Roosevelt's 2007 revisited
Borough's 70th year marred by litigation, uplifted by RAP
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP Staff Writer

JENNIFER KOHLHEPP Roosevelt is faced with deciding between repairing or replacing its 70-year-old water tower, located at the corner of North Valley Road and Eleanor Lane, as the historic structure is no longer functioning as it should.

ROOSEVELT - Throughout 2007, the borough was plagued with litigation and water systemwoes.

The borough is currently spending over the state-mandated budget cap and at year's end had tallied over $131,000 in emergency appropriations for 2007,mostly for legal and planning expenses as a result of the ongoing issues with Yeshiva Me'on Hatorah, which started leasing space in theHomestead Lane synagogue in 2005. The borough's aging infrastructure, especially itswater system, also remains a huge expenditure each year.

The costs of such problemswill add up for the average taxpayer who is living in a town of just under 1,000 residents to share the burdenwith. Although the local purpose tax had remained flat for a few years, in 2007 it jumped 54 percent, which amounts to an extra $35 per month in municipal taxes for the average homeowner.

The Borough Council decided to cut over 20 areas of themunicipal budget in 2007, including emergency service costs. Despite the cuts, rising planning and legal expenses caused the significant tax increase. The council set aside funds for contracts with Howard D. Cohen, of Parker McCay in Marlton, to serve as the litigation attorney in land use matters andwithMarciHamilton, a lawprofessor atYeshivaUniversity,who successfully argued before the United States Supreme Court that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the predecessor statute to the Religious LandUse and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA)was unconstitutional. The borough also set aside expenses for the lawsuit that Rabbi Yisroel Eisenberg, of Yeshiva Me'on Hatorah, and Roosevelt resident Paul Brottman brought against the borough in 2006 regarding the use of Brottman's North Rochdale Avenue home as a dormitory for yeshiva students.

WhenBrottman sold his home later on in the year, the litigationwaswithdrawn.However, Congregation Anshei Roosevelt, which owns and operates theHomestead Lane synagogue property, andYeshivaMe'onHatorah filed a federal lawsuit Aug. 27 against the borough, its Planning and Zoning Board, the mayor and council, the Roosevelt PreservationAssociation, and certain individualmembers of the Planning and Zoning Board and the council.

The lawsuit charges that the defendants took actions that restricted the religious freedom of the synagogue's and yeshiva's members. The lawsuit seeks to overturn a July 24 decision that the borough's Planning and Zoning Board made, which determined that the operation of the yeshiva on the synagogue's property does not comply with borough zoning ordinances.

The borough and individuals named in the lawsuit have filed for amotion to dismiss based on claims that the plaintiffs'allegations are not ripe and lack standing to challenge the borough's treatment of public and private schools. The borough also contends that its adoption of Ordinance 97-36 and the provisions of 42 USC 2000cc-3(e) should prevent the plaintiffs frominvoking RLUIPA.

The lawsuit has yet to be resolved and the latest regarding the issue entails theU.S.Department of Justice notifying the borough Dec. 28 that it has initiated an investigation ofwhether the borough's zoning and land use practices concerning the use of the synagogue property violate RLUIPA.

The borough also faces a third lawsuit, filed by a Roosevelt family in 2007, challenging the adoption of a re-examination report of the master plan and an ordinance to rezone the Residential/Agriculture-400 (R/AG-400) zone in the community for additional uses.

In March, the Planning Board adopted a report on its re-examination of the borough's master plan and land use ordinances, which called for protecting the borough's residential (R-40) zone as a planned community and rezoning the community'sR/AG-400 zone for religious schools desiring dormitory useswithin borough borders.

As a result of the re-examination report, the borough amended its zoning ordinance in April to allowpublic and private schools, dormitories and houses of worship to be located in the R/AG-400 zone, which is otherwise zoned for farming and residential use. The ordinance, which the borough passed to try to immunize itself against the yeshiva's potential RLUIPA lawsuit, met with opposition from various residents including the Carduner family.

TheCarduners,who live in theR/AG-400 zone, filed a civil action lawsuit against the borough that alleges the borough did not give the public sufficient time to review and comment on the re-examination report. The lawsuit also charges that the borough rezoned the R/AG-400 zone without consideration for current zoning requirements, historical impact, preservation goals of the master plan, environmental impact, sufficient infrastructure, and advancement of the Municipal Land Use Law.

Just as legal expenses started piling up for the borough, water system expenditures continued to increase. In January, the borough's engineer reported that a recent inspection of thewater tower had indicated that it needed to be substantially repaired or replaced because it is no longer functioning properly. She estimated the cost of sandblasting and repairing the tank at $300,000- $500,000 and a new tank at $690,000 and related that repair would only extend the life of the tank by 15-20 years.

The engineer also told borough officials that the high iron content in boroughwater is caused by the accumulation of iron deposits on the inside surfaces of thewatermains and recommended the borough clean and cement-line thewater pipes,which could cost $1.3million.

In April, Councilman Bob Silverstein reported that iron deposits completely blocked the aeration slats at the water treatment plant, which created amassive water spill at the plant and damage totaling $30,000. Later in the year, the council also had to authorize an appropriation of $154,000 to finance improvements at the water and sewer plants.

In July, the borough raised the utility charges by 4 percent to a base $310 bimonthly water/sewer rate for borough residents.

In October, Councilman Jeff Ellentuck started questioning the borough engineer's assessment of the water tower and called for a new inspection. He said that a new tower would cost $1.8million and that the borough is ill equipped to take on anymore debt than it needs to.

ByDecember, Silversteinwas continuing to advocate for cleaning the township'swater mainswhileEllentuck said the state told him to choose between a grant for pipe relining or water tower repair. Ellentuck advocated for repairing the water tower and expressed opinions against replacing it. He also said that the borough chose the state grant that would cover two-thirds of the engineering costs for the water tower repair.

The borough had started another project early in 2007 that seemed to loose steam by year's end: the gas station cleanup. In May, the gas station tanks were removed and the borough determined that the amount of contamination of the underlying soil did not appear to be that bad. The borough had talked about cleaning the property, which had been abandoned, and the possibility of selling it. However, officials haven't publicly addressed the project in recent months, and mounds of soil remain at the site under decomposing plastic sheets.

The year was speckled with positive events such as the borough celebrating its 70th year, the Roosevelt Public School (RPS) graduating its 70th class, and the Roosevelt Arts Project (RAP), a nonprofit in the community dedicated to supporting the arts, staging a festival for its 20th anniversary.

The May weekend of RAP anniversary events included the unveiling of a new community mural on the borough hall, an art walk in the woods, tours of the historic community, concerts by the Roosevelt String Band, and a community art showing in the historic factory and theEleanorGallery. People from near and far visited the borough to pay homage to its current resident artists such as Brad Garton, Victoria Estok and Jon Shahn and those of yore such as Jacob Landau, Ed Schlinski, and StefanMartin.

Another highlight happened when the New Jersey Arts Education Census Project ranked RPS in the top 10 percent of elementary schools in the state for arts education. The census explained that schoolswith a high art index likeRPS,which earned a 0.53, have significant numbers of students participating in the arts and offer study in all four arts disciplines (visual arts, dance, theater and music). The census also determined that schools with high indexes offer dedicated spaces for arts teachings, appropriate equipment, certified art instructors, higher levels of per-pupil arts spending, and communities that actively participate in the arts.

The Roosevelt community seems to always come togetherwhen it comes to the arts, but members joined The Roosevelt Chapter of the Coalition for Peace Action's efforts against thewar in Iraq in 2007 by posting red signs on their lawns stating "Support the troops: End the war." The signs not only popped up all over town but in neighboring towns as well.

The town and its emergency services also let out a sigh of relief for finding a new home for the emergency siren near the amphitheater at RPS. The siren had been removed from the top of the school in 2005 due to a state law that prohibits such devices from being placed on top of school buildings. The borough had moved the siren to Well No. 3, located near Eleanor Lane and North Valley Drive, but that location proved ill fittingwhen half of the town realized it could no longer hear the siren when it went off.

Another victory for town safety came when the state's Department of Community Affairs cited throughout the year four singlefamily homes in the borough associated with Yeshiva Me'on Hatorah for housing violations, including illegal dormitory use. The yeshiva had been housing between 12 and 18 students in the single-family homes without sprinklers and safe electrical work. The yeshiva agreed to pay the necessary fines and to not have more than five unrelated people living in each of the homes until it could obtain the necessary approvals for dormitory use fromthe borough.

By Jan. 31, most of the litigation and water system issues remained unresolved. Those who would like to hear more about or take part in helping resolve borough issues are encouraged to attend councilmeetings on the second and fourthMondays of themonth at 7 p.m.