PERSON OF THE YEAR - JULIAN V. MIRAGLIA

In 1947, yes over 60 years ago, Julian’s parents brought him, his 2 brothers and his sister to Stone Harbor for summer vacation. They built a home here in 1950 and Julian and his wife Betsy bought their first home here in 1983. They became year round residents in 2000. Betsy is a professional artist (printmaker and papermaker) whose work has been widely exhibited nationally and internationally. They have 3 daughters and 5 grandchildren who spend their summers in Stone Harbor.

Julian is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and has received two other graduate degrees in business. He served, and was on active duty, in the US Navy from 1960 to 1963.

Among his many community and business affiliations, he has been a Director and Chairman of the Conshohocken, PA school board, President of the Chester County, PA Board of Realtors, Chairman of the Uwchlan Township (Chester County, PA) Municipal Authority, a director of the Norristown, PA Regional Cancer Center and Sacred Heart Hospital, a director of the Montgomery County PA Industrial Development Authority and a now retired 15 year Director of Susquehanna Bank.

In 2004 he was elected to the Stone Harbor Borough Council and joined that governing body in January of 2005. His stated purpose then was to enhance the quality of life for the people and community that he serves. The term “quality of life” is expansive and includes keeping taxes under control and spending wisely to take care of everything from beach replenishment, back-bay dredging, replacing outdated infrastructure and investing in modern technology to keep operating costs down, therefore effecting taxes.

A few of the positive changes that occurred over the 36 months he was on Council include:

1. The rehabilitation of Sedge Island (by raising private money) so that now it is a wonderful rookery and planting base for many of our indigenous plants where the Borough is now assisted by the US Dept. of Agriculture and the US Fish and Wildlife Service;
2. The conversion of the Point from a nuisance conservation area to a US Fish and Wildlife Service and NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection supported and nationally recognized Shorebird Observation and Conservation area by bringing back approximately $300,000.00 in grants to the Borough;
3. Commencing with vigor to build a coalition of partners to help fund the rehabilitation of the Borough’s largest asset and now nationally known Bird Sanctuary including the reconstruction of the water source from Sanctuary Bay, partnering with the Mosquito Control Dept. of Cape May County, the NJ Audubon Society, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Ducks Unlimited, the Wetlands Institute and the NJ Forest Fire Service;
4. Using the Water Tower as an income resource by leasing space to cell phone companies that generates approximately $100,000.00 to the taxpayers;
5. Crafting an ordinance that permits NJ Dept. of Agriculture issued wine licenses to be available to the restaurants in Stone Harbor;
6. Applying for and receiving a grant ($400,000.00) from the state of New Jersey for the purpose of installing Solar Panels on the roof of our Public Works buildings in order to save our taxpayers about $50,000.00 per year in electric costs;
7. Working with the County to have the two Bridge Tender’s buildings at the entrance to Stone Harbor power washed and re-stained to improve the Borough’s appearance.

His comments: “Each of these projects took hours, days and months to bring to fruition. There were challenges and hurdles and set-backs that pro-longed the process, but in all of them, persistence, focus and Leadership got the job done. There is a lot more work to be completed, especially in areas of Recreational Boating, the Waterfront District and the Central Business District. As a constituent/citizen, serving on the Mayor’s Planning Commission, I will stay focused on these and other matters and continue to work for the best interests of the Borough. 

I thank each of you for giving me your vote of confidence and the opportunity to work for you, and can not find words strong enough to praise and thank the ENTIRE STAFF of the Borough. We are truly blessed and fortunate to have such a dedicated group of people working for us.