Safety of kids
is top priority
To the editor:
"If we’re throwing all these people out [convicted sex offenders], where are they going to go?" So asks Washington Township Council President Sonja Walter during the Oct. 27 council meeting discussion of the introduction of a pedophile ordinance. Answer: Who cares? I suggest Ms. Walter and fellow council member Ronda Hyams spend their time worrying about the rights and safety of our children rather than the rights and safety of convicted sex offenders.
What’s the debate here? Child safety versus sex offenders? There is no debate. According to Ms. Hyams, "This is a dark, dark path. I don’t understand how this piece of paper is going to protect our children." If Ms. Hyams can’t understand how a pedophile ordinance can help to protect our children, then she should not be in the position of representing this township. True, this ordinance will not identify those sex offenders who have not yet been convicted. And, true, as Councilman Bill Lesniak stated, "Pedophiles have more than one way of finding children." But what is the logical reasoning for blocking an ordinance that would control the distance from child-based institutions from those sex offenders who have been convicted?
Shame on these three council members for not automatically giving top priority to the safety of those constituents who are not old enough to vote.
Flo Gange
Robbinsville
Resource inventory
updating begins
To the editor:
With the help of $5,000 matching grant money from the New Jersey Association of Environmental Commissions (ANJEC), Millstone Township has begun the process of updating its Environmental Resource Inventory (ERI) database.
How has Millstone Township changed in the last 10 years? How have the changes affected our natural resources? What are the trends and how does it affect the residents of Millstone Township? These are some of the questions that we are aiming to answer as part of this project.
Millstone Township’s existing ERI sometimes called Natural Resource Inventory, or NRI dates back to 1993. Significant new development has taken place in Millstone Township since the last ERI was performed in 1993, and permanent changes have been made to Millstone’s rural landscape. As new development continues to encroach on our wetlands, woodlands and contiguous animal and plant natural habitats the more threatened these natural resources become.
Newer technology has presented us with an opportunity to vastly improve on the identification, mapping and documentation of environmentally sensitive and protected areas and open space lands. The Township’s Environmental Commission formally proposed the project to the Township Committee earlier this year. The ANJEC Smart Growth Planning Project grant application was then prepared by the Township Administrator and later awarded to Millstone Township by the ANJEC. A project team comprised of members from Millstone’s Environmental Commission, Planning Board, Open Space Council, resident volunteers and Leon S. Avakian Engineers has begun the task of updating the ERI/NRI.
The ERI/ NRI will be a comprehensive manual and will include the following: GIS landscape mapping of environmentally sensitive areas, identification of areas with known threatened and endangered animal and plant species, streams, rivers, soil erosion impacts, steep slope terrain, aquifers and recharge areas, surface waters, agricultural farmlands and preserved open space lands. These are just some of the areas to be identified in the inventory database and ERI/NRI report manual. A modern updated ERI/NRI will help our township’s regulatory boards, commissions and residents better plan for "smart growth."Once completed, the Environmental Commission plans to present the updated ERI/NRI manual to Millstone’s Planning Board and Township Committee for approval and incorporation into the town’s Master Plan.
The ERI/NRI project committee plans to elicit the help of residents in identifying Millstone’s changing landscapes and environmentally sensitive areas. Further information about the project will be made available on Millstone’s public access cable television channel. Millstone’s Environmental Commission meets the second Monday of each month at 7:30 p.m. in the municipal building.
Richard D. Brody
Millstone Township
Environmental Commission
Millstone
Veterans deserve
our thanks
To the editor:
Veterans Day is a day that was first established as Armistice Day in a proclamation issued by President Woodrow Wilson on Nov. 11, 1919, to commemorate the first anniversary of the truce that ended World War I. It offers Americans the opportunity to recognize and thank the men and women who have served in the United States armed forces.
When one takes the time to consider the numerous events that have occurred in the past several years that have required members of our armed forces to respond, one can only be thankful that we have men and women who are willing and able to confront those challenges. They are engaged in the war on terror in places like Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay. They were ready to assist the victims of Hurricane Katrina and did so in outstanding fashion.
Millions of other Americans endured the sacrifices and hardships necessary to successfully carry out the missions of World War II and the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. Still others were involved in action in Lebanon, Grenada, Panama and the Persian Gulf. All gave some and some gave all, and they did so without reservation or equivocation. They come from all walks of life with great diversity but they all share a common belief in the United States of America and the ideals that our founding fathers set forth in the Declaration of Independence adopted on July 4, 1776.
We owe much to the men and women who have served our great nation and it is a debt that we can never adequately repay. But veterans are proud individuals who don’t seek great reward for what they’ve done. They appreciate the benefits that are afforded them by virtue of their service, but what they appreciate even more is a simple thank you expressed by a fellow countryman.
I encourage all Americans to participate in one of the many Veterans Day services that will be held around New Jersey this Friday or to simply say thank you to the friends and neighbors they know served our great nation. It’s what Veterans Day is all about, and those two little words are sure to bring a smile to the face of every veteran.
Joseph M. Gugliuzza
state commander
New Jersey American Legion
Family appreciates
recent support
To the editor:
Many thanks for the cards, thoughts and prayers to our family and friends who shared in the loss of my husband and Josh’s daddy, Terry. Your love and support will be cherished. May the wonderful memories of Terry remain in your hearts as he will in ours forever.
Susie and Joshua Weil
Bordentown
Carol Weil
Jackson
Eileen Warner and family
Allentown
Bonnie Coiro and family
Allentown

