What a year to go out on. It’s my ninth and final year on the Mendham Township Committee, and finally—my turn to be Mayor. As it turns out, I’ve saved the busiest and most contentious year for last. There’s the proposed Morris County jail, which the Freeholders want to build right in our community. There’s the chaos of implementing the 911 system, made worse by our street numbering, which is a complete mess. The high school teachers are without a contract for several years. And then came the No-Name Storm – the infamous nor’easter that battered the Northeast and didn’t spare Mendham on its way through. It is also a year when our community shows what it does best – drawing on the talents, determination, and quiet resolve of its people to solve complex problems and preserve the character of Mendham Township.
******
1991 is a momentous year for me. I am finally Mayor. I have been the Deputy Mayor for the past few years as several retiring members of the Township Committee have asked me to let them be Mayor in their final year in office. This will be my ninth and final year on the Township Committee. I have decided that nine years is enough for this public service.
BACKGROUND:
It is the year of the No Name Storm, eventually called the Perfect Storm, immortalized by a book and a movie of the same name. The Andrea Gail, Captain Tyne, and his ill-fated crew die in the famous Halloween Gale, a mighty storm which absorbs Hurricane Grace along its northeastern tract. Mendham Township gets a glancing blow, too, in late October.
The United States had allowed the 911 emergency system to grow organically, but no more. Much of the country is still not part of this emergency system. Now the Federal Government insists on adoption. Mendham Township is one of the many smaller communities and exurban areas which must comply. We have a problem. Our street numbering is haphazard and a total mess.
I have been living on Woodland Road for thirty years. Over that time, at first we had no number, next we were assigned number 15. For some reason later our street number was changed to number 17. Finally, our number reverted to the number 15. On Carol Drive, three families claim number one, and no one wants to change.
The numbering confusion has not been much of an issue for me, since I use a post office box at the Brookside Post Office, which is located at the bottom of my street.
Mendham Township is facing a more critical challenge. Our County Government has decided to upgrade the Morris County Court House Complex and build a new jail. The County Administrator and his staff have surveyed the various County owned properties. They eventually settle on the former Arabian Stallion Horse Farm located on Mendham Road in the Township, which they had acquired in the 1960s. Sheriff Fox used it for SLAP – Sheriff’s Labor Assistance Program – in the 1970s. After his retirement, the property has deteriorated. The pastures have vanished into the swampy lands which surround them. This is a far from perfect location. It is so far away from the Court House that a separate courtroom will be needed at the new jail for arraignments. Also, there is no sewer system in the area for the jail, nor is there a public water system. However, it is free, since it is owned by the County, and available.
The High School teachers have been without a contract for several years. They are frustrated by what they consider the intransigence of the school officials to bargain fairly. What is “fair” is a question of perspective of the opposing sides. The teachers refuse to write college recommendation letters for graduating students.
The state of New Jersey passes a real estate disclosure requirement for all planning board members. New Jersey is renowned for political corruption. Of course, this law is not exactly “swinging for the fences.”
WHAT HAPPENS:
THE JAIL: The County plan to site the new jail is the Township Committee’s highest priority. I had spoken with two Freeholders at last year’s Mendham Labor Day Parade. While not in agreement, they were leaning toward the Horse Farm. They do not see a problem for Mendham Township by siting it there. My concern grows as the plan includes the main access to be on Prudence Lane. This is a quiet, stub street which is residential and off Washington Valley Road. I wonder why the main entrance would not be situated on Mendham Road (old Route 24)? Mendham Township residents are upset and angry. The Washington Valley residents of Morris Township are equally outraged.
I have a drink with Anthony Knapp at the Black Horse Pub, which he owns. He does not see a problem with siting the jail there. I think about what he is saying. I mention that he should reconsider. I ask Anthony if he has thought about where the people visiting the prisoners will come for lunch? He never seems to want to discuss the jail again.
The Township Committee agrees that we must stop this project. The question is how? I get the Committee to agree that our strength does not lie in numbers, since we are a small community. Heated rhetoric to the Freeholders is discounted, too. There will be no howling Township mobs at Freeholder Meetings. One member of the Committee goes rogue, yelling at the Freeholders. The Committee talks to him in private. He does not repeat this mistake.
The true strength of Mendham Township is the collective intelligence and contacts of its residents. Teams of residents will do their part. Thor Gustafson heads the most important group. He is experienced in real estate evaluation and investigates a better jail site.
Ernie Maw takes another direction. He is interested in Mendham Township history, especially its physical-structural history. I agree with his plan to create a Washington Valley Historic District, which will surround the prospective site of the new jail.
I sign off on the proposed District in 1991 and the formal process begins of surveying the historic sites and preparing a formal nomination to the State and National Registers of Historic Places. This is the first of several Historic Districts that Ernie helped create with the Township’s Historic Preservation Committee.
I appear before the Freeholder Board and explain our concerns, assuring them that we will find a better site. They are willing to listen, but they are not ready to deviate from their plan. There are quiet conversations in the background, while Thor and his crew evaluate various locations.
After several months Thor has the perfect spot which is located at the end of John Street in Morris Township. John Street is an industrial area with no nearby residential areas. It is close to the Court Complex, and backs onto Rt 287. There are public water and sewer systems available.
I meet with the Morris Township Committee and Mayor. I explain what we are doing and why John Street is a good location for the new jail. After questions and answers, the Morris Township leaders agree and will not oppose John Street.
Four months into 1991, the Freeholders meet and select this new location. The jail will be located on John Street. The residents of the Washington Valley Area celebrate. I am honored at a celebration at the Washington Valley School House, along with the Freeholder Director. There is a quiet understanding and a look between us on the dais.
Many residents in Washington Valley are so happy that they want to secede from Morris Township and join Mendham Township. While this historically happened in the 18th and early 19th centuries, it is no longer feasible in the 20th century. The Morris Township Committee will never agree.
REFERENCE LETTERS: The High School teachers are angry and not thinking straight. I am determined to get the college letters flowing. I compose a letter to editor of the Observer Tribune. I point out how important and time critical these reference letters are to the future of their students. The teachers “cave in” a week later. The seniors get their letters.
I hear little more about this matter. Congressman Frelinghuysen sends me a congratulatory note. I am disinvited to read my favorite story to a local kindergarten class.
WHITNEY HOUSTON PARTY: In August Whitney Houston has a party to celebrate her birthday. She invites many of the neighbors and, as Mayor, I am invited too. She has lived in the Oak Knoll section for several years, combining two five acre lots into a compound with a circular house and an elaborate outdoor patio/pool.
People who are not invited attempt to crash the party. A sizable hole is cut in her fencing. One enterprising teenager hires a limo and arrives in style. She stays. The police are in place to stop gate crashers and one cop, Tommy Costanza, is under cover, but he lacks a certain style in his attire and is easily picked out.
It is a sweltering night. I think about diving into the pool, but I don’t. My greatest faux pas is stepping on Whitney Houston’s foot while dancing. She is a good sport, but I doubt that I will be invited again.
911 SYSTEM: New Jersey has issued a mandate to Mendham Township to activate a 911 system. Our problem is the erratic numbering of the residences in the Township. We are served by eight different postal districts. People have selected their numbers over the years to suit themselves. The Township is full of home businesses. These owners do not want the expense of changing addresses tied to their businesses.
We send out notices about renumbering and begin holding meetings. It might seem that numbering will be a simple change. Not so! Mendham Township surrounds Mendham Borough on three sides. We share street names with the Borough. Some of our streets are continuations from surrounding towns. Several of our roads are windy and intersect other roads. There are over ninety miles of road, which are spread out like cooked pasta.
In a simple grid pattern matrix, you start at one end and the numbers go up. Our streets meander and break at sudden points, which makes the solution to renumbering more complex. There are also empty lots for which street numbers need to be reserved. This, of course, assumes that there will be no changes in future zoning or environmental constraints, which are not contemplated at this time.
We publish a list of streets with new prospective numbers. The public response is negative. We have street numbering meetings which increase public distress. Neut Wright, the former Planning Board Chair suggests a methodology using blocks of one hundred numbers each and ended by side streets. The public hates solutions like that, too. Meetings continue late into the year. The postmaster from Mendham Borough details a workable solution, which is helpful.
As my year as Mayor ends a numbering plan is coalescing amid continued public angst. The numbering will start at two focal points, Mendham Borough, and the center of Brookside. The numbering will increase from these two points on the main roads with odd on the right and even on the left, moving to our outward boundaries. This convoluted plan is still being perfected as 1991 ends.
THE “NO NAME” STORM: This howling disaster blankets much of the Northeast around Halloween. This nor’easter hammers Mendham Township, too. The Township operations are in crisis mode for a few days as basements are pumped out, power is restored, and trees and their limbs are cleared from the roads.
PLANNING BOARD: We have an excellent planning board in the Township. One of them had the contacts to interest Kings Supermarket into occupying the space vacated by Foodtown in the Mendham Borough Shopping Center.
A new state law requires disclosure of property ownership or financial stakes. Several members on the board are wealthy, with extensive real estate holdings. They are private people who do not want to make public the extent of their wealth. Fearing the potential of kidnap, along with privacy concerns, several members will resign at the end of 1991. I offer to remain on the Planning Board, since my vast real estate holdings are 15 Woodland Road. I will remain on the Planning Board for the next twenty years until I return to the Township Committee. Ernie Maw continues making substantial progress on additional historic district designations.
There is a Town Party at the Community Club late in the year. I am presented with a ceremonial gavel and a mug making light of my being left-handed by Chris Palmer, the Deputy Mayor. She will be Mayor in 1992 and finishes 911 conformance.
Sam Tolley July 2025