The township’s mayor and council held the annual reorganization meeting on New Year’s Day. After a strong November showing, Mayor Raymond McCarthy and his three Democratic “team” members for at-large council seats — Peggy O’Boyle Dunigan, Bernard Hamilton and newcomer Patricia Spychala — were sworn in by Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo and U.S. Rep. William Pascrell, D-8. Meanwhile, Councilman Vincent Esposito gave his farewell address to the crowd, before returning to the public for the first time in seven years. Police Chief John McNiff was formally replaced at the meeting by Michael Sisco.

The chambers where they met that day, which have been in need of repairs for some time, were being discussed for repairs and maintenance. To date, those plans are still in the works.

Also for the new year, the fledgling Parking Authority doubled its meter fees from 25 to 50 cents an hour. The authority said its decision was made to increase insufficient revenues and to rejuvenate the money flow just prior to the planned redevelopment.

The township’s oft-deferred Zoning Ordinance was still going through revisions and changes early in the year. The comprehensive land-use document was described as an “opus” by officials on the board, and would be the first thorough overhaul of the ordinance since 1979.

The changes were expected to reflect the changing makeup and uses of the township, which has popularly come to be perceived as less of a “blue collar” community, and more of a “transit village” looking to bring in commuters from New York City.

Part of the reason that the zoning ordinance was being held up was due to the possibility of a Wal-Mart coming on to the site of the former Westinghouse Factory in the southern end of town.

The battle over the land’s usage had truly begun to heat up with the New Year, with the popular feeling against “big box” stores running up against the interests of the developers controlling the site. Also complicating the fact was the conflict between the zoning ordinance and master plan’s effects on what uses were permissible on the site.

Uptown, the fumes at Bloomfield High School continued to linger into 2005. Construction fumes were leaking into classrooms, which caused students and teachers to fall sick.

Classes were still being evacuated after the holiday break, and parents, staff and students were growing increasingly agitated with the situation. Although the health problems were proving to be less than dire, the concerned individuals asking for further measures felt that their requests were being ignored by the administration.

But unity marked the township’s remembrance of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday at the New Light Baptist Church on Dewey Street. The mayor and council, attended, as well as Freeholder Ralph Caputo and Pascrell, among others.

The fumigation situation at the high school continued into the second month of the year, as environmental reports and school board meetings brought the contentions of parents and the faculty to a head. The township’s Department of Health also became involved with the consulting engineers on the project, with allegations of “political posturing” marking some of the planned meetings and visits to the school building. Environmental engineers were concurrently telling the public that the health concerns were minimal, while certain physical steps were being made to limit the fumes’ leaking into the building, which was nonetheless deemed to be an unavoidable byproduct of the ongoing project.

On Broad Street and over the border, meetings of a different sort were taking place at Temple Ner Tamid. Two of the many cultural presentations focused on the religious nature of music, and the variety and tolerance of the world’s many religions. Cantor Jessica Epstein of the temple gave her speech at the Glen Ridge Women’s Club about the passionate and elevating aspect of music in spirituality, while former New York Times reporter and best-selling author Ari Goldman gave his speech at Ner Tamid about the underlying “truth” of the world’s faiths.

Back across town, the Watsessing Heights Neighborhood Association officially made its stance against Wal-Mart formal by announcing that a resolution was passed by its members in opposition to the franchise setting up shop on the Westinghouse site.

Meanwhile, the district’s schools were still looking for a way to remedy the faults found in the annual “report cards” given out by the state’s Department of Education. The high school, middle school and Fairview Elementary School joined thousands of others across the country in not meeting the criteria for the stringent No Child Left Behind Act. Important gains were made almost entirely across the board otherwise, since even the shortcomings were from so-called “fringe groups” which can make an entire school fail.

The township redevelopment came into focus during the third month of the year. With the beginning of destruction slated for the summer, the current property and business owners targeted in the redevelopment zone began to speak out and fight back with legal measures. The owners were from all four of the “parcels” planned by redevelopment firm Forest City Daly for its Bloomfield revitalization. Parcel one was the projected parking deck on the site of the Farrand Street parking lot. Parcel two would be a second-floor “anchor store” supermarket on the corner of Ward Street and Bloomfield Avenue. Parcel three was the mixed commercial and residential draw with “boutique-style” stores and apartments above, along Bloomfield Avenue and running back to Lackawanna Place. And Parcel four was the recently added condominium complex behind the train station.

Meanwhile, the township decided to demand results on the ongoing high school fumes situation. Although many of the problems noticed at the site by environmental engineering firm PMK were considered minor, the Health Department demanded all actions producing fumes be ceased for the immediate future. The administration stated the concerns were being addressed as best they could. However, the school board itself voiced its dissatisfaction with the lack of communication between the construction company, the administration and itself.

Venner Park was being completed, after the work went months and hundreds of thousands of dollars over budget. The initial estimate was for $150,000; instead, the project took more than $600,000, not including the related streetscape project.

Six candidates filed by deadline to contend for two vacant Board of Education seats because of the departure of President Barbara Francisco and member Thomas Lawton. Emily Smith, Mark Wiley, Richard Galioto, John Hilcher, Carol Frances Spear and incumbent Lisa Mason were the candidates. They began their platforms, responding to the ongoing controversies surrounding the high school and the rest of the district.

On a tragic note, Municipal Court Judge Ralph Colasanti died at 57, after a brief battle with liver cancer. Colleagues and admirers remembered him for the compassionate and responsible figure he was.

The six school board candidates met the public at a Candidates’ Night forum on April 4. They outlined platforms, and answered questions from civic-minded residents.

At the subsequent election, it was Smith, Wiley and Mason who appeared to have won the seats, although the results from Demarest Elementary School were in doubt for some time, because of “jammed” voting machines, according to officials.

However, Demarest’s numbers did not change the outcome in the end, and the three leading candidates did indeed win. The budget also passed by a small margin.

Before the new Board came in, however, the old one voted in favor of not retaining the services of Superintendent of Schools Thomas Dowd, whose contract is set to expire this June. There was a tone of anger and hostility as the vote was taken, as two outgoing school board members voted to keep Dowd, and a majority of the rest commented negatively on being called by vendors the night before to sway their vote. None of the members would comment on who the individuals were.

Wal-Mart talks continued with the developer and the owner of the Westinghouse site. The mayor and council decided to defer passage of the zoning ordinance, in order to give the developer time and inclination to make decisions about the future of the property. But officials continued to speak about the possibility of putting something “special” involving commercial and residential components there.

Both political parties decided who their candidates would be for council in November. Democrat Janice Maly would defend her seat against former school board member Michael Napolitano in the 1st Ward. Second Ward Republican Raymond Tamborini would try to keep his seat from young newcomer Robert Chalet. And 3rd Ward Councilwoman Patricia Ritchings would seek a second term over Republican Alfonso Crincoli.

In redevelopment news, Parcel four received unanimous approval at a Planning Board meeting, despite protest from residents and shop owners. It was the fourth time the application was put on a Board agenda, but the first time that it was actually heard.

They claim that 6 percent “Special Improvement District” taxes did little for their businesses and property values — other than beginning the process of getting rid of them.

For their part, McCarthy and BCA representatives noted the various functions the Alliance holds as being part of the process of attracting new ratables, while paving the way for the long-awaited redevelopment that was to come.

The new board of education members were sworn in at the annual reorganization meeting. And in a surprising move, member Ed Zilinski was nominated and voted president and Nicholas Rizzitello became vice president. Afterward, the body took care of annual updates and resolutions to prepare for the upcoming year’s business.

Over at town hall, their municipal counterparts were having difficulties with the annual budget. The township council decided to defer outstanding debt service from previous years to next year and beyond. Accordingly, the projected tax increase remained the same, and the extra three tax points would be put off until 2006.

Another problem the council was tackling was the “snafu” of a raise for a lieutenant in the fire department. The raise was discussed in the public session, instead of executive session. The union demanded that Lt. Glenn Flanagan receive his salary increase along with his promotion, which had initially been deferred by the township’s governing body. But a solution was reached in a matter of weeks. After much discussion and some tempers flaring at the public council meetings, Flanagan did indeed receive the pay, and kept his promotion.

The council still wrestled with the future of the Westinghouse site. The developer, owner and the town were still in discussion about the possibilities for the former industrial 12 acres of land. The township, in its efforts to keep out a “big box” store like Wal-Mart, decided to include a zoning change in the work-in-progress known as the zoning ordinance. What was hoped for in the change was a mixed-use zone which would combine small stores and residential units above them, and would infuse the area around Watsessing Train Station with a new group of consumers and commuters.

Redevelopment in the rest of town was also still on the proverbial drawing board. The plans for parcel three — the commercial aspect of the downtown redevelopment — were unveiled by developer Forest City Daly.

As the school year drew to a close, the district marked a banner year of change. The Class of 2005 had blissfully clear skies at Foley Field for Bloomfield High School’s 151st commencement ceremony.

Meanwhile, Demarest parents were vocal at some school board meetings about the class size in several elementary schools. They made claims of “geographical inequality,” due to some disparity of class sizes between buildings, particularly Brookdale and Oakview schools. In response, Board members promised to look into the problem, but made it clear other districts statewide and across the nation have crowding problems even as additions and extra buildings spring up all over.

Meanwhile, Fairview welcomed a special guest — Sgt. Maj. Orlando Perez, a soldier returning home briefly from a tour of duty in Iraq. His pen pals in Michele Crincoli’s third grade class were receptive and listened to his stories and went through his picture collection. The assembly brought a generous dose of reality to the daily headlines from a world away.

Back at the board of education, members tapped a consultant from the New Jersey School Boards Association to begin the search for a new superintendent. It planned to advertise in the larger local newspapers, and to move ahead methodically through the process with outside, experienced help.

At the Middle School, two young English teachers were making headlines all their own by pioneering a pilot program to teach classic films in conjunction with literature. Suzy Johnson and Jody Sutula worked with star-studded Film Foundation to be the testing group for the program called “The Story of Movies,” which became a learning tool for integrating all the different subjects together.

The former Scientific Glass site near the middle school became the focal point of controversy in town politics. Residents in the area around Liongate Drive and the vacant lot hemmed in between the street and the Third River protested the passage of the zoning ordinance, stating any potential development of the site would exacerbate flooding concerns in the area.

There were also allegations of impropriety on the part of the planning board in leaving important items off an agenda. But after lengthy disputes in several venues and capacities, the ordinance was passed on first reading. The developer’s plans for over a hundred condominium units were scaled back in small measure, but stayed largely intact, and remediation of the site continued.

After the debate over the fire department lieutenant’s deferred raise, the police department decided to rally for its own immediate salary increases. Because promoted officers in the department agreed to defer their raises until the next year, police were looking to get concessions for their cooperation with the council.

The department was also looking for increased holiday pay, an instant increase for a rookie cop’s salary level and a relinquishment of the daytime EMS duties.

The Policemen’s Benevolent Association representatives declared victory, noting though the eight promoted officers did not get their immediate raises, rookie police officers’ salaries were increased, the holiday pay was increased and the council promised to look into the EMS responsibilities.

The council, while dealing with these issues, finished its budget process for the year. The municipal budget ran up to $54 million. The local tax levy, excluding school and county taxes, fell just short of $34.5 million — an increase of nearly $1 million.

The council was also dealt a “winning hand” in redevelopment contests against targeted property and shop owners. The $160 million redevelopment plan cruised through its first court test in June before Judge Claude M. Coleman in the Essex County Superior Court. Coleman said the complaint of the owners was filed way too late to have any potential validity. Then, a few weeks later, the first condemnation case was heard before Judge Patricia Costello. Everything appeared to be going ahead as planned.

The town, while waiting for that decision from Costello, scored another victory in front of Coleman on July 20. The complaint of four property owners was thrown out after just 45 minutes of argument, due to the same time constraints Coleman cited in the case the month before.

At the same time, revelations about a little-known extra parcel of the redevelopment project came to light. Parcel five, according to the redevelopment agreement with Forest City Daly, was the redeveloper’s prerogative and decision. Even more surprising was the property owners along that northern strip of Bloomfield Avenue…all of them said they had not been notified their properties were in the developers’ hands in the near-future. Parcel five had been a secret.

The Scientific Glass controversy was put to a quick end by the final passage of the zoning ordinance in July, after many months of revisions. Tempers flared and heated accusations were made at the final meeting, but the council voted to pass the ordinance, thereby giving the developer of the former Scientific Glass site what was perceived as a detrimental density for building condos on the flood plain area.

Only 2nd Ward Councilman Raymond Tamborini and 1st Ward Councilwoman Janice Maly voted against the ordinance; the rest of council cited their opinion that the legal matter was already a foregone conclusion for development of the site.

With the board of education, change orders for the ongoing high school construction became hot topics. After some conversation between the school board and the district administration, it was deemed that more oversight for the constant change orders would be instituted. Also, it was determined that the $58 million total for the project would stand pat, even if the extras — such as security cameras for the building, or a new Foley Field track — would not be included.

Judge Joseph Connolly, Glen Ridge’s Municipal Court Judge, replaced deceased Judge Ralph Colasanti as judge in Bloomfield. He said he was looking forward to the promise of working for both towns.

Federal authorities arrested and indicted Bloomfield Police Officer William Abendschoen for running a gambling ring. Abendschoen was suspended with pay by the department for the duration of his case.

Bucking the trend of every other town and city in the county, Bloomfield’s crime rate rose in 2004. The state police’s Uniform Crime Reports showed increases in almost every indexed category. Officers from the police department said the statistics were just that — statistics — and were not representative of any kind of trend for the township’s crime rate.

Belying this kind of security worry, the residents of Halcyon Park in the southern end of the township worked hard to make their neighborhood a nice place to live, with the help of elected officials. The Halcyon Park Neighborhood Association raised awareness about the community’s problems, got involved with the governing body of the township, and got results from the activism of people like Norma Kroll and Susana Sotillo.

The township council scored victories in tackling a parking issue in town. Residents being pushed out by commuters were given permits to allow these residents — many of whom don’t have driveways around the Watsessing Train Station — to park. The problem originated with the Parking Authority’s takeover of the lots, and subsequent requirement of permits.

Channel 35 came back on the air, after weeks of being darkened. Through efforts of Councilwoman Janice Maly and Darryl Love — an Emmy Award-winning television producer — the station took its new revamped format in conjunction with TelVue Television Networks.

After an inspection by the state’s Public Employees Occupational Safety and Health Association, the township was forced to move its Department of Public Works operations from the antiquated Grove Street site to its newer Orange Street location. It was believed that there were several contaminants at the former Union Carbine site.

Little Isabella Schilare, again healthy after many medical procedures, was deemed a healthy 17 month-old girl. Her parents were not so fortunate financially from the medical bills. But Sylvia and Michael benefited from the Charles Seller Foundation’s Talent Time Players, which put on performances of “Guys and Dolls” at Bloomfield Middle School to help the family.

The mayor and council and board of education put their heads together and made some significant strides toward getting rid of the out-of-town students in Bloomfield schools. The council decided to tack a fine on residents who harbor or abet the non-resident children to take classes in Bloomfield.

The biggest news came at the beginning of the month. The $160 million redevelopment plan hit a significant road block when Judge Patricia Costello ruled against the first of the township’s condemnation suits. Costello’s opinion cited improper process in drafting the initial redevelopment study, and also a conflict of interest for one of the attorneys involved in the early steps. Township officials vehemently insisted that the redevelopment project would continue on pace, while several business and property owners celebrated and began to prepare more legal challenges.

From thousands of miles away, Bloomfield responded to Hurricane Katrina with kindness and sympathy. Michael Malia and Mike McCracken were two EMT-trained police officers who went down to assist the relief efforts. The trio of Hermanese Rogers, Maxine Richardson and Sheena Dutton made Bloomfield their new home with the help of the United Way after escaping the flood waters of the 9th Ward of New Orleans. They have since moved to Texas. Resident Darryl Love made collections and, after some difficulties, shipped huge care packages south along the nation’s highways. Bloomfield Middle School would hold a walk-a-thon to aid a middle school in Baton Rouge. The Red Cross and even township children pitched in to help with the untold human suffering on the Gulf of Mexico.

Bloomfield High School’s new science wing opened on time, to rave reviews. And the rest of construction continued. A major heat wave early in the month had the children sweating every single hour in the parts of the building without air conditioning. But the autumn temperature drop soon fixed that problem.

Also in the high school halls, controversy surrounded the marching band. It was made clear to all students they couldn’t participate in band class during the school day without also participating in marching band after school, if they weren’t already active in a sport.

Angry parents defended students’ rights to choose what to do in their free time after school, to no avail; the music program defended its right to require the marching band activity as a long-term academic tradition.

In redevelopment news, the township filed an appeal against Judge Patricia Costello’s decision against its first-filed condemnation suit. And in separate initiatives, the council set up a fact-finding mission to rework initial redevelopment study, and also appointed a new public relations firm to deal with all inquiries and information releases about updates to the project.

Bloomfield became one of the first towns in New Jersey to consider an ordinance banning convicted sex offenders from living near schools and other public areas.

This is cache, read story here