Township clause bars local groups

To the editor

   My organization has been affected by the hold harmless agreement at the multi-purpose room at the Municipal Complex.
   I am a parent volunteer for the Hillsborough Cub Pack. We have over 50 kids from Hillsborough as members. I came to the township two years ago to ask to use the room for the pack’s Blue and Gold Ceremony. The kids work all year and this is the ceremony where they receive their promotion to the next Cub level and other awards.
   We usually have awards followed by skits or a magician and dinner with parents, grandparents and other special guests. It is a fun reward for the kids and special time for the parents and caregivers.
   The lawyer for the Cub Scouts said the township’s "hold harmless agreement" was "too all encompassing" and we could not sign it. I called the former Mayor Joseph Tricarico and left many messages to the point where I begged him to intervene and try to negotiate a settlement.
   I even went to a fundraiser to meet him and ask him to help me.
   After much frustration with the township and mayor, I began to look outside Hillsborough for a hall. We found the Hillsborough-Manville Elks Club on Brooks Boulevard. They have been absolutely wonderful. Not only did we have the Blue and Gold Ceremony but they offered if we need a room for a meeting, we could use theirs.
   The Elks Club saved the Blue and Gold Ceremony. Hillsborough Township left us in the dark.
   We call upon Hillsborough Township to slightly relax the hold harmless agreement. If the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, NJ Peace Action and other not-for-profit organizations can’t use the room, what is point of having a room at all? Didn’t we taxpayers pay for this building anyway?

Cynthia Nienart
Hillsborough