On January 20, 2020, SERVPRO celebrated its ribbon cutting at their new Buena Vista Township facility. Mayor Teresa Kelly, Deputy Mayor John Williams, and Township Committee Members David Turner and Ronnise White were present. President of SERVPRO, Mike Logue, said, “We would like to thank Buena Vista Township and the Atlantic County Economic Alliance for their assistance in our relocation. Special thanks to the family of the late Mayor Chuck Chiarello for all his help.

We look forward to providing the highest level of service to our customers, and will be a good neighbor in our community.” SERVPRO is seeking good   employees and encourage the residents of Buena Vista to apply.

For more information on the services provided by SERVPRO, please contact Pat Logue at 609-965-0885 or pat.logue@snjrestore.com.

2020 promises to be a very active year for Buena Vista Township. Some projects, which were started in 2019, are now complete; such as the upgrading of LED high efficiency lighting at Michael Debbi Recreational Park in the Richland section of the Township.

In addition, the Township’s $400,000.00 local road program including surveying and designing in 2018 was completed in the Spring of 2019. The roads included Sixth Road in Newtonville, Railroad Boulevard in Richland, Main Avenue and Washington Avenue in Richland.

Another great road project to begin in 2020 comes with a N.J. DOT Road program designated for Chestnut Avenue.  The Township received two grants, one for $290,000 for Phase 1 and another for $305,000 for Phase 2.  Both of those grants combined will allow the Township to bid out that whole project in the Spring of 2020 and complete the entire length of the Road.

Another project started in 2018 was to remove an old portion of our Public Works building on Union Road in East Vineland. The plans are complete, and the funding is in place for a long-term, low interest loan that will take away the old concrete portion of the building which was built in the 1950’s. The new addition will be built approximately on the same size footing as the original, but will be wider and the same height as the other part of the building.  This new addition will allow us to store more equipment indoors, have a better work area for repairs and offices for the management.  The funding for this project comes from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The Township is excited to see new or improved commercial retables. The new Tractor Supply company, broke ground in December 2019. It is located on Wheat Road. Existing commercial businesses have remodeled, including Sidelines East Bar & Grill located on Tuckahoe road in Milmay.  Richland General Store is now a True Value Hardware store, located across from the Seashore line’s train station on Route 40. Orlandini Tile Supplies remodeled their store, also located on Rt. 40 in Richland. The new Steakouts Homeplate located on Route 54 near the Buena Regional high school, just opened.  Richland also sees the addition of Smokeology, which is a family owned BBQ restaurant next to the Post office in Richland.

ServPro of Atlantic City, Hamilton and Hammonton have moved their operations from Berlin to Buena Vista Township on Harding Highway.  The Township is excited to see another existing commercial building being used.  They are a leader in commercial and residential cleaning and restoration services. They are also hiring, call 609 965 0885.

Buena Vista is also of proud of all our farms and garden centers that have fresh food, flowers, plants, many items, not found anywhere else. Last summer we had a tour of all our farms markets, and are planning another one this spring.

We look forward to working on new projects and investigating available resources that would help maintain our businesses and invite likeminded ones to come give us a look.  While we are a smaller community and limited by Pineland regulations, we still try to get everything we need to make life more comfortable for our residents.

By Mayor Teresa Kelly and Township Administrator Lisa Tilton

First in a series of articles

Through many years of work with the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, I led an effort offering emergency medical volunteers and firefighters more opportunities for the services they provide our towns. At one time this work has almost always on a volunteer basis. I worked with the NJ LOSAP (Length of Service Awards Program) to give these hard-working local volunteers a sense that they would have a pension or benefits waiting for their many dedicated years of service without a major impact on the taxpayers.

The times have changed dramatically with twenty three towns in Atlantic County. Buena Vista Township was amongst the very last to maintain volunteer medical services in our community. But the time has come when major decisions had to be made when you need help in a time of emergency, someone will be there to answer your call. The average rate for these EMT’s (Emergency Medical Technicians) involves a great deal of schooling and follow-up education and the average salary is pushing $15.00 per hour and will likely go higher. A year ago, Township Committee started to make a plan in conjunction with our own Buena Vista Township EMS to keep the ship floating. We are finding that is becoming a major difficulty to attract an employee at $15.00 an hour for a volunteer if they are already in a two income family and also have a great opportunity to be hired by a professional organization, such as a hospital or other medical services. Our local ambulance does not remain in the same status once the organization became a paid service where maintenance and rules for the EMT’s become more stringent under State regulations.

After a years’ worth of studying and putting together new fund raising efforts, and the Township and Fire Districts stepping up to contribute a larger share of taxpayer dollars to provide these services, we are finding it is still one of the most hardest decisions to make. In the months to come Buena Vista Township EMS, led by Chief Soren Hudyma will begin this new program with their newly approved state vehicles under a new paid service which allows them to collect money from insurance companies, where applicable, in order to contribute towards the overall expenses.

It is a very complex issue and the Township will continue to share information with our residents well into 2020. So, when the ambulance arrives to help you in an emergency, it will be operating under different conditions and the Township will continue to provide updates as we go along.

See further details in next month’s issue.

Summer Lunch Program at the MLK Community Center begins July 8th, Monday – Friday from 1-3pm. All Children 0-18 years old are invited to come and have a FREE lunch. Call 609-704-7262 or email MLKCenter@buenavistanj.com for more information.

Children in Atlantic County will have a new option for summer fun this year:  YMCA summer camps will be offered locally for the first time. These are available through the Cumberland Cape Atlantic YMCA.  Included will be Camp Y-Achievers, a summer learning loss prevention program for those entering grades two and three; Camp Hiawatha, for ages six to eight; and Camp Merrywood transportation, for ages eight to fifteen.  All camps will include healthy breakfast and lunch.

The camps will be begin on June 24th and run through August 23rd.  Participation may be weekly or for the entire summer.

Campers will be bused to from these locations:

• Spragg Elementary School in Egg Harbor; Pick up at approximately 8:00am and drop off at approximately 5:10pm
• Mullica Township School; Pick up at approximately 8:30am and drop off at approximately 4:10pm
• Collings Lakes Elementary School (to Camp Merrywood, in Pittsgrove); Pickup at approximately 9:10am and drop off at approximately 4:05pm

Extended day options will also be available from 7:30 am till 5:30pm.

For pricing and other details, please call the YMCA at (856) 691-0030 or see www.ccaymca.org.

The Times They are a Changin’…

I wanted to take a moment to tell our residents that real progress is being made in Buena Vista Township. On March 21^st new Digital LED Lights were tested at Michael Debbi Park, and they looked terrific. This offers the newest state-of-the-art lighting and energy savings to our residents using the baseball, softball, and football fields. This $800,000.00 project, approved by Green Acres, as a loan, will put us in a new dimension of lighting that will take us forward for the next 20 years.

The $400,000.00 Buena Vista Township Local Road Program is well underway re-asphalting over a dozen roads throughout the Township including 6^th Road in Newtonville. The Township has always had a local road program each year for as long as I can remember. We try to evaluate roads to make living and traveling in Buena Vista Township a little easier. Unfortunately, we have 125 miles of paved roads in our Township and can only do so many each year.

We are in the process of replacing a 1988 Road Grader. It is no longer working and parts are not available. A newer 2008 model is in the bid process which will help to maintain our dirt roads throughout the Township. It will even assist during snow storms.

This year we completed the long overdue Weymouth Road Project after six years of State Road Aid Grant money. The next project we have requested from the State is to help rebuild Chestnut Avenue in East Vineland and we are waiting for approval.

Another project that will begin soon is at our Public Works building on Union Road in East Vineland. The plans are complete, and the funding is in place to remove the old concrete portion of the building which was built in the 1950’s. A modern replacement steel structure will be built on the same footprint that will allow us to store more equipment indoors, have a better work area for repairs, offices, and a meeting room/kitchen area. The funding for this project comes from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as a long-term loan.

The Township also plans on purchasing some new equipment for our Public Works Department that is long overdue. Included are dump trucks and pick-up trucks so that our fleet can stay up-to-date and be able to serve the community better.

It is important that the Township try to maintain our buildings, equipment, parks, and roads, so that we can continue to offer all the services that we do. Please know that a great deal of thought goes into making these decisions. Some of the projects mentioned in this article have been in the planning stages for as long as ten years.

Mayor Chuck Chiarello