Borough to fundraise by auction

In an interview with The Daily Princetonian, Borough Administrator Robert Bruschi characterized the items that will be auctioned as “goodies that we collect.”

Some of the items were abandoned around the Borough or left in municipal buildings, while others had been purchased by the Borough and are no longer needed, Bruschi said.

Bicycles are one of the most common items collected, Bruschi noted. “University students often abandon bicycles in town, which we pick up,” he explained.

Besides the baseball glove, some of the less-expensive items available include a sports watch, a Polaroid camera and a TV/VCR combo. The municipality is also selling a variety of computer equipment, mounted radar kits and police sirens. Some of the items likely to fetch a higher price in the auction include a green 1971 Mack Fire Truck and a Ford JetVac sewer cleaning truck.

Bruschi did not know when the auction would be held.

Lack of senior housing stalls zoning proposal

The Council also discussed the rezoning of the area currently containing the YMCA, the YWCA, the Merwick Rehabilitation Hospital and the University’s Stanworth Apartments.

The rezoning proposal that the Council reviewed was meant to address the proposed closure of the Merwick Care Center on Bayard Lane because the University Medical Center at Princeton (UMCP), which runs Merwick, will relocate to Plainsboro by 2010.

The proposal would increase the density of buildings allowed on the Merwick site to 14 dwelling units per acre from two dwelling units per acre to allow for the development of the zone into a residential area.

University Director of Community and Regional Affairs Kristen Appelget said in an interview with the ‘Prince’ that the University has indicated its interest in purchasing the Merwick site from the hospital. Appelget said that the University would like to build additional faculty, staff and graduate housing on the site. The rezoning to permit higher-density housing would allow the University to develop the site in accordance with its plans.

Many of Princeton’s older residents attended the meeting to protest the lack of attention that the proposal paid to the dearth of senior-citizen housing in town. “Many seniors have left the community,” said Frances Benson, who said she has lived in the Borough for 38 years. “Picture yourself as a senior, and figure out where you will go. Those of us with no connection to the University need a place to go.”

Councilman Roger Martindell echoed the senior citizens’ concerns. “Why don’t I hear anybody saying ‘let’s use this as a place where people of a certain age can have a site where they don’t need to walk to get close to the center of town?’ ” he asked.

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The University, however, does not plan to include housing for senior citizens on the site, a major point of contention with local senior-citizen groups. “We have indicated that this would not be something that we would be interested in providing,” Appelget said in the interview.

At the end of the session, the Council voted against formally introducing the proposal by a 3-2 vote. Martindell, along with Council members Kevin Wilkes ’83 and Barbara Trelstad, voted against introduction of the proposal, while Councilman Andrew Koontz and Councilwoman Margaret Karcher voted for introduction. Mayor Mildred Trotman and Councilman David Goldfarb recused themselves from the discussion, citing conflicts of interest.

The Borough Police report from February revealed that 67 people were arrested in the Borough during that month. Twelve people were charged with public urination, and eight people were charged for carrying open containers of alcohol in public. Borough Police also found a minor “stumbling on the Princeton University campus” and took him to UMCP.