20 March, 1987
Library Pares Recruitment Request by Half; Now Asks $10,000 for New Director Search
In response to grumbling by some municipal officials, the Public Library has pared its original $20,000 recruitment request down to $10,000. This sum, which will be used to search for a new library director to replace Robert Staples, was approved last week at a joint meeting of Borough Council and Township Committee. Mr. Staples is scheduled to resign in June.
The joint budget meeting also approved an additional $10,000 over and above the library’s 1987 budget to be used to support Sunday openings.
The library’s original $20,000 recruitment budget included $4,000 for a “recruitment suite” for a week at the San Francisco hotel at which the American Librarians Association will hold its convention this summer, plus $7,500 in travel expenses to bring final candidates to Princeton for interviews. Exactly what the pared-down figure will buy was not disclosed at the meeting:
Three members of the Joint Civil Rights Commission, in addition to Director Joan Hill, watched quietly from the sidelines as the two governing bodies unanimously passed the Joint Civil Rights budget. One of the few comments came’ from Township Mayor Gail Firestone, who told Civil Rights Commission members that the governing bodies would encourage a request for additional funds to finance a specific project.
Prior to passage of the Joint Health Department budget, Health Officer Pat Hanson was asked if any of the monies would be used for radon testing.
“No,” responded Mr. Hanson, “but both mayors have asked if the Department could act as an intermediary to provide radon canisters. This would cause no problem.”
Mayor Firestone concurred, saying there has been widespread interest in this. “I believe the canisters can be made available from the Health Department on a pass-through basis,” she said.
Currently, the Department provides interested and concerned citizens with a list of firms that do radon testing.
The subject of AIDS education came up during the discussion, and it was generally agreed that the impetus for this will come from the State and Federal government. It was noted that the Princeton Medical Center has seen several cases of AIDS, and that there was one reported death from AIDS last year.
A brief discussion of the proposed new Township firehouse preceded the passage of the Fire Department budget. Borough Fire Commissioner Mark Freda said the Department was prepared to begin serious negotiations for the construction of the fire station, which is expected to be built near the intersection of Route 206 and Valley Road.
The Township, meanwhile, is in the midst of a facilities study to determine the feasibility of constructing a police station, municipal offices, and the new fire station at this site.
Mr. Freda said the Fire Department is not anxious to wait until the Township’s facilities study is complete, since the date for this is 1989. “The Fire Department considers this unacceptable,” he said firmly.
The $320 Office of Emergency Management budget for civil defense in Princeton brought a few comments from the assembled lawmakers. Everyone agreed with the statement that “if we are going to be serious about it, the budget is ridiculous,” and there was some musing about how the Budget administered funds could be stretched to protect the Township, which was called a “buffer zone” around the Borough.
It was generally agreed that the money would be enough to call for help, “but not much more.” It was not clear who would be called. Other joint budgets passed last week included the Commission on Aging, the Suzanne Patterson Center; and the First Aid and Rescue Squad.
—Myrna K. Bearse