Board acting in haste on Marlboro referendum

There is no doubt that new school facilities are needed in Marlboro. Unfortunately, it is clear that the way to obtain this very necessary goal is not by way of the forthcoming ill-conceived and hastily orchestrated $42 million referendum, most particularly given the irresponsible manner the Marlboro Board of Education has gone about to accomplish this goal.

The referendum has several major flaws, including timing, engineering, costs, environmental concerns and safety. Its timing appears to have been done specifically to exclude a large and highly interested group from voting. It was voted to be placed on the ballot less than two months after approval by the school board at a cost of $20,000, when it easily could have been added to the normal April school board election ballot without any added expense.

It was recommended for public approval without full engineering, traffic or ongoing operating cost analyses. It received a highly critical review from the Planning Board based on lack of key information with regard to the site’s environmental, traffic safety and engineering problems.

The board has been fiscally irresponsible in only indicating a variety of potential tax increase amounts without disclosing additional operating expenses or the very probable cost of any on-site work associated with both toxic and non-toxic cleanup necessitated by possible previous dumping.

This problem has been with us for a number of years, and the board and administration have been given numerous school site choices over the past several years by the Township Council and have chosen to turn down far more desirable and less costly alternatives with little or no public input. Why the haste and lack of information on such an important and vital issue?

David Lerner

Marlboro