.

4.A Performing Arts Center?The new Millstone Township Middle School, which is scheduled to open this September, is taking shape on 70 acres off Waters Lane. Thus far, the $33.9 million construction project is on schedule and within budget. However, the school district recently found out it may have to pay as much as $1 million for grading work at the middle school site that it almost got for free, as the Orleans Development Corp.'s original proposal to take soil off the site in exchange for grading the property is no longer feasible.

How the community looked at the $3.1 million, 1,200-seat auditorium being built in the middle school changed this year when outgoing Superintendent of Schools William Setaro began calling it a "performing arts center."

Setaro started the year by saying that the arts center would operate as a theater but could be rented out as well for other performance acts, and that it could bring in sponsorship and advertising fees, concession sales and naming rights. It was also possible, he said, for the town to receive a percentage of the profits from outside groups' merchandise sales.

For every $135,000 the theater makes, Setaro said, the township's tax rate would be offset by 1 cent.

When voters turned down the Board of Education's proposed budget in the April election, the board had to cut the proposed position of a performing arts coordinator, whom Setaro saw as someone who would help book acts for the new auditorium. Later on in the year, the board formed a Performing Arts Council, which is currently working with the district administration to plan the usage of the new Performing Arts Center (PAC).

5.Leaving the district in the lurchAfter the proposed $28.7 million school budget failed in the April Board of Education election, Setaro announced his resignation. He left his position at the end of June to become superintendent of the Freehold Township Elementary/ Middle School District.

Setaro announced his resignation when residents started questioning the need for a performing arts center at the new school. It was also a time during which contract negotiations had broken down between the school district and its teachers and other staff - something that hadn't happened since 2002.

When the Township Committee voted to reduce the proposed school district budget by $.5 million, Setaro recommended cutting the late bus at Allentown High School, the middle school sports program, a part-time psychologist position and the performing arts coordinator position for the Performing Arts Center.

Students, parents and school staff rallied for the district to keep sports so the Board of Education decided to delay its payment for an interlocal agreement to the township, to cancel a planned trip to Atlantic City and to use one-time funding from its e-rate to save sports. At the end of the day, those who protested to keep the sports program were happy. Before leaving, however, Setaro warned that the school district would have to come up with double the funding for sports in order to keep them the following year. He also cautioned residents that the next school budget would increase dramatically with the opening of the new school.

6.Mystery horse Equine enthusiasts from all over closely followed the saga of the mystery horse that first appeared in Millstone in April.

The mystery horse, which was later named Buddy by the first Millstone resident who cared for it, made headlines when he was found loose next to a dead pony that had been hit by a car on Sweetmans Lane. Marybeth Pascale, of nearby Woodville Road, took in the young, dark bay colt and was granted ownership of the horse after 30 days when no one came forward to claim him.

Although Pascale said she would take care of the mystery horse for the rest of her life, she was diagnosed in June with Grave's disease, an autoimmune disorder that causes overactivity of the thyroid gland. Pascale's health problems ultimately forced her to find a new home for Buddy.

When she went public with her search, Pascale received more than 250 phone calls and visits from people interested in the horse. Pascale ended up choosing Ileana and Paul Donnelly, of Millstone, to care for Buddy and her other horse, Lucky. The Donnellys promised that the horses would never be separated, and the animals are now "spoiled rotten" in the lush green pastures of the couple's farm.

7.A tornado touches down One of the most upsetting stories of the year occurred in August when vandals caused $2,500 in damages after trashing the Little League field house. The vandals destroyed all of the league's trophies, tried to drive a tractor through the garage door, dragged a golf cart out into the infield area and destroyed the charger for the cart, smashed through the soda case doors and cracked up a cash register. The vandals also stole a public-address system.

Prior to the August incident, two other break-ins took place at the field house, resulting in the theft of a portable defibrillator costing $1,500 and a $200 cash register.

Prior to those incidents, vandals also caused damage to the Wagner Farm Park building, took a John Deere Gator utility vehicle from a Millstone Road farm and damaged property at the new middle school construction site.

In response to the criminal activity, the mayor said she wanted to establish a rewards program for information leading to the conviction of people committing vandalism and theft in the township. She said she believed that such a fund could serve as a deterrent to at least some of the crime.

8.Fire starter The community was shocked to learn that a security guard who was hired to protect the new middle school under construction had set a few fires there.

Timothy Myers, 22, of Nickel Avenue in Sayreville, was arrested and charged with three counts of arson and criminal mischief on Dec. 8 after the New Jersey State Police and the Monmouth County Arson Task Force concluded an investigation into three fires that had been deliberately set in the school, which caused about $2,500 in damages.

Community members expressed concern that Myers had been hired to protect the school when it was discovered that he was previously charged with arson and criminal mischief in July 2005 for setting fire to two Dumpsters at the Oasis Chevrolet dealership on Route 9 in Old Bridge, where he had worked as a security guard.

9.Can you smell it? Ahh, victory The community took great pride in the 32 youths, ages 7-9, who made up the Millstone Mighty Mites, a Pop Warner football team that finished its season undefeated with a 10-0 record.

The Mighty Mites were the first Millstone team to have an undefeated season since Pop Warner took hold in the township about three years ago.

10.Tying into the nation's history Halka Nurseries in Millstone made national headlines in November after being chosen by the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation as the holding facility for more than 400 trees that will ultimately be planted at the former World Trade Center site in memory and honor of those who perished on Sept. 11, 2001. The trees will be kept on a 30-acre parcel at the corner of Back Bone Hill and Stillhouse roads.

Called "Reflecting Absence," the $300 million memorial being created will consist of two voids that reside in the original footprints of the twin towers, surrounded by sweetgum and swamp white oak trees. Waterfalls will cascade down the sides of the voids into recessed pools, with the names of those lost arranged around the pools at plaza level. The trees and memorial will stand atop a seven-story, below-ground museum that will document, preserve and describe the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001.

the school when it was discovered that he was previously charged with arson and criminal mischief in July 2005 for setting fire to two Dumpsters at the Oasis Chevrolet dealership on Route 9 in Old Bridge, where he had worked as a security guard.

9.Can you smell it? Ahh, victory The community took great pride in the 32 youths, ages 7-9, who made up the Millstone Mighty Mites, a Pop Warner football team that finished its season undefeated with a 10-0 record.

The Mighty Mites were the first Millstone team to have an undefeated season since Pop Warner took hold in the township about three years ago.

10.Tying into the nation's historyHalka Nurseries in Millstone made national headlines in November after being chosen by the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation as the holding facility for more than 400 trees that will ultimately be planted at the former World Trade Center site in memory and honor of those who perished on Sept. 11, 2001. The trees will be kept on a 30-acre parcel at the corner of Back Bone Hill and Stillhouse roads.

Called "Reflecting Absence," the $300 million memorial being created will consist of two voids that reside in the original footprints of the twin towers, surrounded by sweetgum and swamp white oak trees. Waterfalls will cascade down the sides of the voids into recessed pools, with the names of those lost arranged around the pools at plaza level. The trees and memorial will stand atop a seven-story, below-ground museum that will document, preserve and describe the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001.