previously spent about $180,000 buying all of our own trash carts, and delivered them to everybody. So, not only are we saving nearly six figures for each neighborhood that we move into, but the service to our residents increased exponentially.” A UNIQUE, CLOSE-KNIT COMMUNITY Gina Ragomo Tait is Palmyra’s mayor. She believes that the borough is unique not just because of its sophisticated administrative practices, but because its population has remained stable and close-knit for years with many generations of families still living there. “We’ve all known each other since we were five,” she says.“So it fosters compassion. People here expect you to have their best interests in mind. And most of our employees are from Palmyra – either they graduated from school here, or they moved into town. I think that brings a little more awareness of what needs to be done.” Recently, Tait joined a national group of mayors whose focus was on feeding hungry children. Since then, she and some civic minded businesses and organizations, local churches, and volunteers have stepped up to create several free food programs -- especially important during the summer months when school is out and the students who would normally receive free or reduced-price breakfasts and lunches during the school year, may go without nutritious meals.“With 7,000 people, nobody should go hungry in Palmyra,” she declares. Another program close to her heart is the borough’s Community Garden at the Palmyra Cove Nature Center, a partnership between the borough and the Burlington County Bridge Commission. It’s a sustainable vegetable garden free to all borough residents to work in and benefit from. Based on that garden’s success, the borough is planning to open another community garden with eight new beds behind Borough Hall, with a small grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The second garden is expected to be completed by the beginning of September, just in time for the borough’s elementary school children to learn where food comes from and perhaps grow and harvest some of their own. “One of the beds will have garlic, which grows in the winter,” Tait says. Rt. 73 South Redevelopment Area: 186 acres total to Borough $1M in annual service charges (PILOT). The complex and a dozen parcels with highway frontage t Downtown Philadelphia appears in background. 13 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 05, ISSUE 09 PALMYRA, NJ
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