At a recent meeting held at Howell Middle School South, Howell’s public officials expressed a desire for the annexation of a portion of Wall Township which will contain the future Hidden View development, a 50-acre, 177-unit age-restricted housing development that is being built in Wall Township, but is accessible only by using Howell and Brick Township roads.
The main support for this annexation was noted to be the desire to collect taxes on this property to offset the costs of emergency services (police, fire and medical) that would need to be provided from Howell anyway.
To date, no member of any governing body has approached any Howell emergency service organization with a mutual aid services agreement to provide a primary response to this area.
Since Wall Township does not seem overly concerned about their own residents’ safety, why would our mayor and Township Council assume that the Ramtown Fire Company or Ramtown First Aid Squad (the two volunteer emergency service organizations in this area of Howell) should assume these responsibilities?
These organizations are already overburdened with the existing development in Howell and cannot afford to spend additional resources in order to recoup tax revenue to Howell.
Before Howell officials enter into any agreements, the local affected residents and emergency service providers should be presented with full details as to what this annexation plan will cost Howell, including the emergency services, future maintenance of roads, detention basins and snow removal throughout the Hidden View development, none of which were offered at the public meeting.
Howell’s eagerness to collect revenue should not cloud the cost of any future long-term resources needed for this development.
Let Wall Township handle their own problems.
William Gotto
Howell