Hainesport

The day after Thomas Charrier Jr. left the Township Council, the remaining members appointed former Planning/Zoning Board Chairman Patrick Byrne to fill his seat. Byrne, 49, was sworn in at Saturday's municipal budget session to complete the all-Republican board. He said he submitted his letter of resignation to the Planning/Zoning Board on Wednesday, effective immediately. Charrier had resigned last Friday, following several months of criticism from fellow council members and the public for remaining on the board despite his move to Moorestown.

Thomas J. Reardon, 63, the Hainesport School superintendent for 27 years, died Friday at Virtua Health-West Jersey Hospital Marlton. He had lived in Medford Lakes for the last 30 years. Mr. Reardon retired in 1995. In September, the district dedicated its new gymnasium/all-purpose room in his honor. He was praised as an education innovator who came to the Hainesport School in 1968 and brought its standardized-test scores, which had been lagging, up to among "the finest in the county," said Walter J. Keiss, who was the school's principal for 24 years and is now superintendent in Tabernacle.

There's a new state trooper in town, and it's Desiree Simon - who is doing much of what six police officers did seven years ago. For the first time since the township disbanded its police force, Hainesport has a permanent law-enforcement officer. Simon has been charged with developing a plan for fighting crime in this 6.8-square-mile community of 3,200 residents, where most complaints stem from mailbox vandalism, loitering and speeding in the town's only school zone. The township abolished its Police Department in 1991, citing economic reasons and long-standing infighting that had generated costly lawsuits.

A Burlington County Superior Court judge has approved a deal between Hainesport Township and a local developer to build 246 homes on land that includes a section of commercial property. Yesterday, Judge Harold B. Wells 3d approved a plan for the Creekview development, settling a dispute over use of a 32-acre highway commercial zone. Wells will allow The Quaker Group to build townhouses and single-family homes on about 85 acres off Route 38, including 12.2 acres of the disputed commercial zone.

Superior Court Judge Harold B. Wells 3d will decide within a week whether to approve a tentative settlement between Hainesport Township and a developer on how to use a 32-acre tract of commercial land. For more than two years, The Quaker Group, one of the largest residential developers in the Philadelphia region, has fought for the right to use the land. The Quaker Group wants to combine the commercial tract near Route 38 with a 70-acre parcel zoned for homes to build a housing development.

Not even after Deputy Mayor Thomas Charrier Jr. turned in his letter of resignation last night would his critics let up on him. Charrier offered to vacate his seat on Jan. 15, 1999. At least one councilman and several community members asked him to leave immediately. "The man has admitted living in Moorestown," said Leonard Peck, a resident who has dogged Charrier since his living arrangement became public. "Why is he sitting up on that dais?" Charrier, 41, who started his second three-year term in January, has drawn criticism for months over his decision to live part of the time in a Moorestown condominium because he is separated from his wife.

Deputy Mayor Thomas J. Charrier Jr., who for weeks resisted demands for his resignation following his decision to live part of the time in Moorestown, said yesterday that he would leave the council. Charrier, 41, has been splitting his time between a house in Hainesport and a condominium he bought in Moorestown in December because he is separating from his wife. He revealed his decision after getting a letter yesterday from two councilmen asking him to leave. That letter followed a chaotic meeting Tuesday night during which residents were angered by what some said were his rude responses to their questions.

Since Deputy Mayor Thomas J. Charrier doesn't live here all the time anymore, several residents last night argued that he should no longer be a municipal officeholder. Residents posed several questions regarding Charrier's status and expressed frustration because no one - including Charrier, who refused to answer questions about the issue - answered their concerns. Charrier, 41, has divided his time for the past several weeks between his house here and a condominium in Moorestown.

This town's only public school building has become something of a patchwork quilt. The growth of the community can be traced by a look at the sections added here and there to Hainesport Public School. The wooden floors of the older wing, which housed only four classrooms in 1925, gradually become concrete ones that have been tiled over or covered in plastic. The halls widen little by little and change from cream to sky blue, or to a maroon trim. Officials said that as decades passed and families trickled into town, classrooms for students in kindergarten through eighth grade were added.

For months, Township Councilman Thomas Charrier Jr. has been dividing his time between a house here and a condominium in Moorestown. Although the Hainesport mayor has no problem with Charrier's living arrangement, another councilman wants an investigation into whether Charrier is breaking state law by remaining on the council. "This is not right," Kenneth Street, a councilman and former Hainesport mayor, said yesterday. "This is not fair government. " Street, who was mayor at different times for a total of 22 years, said he had asked Mayor Ron Corn to investigate.