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Christmas trees, menorahs and tons of salt just a few of the signs that Old Man Winter has arrived


into town


By ROBERT LINNEHAN The Voorhees Sun


The final signs of fall have been sucked up from the front yards as Voorhees Township offi- cially declared an end to its leaf season last week and began the work of modifying its equipment for the winter season. Perhaps also a reminder of the new sea- son was the approval of a joint agreement between the county and Voorhees for the purchase of sodium chloride for snow re- moval. The township is ready for win-


ter, Township Administrator Larry Spellman said after mem- bers of the Committee agreed to the annual joint purchase from Camden County. At a rate of al- most $54 per ton, sodium chloride winter cleanups can be a pricey venture for any municipality, he said, as evidenced by last year’s winter season. The 2009 winter season was


one of the costliest cleanups the township had experienced in years, Spellman said, with two blizzards hitting during the sea- son. The township spent about $350,000 for the 2009 winter after budgeting for a rate of just $50,000 for a typical winter. The weather and the snow


killed us last year, Spellman said. Ironically, while he was speaking about this article with The Sun last Thursday, it began to snow. “The cost for the salt, the snow


removal, and overtime for our workers was immense. But it’s one of those things where we have no choice. It’s frustrating when we have a bad winter,” he said. “We have to make sure that those roads are always passable for our residents and any other type of emergency vehicle that comes through.” Luckily for the township – and


many other municipalities throughout the state – FEMA de- clared the storms as a disaster and awarded the township $250,000 in federal funding. Spell- man said the township just re- ceived its second FEMA check this past week. In other township news, the Committee officially approved the sale of the final plenary liquor license in Voorhees. The li- cense was sold to business owner Dhaval Shah of Mahavir Ashir- vad, L.L.C., for the minimum ask- ing price of $400,000. Shah provided Township Clerk


Jeanette Schelberg with a check for $40,000 – a 10 percent deposit - at the conclusion of the public


please see WINTER, page 10 Special to The Sun


During American Education Week parents visited their children’s schools and had the opportunity to see the great things that happen in the classroom. At the E.T. Hamilton School, parents who visited Mrs. Lewis’ art class created abstract line designs along with their children. Pictured is fourth-grader Casey Walenda along with his mother, Kelly Walenda.


Can you hear me now?


By ROBERT LINNEHAN The Voorhees Sun


Almost a year ago the Voorhees


School District received the good news that it would receive about $80,000 from the state for a telecommunications project. Fast forward 12-months to the present, and the district has received the money.


Assistant Superintendent Dr.


Frank DeBerardinis said the dis- trict applied for the grant last year and was awarded the money. It was a welcome grant for the $200,000 telecommunications project, he said, which will im- prove the telephone systems in all


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of the schools. The local share of the project will be a little more than $120,000. After being notified of the


award, the state froze its grant funding for school districts in early 2010, DeBerardinis said. The district went ahead with the project and received a lease pur- chase from TD Bank for the work, he said. The project will improve the


telephone systems in all of the schools to make sure that teach- ers can dial emergency numbers and other emergency organiza- tions from any classroom in the district, DeBerardinis said. The work was completed be-


fore the school year began, he said. “We appreciate the money and


we appreciate the grants. This is really our lifeblood, especially when it comes to facilities,” he said. “We do not get a lot of state aid.” The district is currently in the


fourth year of a five-year $10 mil- lion facilities project that the state approved. The facilities proj- ect consists of replacing all of the roofs, HVAC systems, and securi- ty systems within all of the schools in the district, he said. The state is paying 40 percent


of the $10 million project, he said. please see GRANT, page 10


INSIDE THIS ISSUE Teen Cancer Week


State sets aside third week in January. PAGE 7


Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14


Editorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6


Winter moves


DECEMBER 22-28, 2010 Art education


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