Habitat

The Pitman Borough Council has unanimously approved the sale of a borough- owned house in the historic Grove section to Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit Christian organization. The sale, approved Monday, gives the property at 136 South Ave. to the nonprofit organization for $1, since the building will be renovated for resale. According to Councilman William L. Gauntt, Habitat will pay for transfer of the deed as soon as the house is renovated. When completed, the property will be reassessed and returned to the tax rolls.

Hunters love to shoot them and birders love to watch them, but both groups understand that they can save the bobwhite quail only by working together. The groups came together for a three-day conference to talk about preserving the scarce and secretive game bird and identify other areas of common interest, ranging from fighting invasive species and maintaining healthy forests to managing New Jersey's growing population of black bears. The Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey and the New Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs held their first joint conference from Friday through Sunday with a view to identifying common interests and fostering cooperation.

When former President Jimmy Carter came to North Philadelphia two years ago to hammer and saw on behalf of the poor, this city's Habitat for Humanity was a fledgling organization with big plans. Carter stunned Philadelphians by announcing before he left that he thought the city had "one of the worst housing problems we have in this country. " Calling some of North Philadelphia's apartments "a disgrace to human beings," Carter publicly admonished private-sector leaders for not acting.

Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit, international Christian housing ministry that builds homes and sells them at cost to needy families, has approached the South Coatesville Planning Commission with plans to build two sets of twin homes on Parkway Avenue in South Coatesville. Planning Commission Chairman A. Daniel Shuler and member Gabriel Milanese Jr. reviewed sketch plans Tuesday for two two-story twin frame houses, which would be situated west of Montclair Avenue on the former site of the South Coatesville borough hall.

For three days this week, local builders will take over part of the Devon Horse Show grounds to see how fast they can build the framing for three houses that will then be trucked to a part of Louisiana battered by Hurricane Katrina. The event is called the Devon Builders' Competition, and the plan is to build the framing for one house each day, starting Wednesday, and time who can do it the fastest. Event organizer John McClintick said he wants this fund-raising event - builders pay $5,000 to enter - to be a spectator sport.

The 1900 block of Wilt Street is narrow and short. The four-car motorcade that brought former President Jimmy Carter here late Sunday night covered the length of the block. But yesterday the North Philadelphia block of mostly two-bedroom rowhouses became a larger-than-life symbol as 50 volunteers, including the former president of the United States and the former first lady, came to hammer, shovel and sweat. Their effort in the establishment of a construction site in an area plagued with substandard housing was devised to make the point that shelter for everyone should be a matter of conscience.

IT WAS AN unusual collective: A rock star, a political star, a football team, a car maker and a home builder. Their goal: Building homes for the needy and revitalizing a neighborhood. Yesterday's announcement about Project HOME's Phase V Homeownership Project brought together former President Bill Clinton, Jon Bon Jovi, the Philadelphia Soul (Bon Jovi co-owns the indoor-football team), Saturn, and Habitat for Humanity. When completed, 15 houses in the 1800 and 1900 blocks of N. 23rd Street in North Philadelphia will be occupied by first-time homebuyers who'll pay about $70,000 for them.

The Pinelands Commission has canceled a special meeting to give its new executive director time to digest two thorny issues. The commission had scheduled the meeting for Tuesday, which is Annette Barbaccia's first day on the job. Rather than being blindsided, she asked that the issues be postponed until Aug. 11, the commission's next regularly scheduled meeting. One matter to be resolved is Gov. Whitman's attempts to impose on the commission a new high-level management position for her deputy attorney general, Robert Marshall.

I am writing in reference to the transfer of the caribou. I was disgusted by the disruption of these animals from their habitat. If the caribou left Maine, due to a shrinking habitat or any other reason, then they don't belong there. Animals have enough instinctual sense to know where they can survive. I feel the people who are running this transfer are just appeasing their conscience and seeking public recognition. They have very little concern for the welfare of the animals.

The Chester County Tax Assessment Board is considering an appeal for tax exemption by a nonprofit Christian housing ministry that wants to build low- income housing on its property in South Coatesville. During a 30-minute hearing on Thursday, Habitat for Humanity president Henry Fisher asked board members to grant a one-year exemption for three vacant parcels of land. He said his group intends to use privately donated funds and primarily volunteer labor to construct houses for low-income families.