TRT - Testosterone Replacement Therapy in Finesville, NJ

Photo by George Pacciello/staff photographer

The bulk of the Finesville Dam has been torn down, 261 years after the original dam was built for an iron forge.

What was removed was a cast-concrete dam last re-constructed in the early 1950s, according to Beth Styler Barry, Musconetcong Watershed Association executive director.

The dam’s removal opens up the Musconetcong River from the confluence of the Delaware River to the Hughesville Dam, a run of about 4.5 miles, and is expected to mitigate flooding in the immediate area and attract native fish species.

Of the 109-foot width, 10 feet remain adjacent to each riverbank in a nod to the historic nature of the dam and the integrity of nearby structures on land. The dam was about 20 feet upstream of the Mount Joy Road steel-truss bridge in the hamlet of Finesville. The river forms the boundary between Holland Township in Hunterdon County and Pohatcong Township in Warren County.

The removal is costing about $200,000. The association is fronting the money and will be reimbursed by grants from the Natural Resource Conservation Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

On Nov. 18 the only work that remained was bank stabilization and grading, said Styler Barry. The Finesville dam is the third dam removed in recent years from the Musconetcong; the Gruendyke and Seber dams no longer block the river in Hackettstown. In addition, the remnants of the one-time Riegelsville dam are no more.

The association doesn’t initiate removals, Styler Barry pointed out, owners do — usually because they can’t or won’t invest in repairs and are worried about the liability.

Finesville Dam owner James Grodon first came to the association four years ago, Styler Barry said.

Money is usually available for a removal, she added, because "many organizations are looking to restore the nation's rivers. No one will help you fix it up and keep it in place." In a 2009 dam removal feasibility study by Princeton Hydro engineers, it was said that the work was "critical in the reestablishment of migratory fish passage on the Musconetcong River" and "vital in restoring the ecological functions and values of a true riparian stream."

The study also said that removal would remove a dangerous hydraulic jump immediately downstream of the spillway. “This has proven lethal as was the case in August 2003 when a kayaker drowned in the hydraulic,” Princeton Hydro said.

Styler Barry said that dam increased flooding in the adjacent area because it created a dam pool in the natural floodplain. “The water used to be 8-9 feet deep,” she said on Nov. 18. “Now it’s four feet deep.”

Some residents worry that the project will cause their wells to run dry. “We don’t think that’s going to happen or we would not have removed the dam. Exactly as much water will pass that point with or without the dam,” said Styler Barry.

To try to address fears that the lack of a dam pool will impact older, more shallow wells, the watershed association installed its own shallow test wells and will monitor them.

Other criticism came from fishermen who liked to drop a line in the dam pool. It created a habitat similar to a lake and “was not a great habitat for trout or species native to rivers,” said Styler Barry.

“Anywhere there’s a dam the temperature of the water goes up and the oxygen goes down. Trout, especially, like a lot of oxygen and a cold stream.”

One species she said will move elsewhere now, she added, is Canada geese. “They’re a good example of a species that shouldn’t feel comfortable on the Musconetcong.”

By TAPinto Phillipsburg Staff

Last UpdatedJanuary 18, 2023 at 8:04 PM

PHILLIPSBURG, NJ - The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) announced that its Division of Housing and Community Resources has begun accepting pre-applications for the waiting list for the statewide Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program on January 17, 2023.

The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA), Division of Housing and Community Resources (DHCR) will be accepting Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program pre applications online for the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program waiting list state-wide.

Interested individuals should submit a preliminary application online between 9 a.m. January 17 and 5 p.m. on February 3 to be entered into a lottery to get on the waiting list for a Section 8 voucher.

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The federally financed program called Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program offers home subsidies to New Jersey citizens so they can find good, secure, and hygienic housing. Waiting list applicants must be emancipated minors or be 18 years or older and meet all applicable federal income and eligibility standards. A total of 20,000 homes will be chosen at random and added to the waiting list for the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program.

Veterans, the homeless, the disabled, victims of domestic violence, and local residents have been given preference for placement on the waiting list by DCA. Those who meet one or more criteria will be given preference when it comes to selection for the waiting list. According to New Jersey Administrative Code, the United States Armed Forces Veterans and their surviving spouses are given preference. At the time they are chosen from the waiting list, people who indicate a preference must meet all requirements for a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program.

Fair Market Rents for Phillipsburg and Warren County

The Fair Market Rental Date (FMR), which is used to calculate New Jersey, Warren County and Phillipsburg FMR is reported as follows, according to the Final Full Year 2023 New Jersey FMR Summary through the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

08865 | Phillipsburg by ZIP *2023

Studio Efficiency 1-Bedroom 2-Bedroom 3-Bedroom 4-Bedroom

FMR $1,090 $1,210 $1,460 $1,810 $2,090

Warren County*2023

Studio Efficiency 1-Bedroom 2-Bedroom 3-Bedroom 4-Bedroom

FMR $1,147 $1,268 $1,530 $1,897 $2,189

According to rentcafe.com, 42% of all properties in the town of Phillipsburg are rental units, with an average rent of $1,609.00. Based on the data available through HUDuser.gov and the United States Census Bureau, Phillipsburg housing costs are below the county average, as well as the State of New Jersey average. They are however higher than the combined closest metro which is the ABE hub. There is approximately a $200.00 difference from New Jersey to Pennsylvania in FMR.

Real Numbers

The National Low Income Housing Coalition found that more than a third of New Jersey residents are renters, which Phillipsburg is slightly above the state average for disparity of rentals versus homeowners. The percentage for Warren County, is closer to the state average.

Lopatcong Township, which neighbors Phillipsburg has 29 rental occupancy versus homeowners according to niche.com, which shows Phillipsburg at exactly 42 percent rental versus own. The home values are twice that of Phillipsburg at $278,400 and median rents at $1,191, $100 above the national median average.

By comparison, the median home value in Phillipsburg is $144,300, with median rents at $971 per month, nearly 10 percent less than the national average.

Learn more about State Section 8 housing here or by calling 609-292-4080.

The Town of Phillipsburg DCD Section 8 HCV Program, Warren County Housing Assistance and the Phillipsburg Housing Authority are all separate programs that can be contacted separately for housing questions in Phillipsburg, NJ and available options.

Photo Credit: Captioned from the book, "It Seems Like Yesterday" - Ronald W. Wynkoop, Sr.

By Danielle DeGerolamo

PHILLIPSBURG, NJ – Not only is today International Women’s Day, but it is shared with the Town of Phillipsburg’s day of incorporation.

According to the town website, “Phillipsburg was first organized as a township in 1851, and at that time included Lopatcong, which was not set off until March 8, 1861, when Phillipsburg was incorporated as a town. An addition was made from Lopatcong to Phillipsburg in 1903.”

When you want to learn more about the town, go to nearly any street in your neighborhood or find one of the many books talking about the railroads of New Jersey, the Morris Canal, the Lenni Lenape Indian Tribe, and books written documenting the history of many homes in town on the historic registry. Each one has a story. For example, the First Mayor was Charles Sitgreaves. Sitgreaves Street sound familiar? Sitgreaves was a major commandant in the New Jersey State militia, Member of the State general assembly from 1831 to 1833 and served in the State senate 1851 to 1854. He also served as city councilman from 1834 to 1835.

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Many streets are named for residents from over 100 years ago. While the town website details much of the chronology, our town history dates back further than the incorporation. Many of us with family in the area for generations have our ancestry traced back to the 1700s and have family buried in the local cemeteries, long before the town was formally incorporated.

In the decades before the formation of the Phillipsburg Area Historical Society, several groups of individuals preserved the history of Phillipsburg and its neighboring municipalities and townships. They launched projects such as the town’s 50th and 100^th-anniversary celebrations, the Soldiers and Sailors memorial, and the formation of the free public library. This collection of like-minded people eventually organized into a historical society that met regularly for many years and still exists today. To learn more or to join, contact the Historical Society.

The Phillipsburg Area Historical Society has published two Days of Yore drinks to toast to Phillipsburg. Try Milk Punch, or the Chatham Artillery Punch circa 1791, served to President George Washington from their website.

We are preparing a series of historical reflections to digitize and credit the collection of works published by Ronald W. Wynkoop, Sr. in his Photographic Albums of Old-Time Easton and Phillipsburg. The Centennial Photo in today’s story is one of these documented photos, which just seemed like the perfect photo to say Happy Birthday Phillipsburg.

PHILLIPSBURG, NJ – Treat Mom to a beautiful journey along the scenic Delaware River and stop for a local winery tour and dinner or lunch at one of two restaurants.

From Phillipsburg to Riegelsville, you can relax, dine and sip local wine with mom.

Journey along the Delaware River to the farthest end of the railroad ride debarking at the historic Riegelsville train station. The winery is just up the hill from the train station, and the shuttle bus will take you up their driveway. Trains run every 2 hours, and moms ride free for Mother’s Day! Wine tour not included.

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You can enjoy the scenic ride, a winery trip, visit either of the two local pubs, and return on a later train. The last trip North is 4:30. Give mom a day she’ll remember.

Prefer to take Mom on a picnic?

You are welcome to detrain at the Mine area, spend as much time relaxing in the picnic grove, and then catch a later train home (trains come every 2 hours).

If you would like to enjoy your wine with a picnic, bring a lunch and relax at picnic tables in tree groves at The Susquehanna Mine/Corn Maze grove or at the station in Phillipsburg where you originally parked (please see our website for pictures of our groves at the mine/maze and at the station).

Treat Mom to a day at Villa Milagro Vineyard

After the train ride, The shuttle bus will take you to Villa Milagro Vineyards. There, you will learn how grapes are grown and made into wine, then sample their delicious wines.

Once the shuttle drops you back off and you board the train again, it will begin to make its journey home... but only after passing the Susquehanna Mining Company!

Resting on a ridge, overlooking both the Delaware and Musconetcong Rivers, Villa Milagro Vineyards offers panoramic views of four counties in two states. Raised in the Central Valley of California, which produces 75% of the state's wine grapes, winemaker Dr. Audrey Cross-Gambino blends wines made from Villa Milagro's eight varieties of grapes to create complex and interesting wines. Husband Steve Gambino oversees all operational aspects of the vineyard and winery, ensuring their wines maintain the boutique quality standards of some of Europe's best hand-made wines.

You will learn how beneficial insects and birds are attracted, how weeds and diseases are controlled without herbicides and pesticides,; and how natural compost enriches the soil.

Then learn how grapes become wines and are aged and blended to form Villa Milagro's delicious wines. Drink in the breathtaking views that earn this farm its name, Villa Milagro, which is Spanish for "home of miracles!"

Local eateries along the train ride

The historic Riegelsville Inn is just across the Delaware River from the train station, and Hootz Tavern is directly next to the station, with a great river view.

The Riegelsville Inn is in its original stone structure featuring an updated bright yellow facade, canal-side al fresco dining, and second-floor balcony dining with Delaware River views, the Riegelsville Inn is the epitome of exemplary dining in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. The menu at the Riegelsville showcases superior American cuisine influenced by classic French techniques featuring uniquely paired ingredients always prepared from scratch.The Riegelsville Inn was built in 1838 by Benjamin Riegel, founder of the town. The historic building stands on the banks of the beautiful Delaware River across from the famous Roebling Bridge in the quaint town of Riegelsville, Pennsylvania. The restaurant is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner, features a weekend brunch with Beth’s Famous Bloody Mary, and offers various seating options.

Indoors, guests may dine in the casual elegance created by stone walls and wooden beams in the dining rooms or enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of the tin-ceilinged Pub. Outside, the Inn boasts both front- and side-porch seating options, canal-side dining behind the building and an open-air balcony on the second floor overlooking the Delaware River.

Hootz Tavern is directly next to the Riegelsville Station at the Southernmost end of your trip. Light fare, fresh burgers and fries, and drinks with a view of the Delaware River. A nice Tavern to spend a few hours relaxing while you wait for your return trip.Newly renovated, they are ready for guests and open for business.

Ticket prices

River Train Only

Adults $20.00

Child $14.00

Lapsitter $2.00

For additional fun, you may purchase a ticket for the Susquehanna Mining Company on-site and enjoy the tragic but funny history of the mine. Add $8.00 to tour the mine area!

Wine Train – Runs at 10:00 AM and Noon on Mother’s Day. Trips often sell out as they are limited to 50 people per trip. The cost is $45 per person, including a day filled with wine and fun!

Buy Tickets here.

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The sound of New Orleans jazz music fills a North Third Street gymnasium on a recent winter evening as musicians disguised in top hats, sequins and masquerade masks use their brass and drums to belt out a rendition of “As the Saints Go Marching In.”

At the center of it all is Jeremy Joseph, 42, of Phillipsburg, dressed in a diamond-printed leisure suit, leading the band with his trumpet as they practice for an upcoming Mardi Gras performance.

The famed southern city may be more than 1,000 miles away, but for the last year, Joseph and his Big Easy Easton Brass band have been committed to bringing the New Orleans sound to Easton.

A self-proclaimed former band geek and senior executive at Verizon, Joseph started Big Easy Easton Brass last year.

Now the band has 30 regular members ranging from children to retirees. Some of them play regularly, and some picked up their instruments again after years of not playing — their confidence bolstered by the community band’s relaxed style and welcoming atmosphere.

It’s not just the style of music Joseph is trying to recreate, he also wants to bring the New Orleans tradition of the “second line parade” to Easton, inviting spectators to join in, even if they don’t play an instrument.

All of the band’s preparation will culminate in the first Easton-Phillipsburg Mardi-Gras parade on March 2. A Facebook page set up for the event was “liked” by more than 2,000 people.

Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. and Phillipsburg Mayor Stephen Ellis also will march in the parade from downtown Easton over the Northampton Street bridge into Phillipsburg.

Panto is a supporter of any event connecting the two riverfront towns, and says Easton is continually looking for ways to make connections with Phillipsburg.

For example, Easton officials are looking into a riverfront flea market with Phillipsburg, and city officials continue to investigate the possibility of a railroad trestle turned pedestrian/bike path that would connect the two municipalities.

The Mardi Gras parade is different because it’s being organized by volunteers, so Panto wasn’t sure how many spectators to expect, but said he was encouraged by the enthusiasm on social media and said it would be a unique event for the city.

“Even for the first year, it’s garnered a lot of excitement. I think by that time people are ready to go outside and celebrate and knock off the winter,” Panto said.

During the parade, participants will march from The Bayou on Centre Square, across the Northampton Street Bridge to a lot across from SoMa Downtown Grill at 62 S. Main St. in Phillipsburg.

Joseph says he hired a “professional bubble blower” to lead the parade with two fans mounted on his truck that will disperse thousands of bubbles over the crowd.

The Big Easy Easton Brass band, which holds monthly open practices where anyone can join in, has already played at a variety of events, including an Easton City Council meeting and the Easton Public Market, where the band performed a rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” for Halloween.

Just as in New Orleans, the parades are as much about the spectacle as they are about the music.

“There are second line parades in New Orleans all the time, where people just pop up on the street and people come out of their homes to join the parade,” Joseph said. “That’s what I want to bring to Easton, but with a twist. I want to blur the line between spectators and participants.”

Second line parades originated with the New Orleans’ tradition of jazz funerals, where mourners carry the casket from the church to the cemetery, sending off the deceased with a musical procession.

Eventually that evolved into celebrating happy occasions like weddings, and then celebrating “just because,” Joseph said.

There are dozens of second line parades put on throughout the year, usually on Sunday afternoons in New Orleans’ French Quarter and neighborhoods across the city, according to frenchquarter.com.

The parades always include a brass band, dancing in the street and members decked out in a wardrobe of brightly colored suits, sashes, hats and banners, “melding the pomp of a courtly function with the spontaneous energy of a block party,” the site explains.

Joseph became interested in the parades after hearing stories about his father’s childhood growing up in Easton’s “Syrian Town,” a multiethnic neighborhood in the city’s downtown that was dismantled in the 1960s because of urban renewal.

“My dad’s fondest memory of that neighborhood was when the Italian band would come down the street,” Joseph said.

In 1995, Joseph graduated from Easton High School, where he was leader of the school’s trumpet section. He went on to major in business at Penn State, and while there, realized just how much he missed playing in a band.

Joseph started a swing band, and eventually a Dave Matthews cover band that featured a trumpet and saxophone. Joseph went on to become a founding member of “Seven Souls,” a band picked up by a booking agency in the Lehigh Valley.

Seven Souls played gigs all over the country and seemed on track for success, but when the band lost its bass player in 2004, it was never able to recover.

“I didn’t play my trumpet again for 10 years,” Joseph said.

He started an executive job with Verizon, but despite the daily grind of a corporate job, never forgot his love of music.

In 2016, Joseph decided to start practicing trumpet again.

At a recent open band practice in the gymnasium at Easton’s Third Street Alliance, Joseph handed out shakers to newcomers Sheena Singley of Easton, her daughter Leona Primer, 8, and nephew Logan Bisher, 7.

They don’t know how to play music, but Singley said she was inspired to bring the children after seeing Big Easy Easton Brass perform at Easton’s annual Baconfest last year.

“Keep them in your pocket, and when you hear music, shake them to set a rhythm,” Joseph instructed as he held an egg-shaped shaker in his palm.

Jonathan Fenwick, 11, of Phillipsburg is one of the band’s youngest instrumentalists. He plays trombone in the Phillipsburg Middle School jazz band and takes weekly lessons.

“I just really like playing music,” he said.

His mom, Cathy Fenwick, likes that the band pushes Jonathan outside his comfort zone.

“It’s hard to get kids his age to practice at least once a week outside of school,” she said. “I think he gets pushed harder than he normally would because this is a multigenerational band.”

Many of the older members have stories similar to Steve Becker of Finesville, N.J. He was inspired to pick up his saxophone after a 32-year absence when he watched the band play a couple of events over the summer.

“In college, I played in the pep band and I love music, though I mostly go to listen to it,” said Becker who started playing with the band in November.

Band members mostly rely on their ears when playing with the group “because that’s the way kids learn in New Orleans,” Joseph said.

He does provide members with a link to copies of sheet music when they join, but encourages them to practice at home by listening to videos of the band’s performances.

Members also vote on which new songs to practice.

The most recent winner was the song “Let’s Go Get ’Em,” by the Rebirth Brass Band, a modern New Orleans brass band, and a rendition of David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance.”

Art Charleton, a trombone player from Warren County, said he always wanted to be part of a band like Big Easy Easton Brass.

“Something like the community orchestra is more serious, and you need to really work on the music and have your skills up. This is more casual and you can really get into it,” he said.

Charleton, who has played in Easton’s “Tuba Christmas” at the Centre Square Peace Candle lighting, said Joseph reached out to him on Facebook and he was delighted to join.

“A band instrument isn’t the kind of thing where I’m going to sit in my living room and practice. You kind of need to be playing in a band to get the full enjoyment of it,” Charleton said.

After one year, Joseph said he’s still in disbelief when the band gathers for practice.

“It seems like, ‘Wow, this happened overnight in the last year,’ but for me it’s different. For me it’s losing everything and coming back to it,” he said.