PfH Comes Up with $500 for Downtown Cleanup

Officials from the Partnership for Haddonfield, the borough's tax-funded business improvement district, have come up with $500 in this year's budget for helping to keep the business district clean.

Key officials admit its not nearly enough to ensure that trash blowing around the streets is regularly or weeds in sidewalks will be quickly pulled, but they hope it's a start.

"It's not going to solve the problem all year, but it's a start," said Jeff Kasko, a borough commissioner who also sits on the PfH board. "We may also add one to two part-time public works workers this year, too."

Marlee Lick, proprietor of Harrison's Gift Shop on Kings Highway East, has been a frequent critic of the cleanliness of the downtown. She let out a whoop as the additional funds were announced by the treasurer.

"This is good," she said.

Lick said the PfH now pays about $14,000 each year for Christmas holiday street decorations, a cost the borough used to pay. Some of that money once paid for maintaining cleaner streets.

"Our mission statement is to help the businesses," Lick said about the PfH. "The borough is supposed to take care of these things. I am a taxpayer as a business owner and a homeowner and I understand budgetary issues, but as they look into shared services, maybe they need to look into shared services for cleanup."

The PfH is mostly funded through a tax on borough businesses.