Town has new weapon in battle against graffiti
BY CHRIS MURINO Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY CHRIS KELLY staff The Farrow System was purchased to remove grafitti like this, found on a concrete wall alongside Bordentown Avenue. Officials bought the $46,000 device, with help from a federal grant, in order to clean the surface of defaced properties and restore them to their original condition.

Sayreville is beginning to see the benefits of a new graffiti-removal device and they may begin to rent it out to other communities and businesses in town.

Earlier this year, Councilman Stanley Drwal spearheaded the purchase of a Farrow System graffiti-removing device for $46,000, half of which was paid for with a federal Clean Communities grant.

The town has experienced a graffiti problem over the years in various areas, including at the skate facility in Kennedy Park, schools, businesses and cemeteries.

"[The device] was used by our parks department a few years back, they had rented one," Drwal said. "It turned out to be probably the best thing you can use. It's used on historical buildings in other countries, because it doesn't damage the building."

A Sayreville employee uses the water-based Farrow System to remove graffiti from a wall on Bordentown Avenue in Sayreville recently.

D

rwal said the machine has already

been used quite a bit at the skate park, as well as at some office buildings and borough schools.

"It works very well," he said. Now, there is the possibility that the town will rent out its services to businesses that need to get rid of graffiti. It may also do this for other towns if they request the use of the machine.

"The towns would pay us," Drwal said. "They would reimburse us for the cost of the job. We wouldn't actually rent the machine."

A published rate would be used to charge other municipalities for the different types of equipment that is used.

"We wouldn't be making any money, but we wouldn't be losing any money either," Drwal said.

Sayreville has a three-pronged plan to rid the town of its graffiti problem, with the Farrow machine integral in the first phase, according to Drwal.

"We tried to copy places that have had graffiti problems at one time or another," he said. "First, you clean the graffiti as quickly as possible. Then, you increase the amount of police work and prosecute heavily."

He said the plan has been going very well so far.

"The police department, in the last year, has made several large arrests for graffiti," Drwal said. "[The problem] hasn't gotten worse, it's kind of stabilized. Over a period of a year, you'll see a decrease. If you keep it clean regularly, the graffiti artists, although I hate to call them that, will move to other towns that don't really care."

Drwal is still concerned about the graffiti problem in Sayreville.

"When you have a graffiti problem, not only do property values plunge, but you get more crime activity," he said. "They appear to be in control of things, not the lawabiding citizens. The criminals appear to have the upperhand."

He said he does not want Sayreville to look like certain places in Staten Island, and mentioned a recent trip from Perth Amboy to the Outerbridge Crossing.

"It was unbelievable, the amount of graffiti you see," Drwal said. "It looked rundown. It looked like a decayed neighborhood."

However, he is still confident in his town's approach.

"As long as we don't drop our guard, we'll get rid of it," he said.