LETTERS: Diversion a bad deal

Diversion
a bad deal
To the editor:
   
All of Middlesex County should reject the Monroe Township proposal to divert a 35-acre tract of county parkland. Monroe wants to build its high school in Thompson Park, a county-owned park encumbered by Green Acres.
   It’s my understanding that for Green Acres requirements to be met and for this land diversion to be approved, one indisputable standard is that it cannot be done primarily for financial reasons. I don’t know how anyone could look at this as anything but a financial windfall for Monroe. As evidence that the proposal is primarily for financial purposes, the most predominant advertisement regarding the bond issue was that it would save the taxpayers $24 million. Signs to that end were posted all over Monroe.
   Even some of the "reviewed" sites rejected were discarded for financial reasons. Some were excluded because they had no water or sewer, which could still be overcome by spending the money to bring in the utilities. Remember, Monroe is only about 50 percent developed. The land proposed for the diversion is already preserved or is so defective as to render it not developable. To merely change its name from Monroe Open Space to Thompson Park essentially adds no actual land for preservation anywhere, especially in Thompson Park.
   The bond proposal along with the land diversion has repeatedly been touted as a win-win situation. The only winner’s are the cheapskates that voted down the original bond; the kids who desperately need a new school are the losers and they continue losing as long as this proposal is on the table.
   During the Nov. 21 hearing at Monroe Township High School, several people including Joe Montanti (a township official) stated that other sites have been reviewed and rejected making this proposal a last resort for Monroe. If that is factual, doesn’t that mean that if the proposal is turned down, as it should be, that Monroe would not be able to build a high school.
   I think not.
   I think that once this boondoggle is struck down, the administration will be required to do its job and find an appropriate site for the school. This proposal is not a last resort; it’s nothing more than a cheap way out.
   Proponents of the land diversion like to argue that the Monroe Township vote in favor of the bond was a mandate. If the proponents of this proposal are so driven by voter approval shouldn’t there be a countywide referendum for this proposed gift to Monroe? After all, all county residents own the park. How many voters in Middlesex County, who have no tax advantage in voting for a project that diminishes the usable portion of a county park, would approve the project?
Robert J. McCloskey

Monroe