PfH Comes Up with $500 for Downtown Cleanup
Some merchants have complained about unkept streets in Haddonfield.
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Officials from the Partnership for Haddonfield, the borough's tax-funded business improvement district, have come up with $500 in this year's budget for helping to keep the business district clean.
Key officials admit its not nearly enough to ensure that trash blowing around the streets is regularly or weeds in sidewalks will be quickly pulled, but they hope it's a start.
"It's not going to solve the problem all year, but it's a start," said Jeff Kasko, a borough commissioner who also sits on the PfH board. "We may also add one to two part-time public works workers this year, too."
Marlee Lick, proprietor of Harrison's Gift Shop on Kings Highway East, has been a frequent critic of the cleanliness of the downtown. She let out a whoop as the additional funds were announced by the treasurer.
"This is good," she said.
Lick said the PfH now pays about $14,000 each year for Christmas holiday street decorations, a cost the borough used to pay. Some of that money once paid for maintaining cleaner streets.
"Our mission statement is to help the businesses," Lick said about the PfH. "The borough is supposed to take care of these things. I am a taxpayer as a business owner and a homeowner and I understand budgetary issues, but as they look into shared services, maybe they need to look into shared services for cleanup."
The PfH is mostly funded through a tax on borough businesses.
Ripped off
7:32 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013
So glad we pay taxes and our streets look terrible. Lets decide money for cleanliness or cadillac benefits for employees that no other taxpayer gets
Debbie Hansen
7:47 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013
I applaud the efforts of the partnership to help keep the downtown looking good..
I would like to remind shop owners that it is our responsibility to keep the sidewalks in front of our shops clean....and most everyone is doing a good job at that... but what about Kings Court... Isn't it the responsibility of the shops on Kings Court to keep it clean.?..Yesterday, it was awful.....
Jeff H
8:14 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013
MORE PUBLIC WORKS EMPLOYEES? PLENTY OF PRIVATE CONTRACTORS WHO WOULD LOVE THE PRESTIGIOUS ASSIGNMENT OF KEEPING DOWNTOWN CLEAN! OUTSOURCING JEFF!! C'MON IT WORKED WITH TRASH COLLECTION IT WILL WORK FOR THIS TOO! YOU ARE GOING BACKWARDS!!!
F. Stone
11:03 am on Thursday, February 7, 2013
Sounds like a good ongoing community service project for students who need hours for NHS or other groups. We create the trash, we can pick it up.
Jeremiah Wright
9:42 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013
I heartily endorse. The last thing this town needs is another govt employee.
Brian Kelly
1:19 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013
Haddonfield United would like to volunteer to help with the clean up. If anyone up at the borough has any interest, please contact us on our facebook page. Many thanks...
Bill Green
1:51 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013
This is a tempest in a teapot! I am a shopkeeper in Kings Court and I sweep the front of my shop (and more) daily. There are empties in the Court as well as empties on the Highway. While I'm sure that it's the responsibility of each respective landlord to keep the area clean it's surely not feasible for them to have personnel cleaning, on site, daily. When a tenant or building owner occupies the site one would think that they would care for the outward appearance of the front (albeit public) area of their place of business. There is a certain amount of public area that should be cleaned and kept up by the township. In front of my shop is a recycling can, Until this morning, and for almost 2 weeks, there was a bag filled with ??? that lay on its' side next to the can. Why wasn't it picked up when the can was emptied? All in all,much of the town could be a bit cleaner but, the cleanliness issue is truly a small fraction of our difficulties. The larger issues remain producing a constant and effective stream of promotions and events, a more reasonable and welcoming parking plan (having to hand a customer a pamphlet explaining the towns parking schemes is ridiculous and embarassing), and a more welcoming atmosphere for merchants and customers.
Pro-Haddonfield
1:52 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013
I have a group of kids working on service projects for Church. If anything is organized I can try to send them over.
mary
4:58 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013
As a shop owner who doesn't benefit from the partnership (because we aren't on Kings Highway) yet has the privilege of paying the tax agrees with Debbie Hansen and Bill Green. We spend time on a daily basis keeping the outside of our shop clean as well as other vacant store fronts on our block without any assistance from the Partnership or the town.
Bob
5:28 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013
All they can scrape together for cleaning is $500 for the whole year? Over $50,000 is spent annually on administration of the BID with nothing to show for it. Those paying this tax should be furious!
Jim
9:14 pm on Thursday, February 7, 2013
This amount is joke and a disgrace by the 3 Commissioners. The business properties pay over $250,000 in extra BID taxes and the Borough is responsible to keep the Borough Business District and the common areas and parking lots cleaned.. The borough collect thousands of dollars in parking fess and fines .The downtown properties pay 15% of the total Real Estate taxes for the Borough, County, and School taxes and only represent 5% of the total amount of the 4200 properties in the Borough.The Commissioners are offering $500.00 when millions are paid by the business properties is a disgrace.The BID is now paying the $14,000 for Christmas decorations which the Borough should be paying for. Cut the pension and health benefits and have 401 k only for Borough employees and save a half a million dollar in one year. Commissioners need to resign !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11
Maryann Campling
8:53 am on Friday, February 8, 2013
Mary, Bill and Jim....great comments all. The crumbs that get thrown to our merchants and lack of support is disgraceful. But, take heart; several of us will volunteer with the clean up. It's the least we can do for the folks who make our downtown the gem that it is.
Bill Green
12:43 pm on Friday, February 8, 2013
Maryann,
You're the gem (and all the other townies that care and put action where their words are)! For far too long the shopping district has been the victim of ego's, personal agenda's, diluted funds, poor promotions, and over regulation... The businesses need to have some breathing room and some really "out of the box" promotions if we're to be competitive with the increasingly tighter consumer spending. If we try and do what the malls do or try to do small promotions we risk becoming just another small town shopping district. I'm not saying that the promotions need to be that much more expensive...just more expansive! As for the cleanup...If the district is busy and vibrant there will naturally be a need and an impetus for that cleanup.
Kim
4:05 pm on Saturday, February 9, 2013
Uh, writer/editor, did you mean "unkempt"?
Lauren Burgoon
2:33 pm on Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Nope: http://grammarist.com/usage/unkempt-unkept/
HAV
7:38 am on Sunday, February 10, 2013
The comments shared are all thought- and action-provoking, thank you! Has Haddonfield considered asking neighboring towns how they keep their Bus. Dist. clean, landscaped and maintained? Maybe there is a model out there that works. Seems we should have it down after 300 years. So very glad there is conversation about this because this is a topic near and dear to me, being one of those volunteers who tries to beautify Haddonfield areas. One great (but also bad...) thing about our community is that we can easily generate a lot if volunteers to fix a problem, but what about the long-term? How long can we rely on $500 a year and countless volunteer hours, and a coordinator to manage all of those volunteers? We ARE an amazing group of people who will work together; problem is, our leaders have heard about us...it's no secret that we will use our volunteer time and talents over and over and over again until what happens? The fire dies out, the volunteers are burnt out and the ashes remain until another 'movement' blows in for another round. The cycle continues. Volunteers are important in all communities, but we also need to create a model that works for the long haul (and doesn't depend so heavily on our generous citizens).