From the issue of Dec. 8, 2005.
YMCA dinner a real success
To the editor:
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped to make the fifth annual South Brunswick Family YMCA Gala Dinner at Pierre’s Restaurant on Oct. 14 a resounding success. With your help, we were able to net more than $30,000, which will go to help our "Y."
I would particularly like to thank the "Y" staff for all of their hard work behind the scenes to make this event a success. I would like to thank all of the businesses that donated items for our silent auction. To everyone who purchased tickets and ads for our Journal, please know that your hard-earned dollars will help the "Y" provide scholarships to needy individuals to be able to participate in our programs.
Special thanks to this year’s honorees. Recognition awards were given to Mayor Frank Gambatese and Joe Del Guercio. Both individuals worked very hard to make the dinner and silent auction a success. Special thanks to our 2005 honoree, Bharat Patel, for all that he has done to support the "Y" and for his tireless efforts in selling tickets and ads.
Finally, and last but not least, a thank you to our host, Pierre Hage-Boutros and his staff for all of their hard work in providing for the usual excellent meal and relaxed atmosphere for a good time. It is always a pleasure to see our community come together to support a good cause.
Christopher J. Killmurray
YMCA Gala Dinner
Committee Chairman
Dayton
Mr. Killmurray is a member of the Township Council.
Council must require signs
To the editor:
Mayor Gambatese has always been a good friend of the Raymond Road community and has worked hard to ensure that our concerns, and those of other neighborhoods around South Brunswick, are heard when landowners and developers propose projects that could adversely affect our quality of life.
So, it is very perplexing that the mayor has now chosen to keep residents in the dark by opposing the creation of a new ordinance that would require land development applicants to post modest signs on their property that would provide a summary of the project and information on where to turn for additional information.
Although Mayor Gambatese believes that South Brunswick receives sufficient notification of new projects, my neighbors and I can point to several recent and unwelcome proposals brought before the Zoning Board of Appeals that we knew practically nothing about until it was almost too late. None of us lived close enough to these properties to receive notice by mail (200 feet is the requirement and the sites were on Route 1); and some (my family included) have tired of Comcast’s miserable service and no longer have access to township news on Channel 3 (DirecTV and Dish Network do not broadcast township meetings).
These signs are better than any Web site, broadcast or mailing because they provide immediate information within a context that is both understandable and useful to each and every resident. In an open society, it is the obligation of our elected officials to keep us so informed. This ordinance is one small step in the right direction; I urge the mayor and Township Council to adopt the ordinance immediately.
Andy Shapiro
South Brunswick
Turnpike offers holiday surprise
To the editor:
It’s holiday time, and the Turnpike Authority’s defunding of Route 92 was a great gift for the whole region. I’ll concur with Mayor Gambatese that it will be great to put away the "No 92" buttons for a while and raise a glass of eggnog to the good people, from the Friends of the Plainsboro Preserve to the East Amwell Township Committee and all points in between, who have fought Route 92 so long and so hard. For now, we can all relax.
But we’d still better keep an eye on the fireplace in case the Grinch drops down the chimney. No bad (or illegal) highway project in New Jersey ever really dies. The state still owns the right-of-way for Route 92 all the way to Montgomery Township, and the Army Corps may yet release an advertising brochure for Route 92 disguised as a "final environmental impact study." Princeton Forrestal hasn’t yet given up on its private driveway either, nor have its henchmen in public office.
For this Christmas, though, things look pretty good. All three elected state representatives in the 14th District are now on public record that Route 92 is best unbuilt. The Turnpike and Acting-Gov. Codey at least admit that it’s better unbuilt for many years. And it’ll be a good long time before the money is raised for it.
So let’s relax, unwind, and toast the new year. We’ll be on watch.
Steve Masticola
Kingston
Mayor sends wrong sign
To the editor:
Give me a break! Has Democratic Mayor Frank Gambatese forgotten who elected him to office? Guess what, it was citizens of South Brunswick, not builders.
Recently, Mayor Gambatese objected to a proposed ordinance requiring developers to put up signs on their property about what is going to be built and how and when the proposed development will be reviewed by the township. The builders will bear the cost. This is good ordinance for the citizens of South Brunswick.
Remember, Mayor Gambatese, keeping the citizens of South Brunswick, who vote, informed is better than the appearance of helping the builders who are usually in and out of our township after the building is compete.
John G. O’Sullivan
Monmouth Junction