By: centraljersey.com
The snowstorm hit Jan 11 and it distributed about 12 to 15 inches. Whether you appreciate it or not fresh falling snow does evoke a sense of awe and wonder. Everything on the landscape seems refreshed and newly painted but in this instance it had rained the day before. The awesomeness of the newly arrived snow soon vanished with the recognition that the weight of the rain soaked snow required a Herculean effort when shoveling and clearing a path or releasing a snowbound car in an ice wedged barrier.
The snowstorm lasted about seven hours dispersing snow as much as 2 inches per hour at times. For those who thought they might mitigate the deluge and shovel at intervals every three hours they were met with an ice covered surface on the area that they had recently cleared so diligently. The innovative individual who thought he could outwit Mother Nature with his snowblower was soon to recognize that he was a puny match. Moving only 3 or 4 feet his snowblower became clogged with crushed ice and rendered ineffective. This was a merciless storm showing complete disregard for the shut-in and those needing routine medical hospital visits.
The snowplow trucks were somewhat effective but you could see the frustration on the face of the person who had finished digging out only to have his path walled in again by an unmindful passing snowplow truck. If this storm had been a prizefight it would have been stopped with Mother Nature being declared the winner. In truth, there were small victories but it is now days later and the side roads still have ruts of ice and patches of snow that are a concern. The biggest problem of all is what to do with all this snow? The solution seems to be to find a field to pile this grimy, grey, dirt incrusted mess with the hope that it will melt away by spring. You won’t find a snowman or an igloo made of this mess. Truly the landscape has been changed – for now.
Bill Cunningham Roebling,
Vote for fire budget
To the editor:
I am asking my neighbors who live in Fire District 2, of Bordentown Township, to vote YES on the Fire District 2 budget. The election will be held on Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011 at the Derby Fire House on Crosswicks Road.
For those of us who live in Fire District 2 (everything south of Ward Ave.) we are extremely fortunate. We have an excellent Fire Department, staffed 24/7 with dedicated professional fire fighters.
When an alarm is received in Fire District 2 our fire fighters are out the door and on the road with the appropriate equipment within 3 minutes. And when there is a fire or medical emergency, we all know that seconds count, and can count on them to be there.
Why am I supporting the budget? The answer is simple. This budget is within the 2 percent cap set by the governor and Legislature. It is fiscally responsible. For individual property owners, the portion of each property tax dollar that goes to fire protection and fire service is about 6 cents. That is a bargain by any standard!
Please vote on Saturday… And Vote YES on the Fire District 2 budget!
Charles Avatar Windingbrook Road Bordentown
Support firefighters
To the editor:
When you dial 9-1-1 to report a fire in Fire District 2, Bordentown Township, our Fire Department is ready to go. Their response is fast!
Our professional firefighters in Fire District 2 are prepared to come to your aid on a moments notice, every day of the year, rain or shine, night or day, snow or sleet.
So what does this fire protection service cost us? On a daily basis, it is less than a cup of coffee or a donut. If you home is valued at $300,000 that amounts to a little more than $1 per day. In fact, according to the 2011 Fire District 2 Budget Message, the increase in the tax rate will only be 0.006 cents. By any measure, that is a bargain.
You and I will have the opportunity to vote in favor of the 2011 Fire District 2 budget, and I am voting YES. The 2011 budget does not exceed the 2 percent cap imposed by the Legislature and governor, and is fiscally responsible, considering the protection we get and enjoy from having a full time professional fire department.
Voting will take place on Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011 at the Derby Firehouse on Crosswicks Street between 2 p.m. and 9 p.m. Please join me and vote YES on the Fire District 2 budget.
Carole Cann Georgetown Road Bordentown
Variance opposed
To the editor:
Please find attached a letter that I delivered to the (Springfield) township for council and the planning board. The meeting is Tuesday night the 15th for this important issue:
I am writing this letter to register my objections to parts of the application filed by New Jersey Land for variance for a solar project on the site formerly known as Wood Hue. Over the past two years I have sat through many of the Township Council meetings and some Planning Board meetings. I have listened quietly in an attempt to learn the issues with this particular project. After attending the last planning board meeting held in January I believe enough questions were answered for me to formerly register my objections.
Over the past two years I have listened to a number of people including a sitting Burlington County Freeholder ask about the status of the property commonly referred to by locals as Wood Hue. Apparently there were concerns about pollution that was a result of ILLEGAL Activity conducted by the current owners Eastern Organic. Over that period of time I watched, listened, and learned. Our Council said they had no knowledge of anything at Wood Hue (Eastern Organic). Often they blamed the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) claiming they had sole jurisdiction and shared nothing with the local government.
First I cannot believe that there is a convicted polluter in our town and our local officials have no information at all regarding this. Well quite by accident as a result of a public records request on a completely different topic it was discovered that the that the Township Solicitor Dennis McInerney was billing the town for at least six months on matters relating to Eastern Organic now New Jersey Land.
As time moves on Eastern Organic presents an application for change to the township Master Plan complete with a sample ordinance that they had prepared. Still township officials claim no information regarding the site. Officials use very careful technical talk skirting the issue and still contending that there is no real information.
At the December planning board meeting the question was asked if Eastern Organic is the same as the new New Jersey Land LLC. I should point out that it was apparent by the records secured in the OPRA request that Eastern Organic had or was going bankrupt. Again in very technical terms New Jersey Land LLC has the same principals or many of the same principals. Same people with a different name in laymen’s terms. At that same meeting Planning Board members had concerns looking for the very information many people had asked about the pollution. They were promised some type of documentation that there were no issues.
In the January meeting another revelation came in the form of a letter from the applicant’s attorney. Instead of documentation from the Department of Environmental Protection the attorney writes a letter telling us everything is fine and the property cannot be used for residential use until the concrete and slag are removed or remediated. Based on my reading of the ordinances and other comments from the council it is a violation of our ordinances. No enforcement, no interest?
So we have a company that has polluted our land got out of paying their obligations through the bankruptcy process and now we are considering variances to our ordinances that they seem to have no regard for in the first place. In spite of all of this we have not yet forced the issue on the environmental impact study. The applicant has asked us to waive that part of the application.
I would object in the strongest terms to any permits at all being issued until all environmental issues are completely resolved to the satisfaction of the people who live here. Remember we drink the water from the ground. No one on the Planning Board, which includes two members of council, can deny now that they know there was illegal dumping on the site. It is in the form of a letter from "THEIR" attorney!
I am demanding that we force a full cleanup of this site before anything moves forward and I believe our Planning Board and council have the authority to do that. I would also ask that council direct the proper authority within our own local government to cite them for the illegal acts that have now come to our attention and force the study and cleanup.
I thought it was interesting that one of the delays in passing this ordinance was the bonding issue to remove abandoned solar material from the ordinance. Would it be any surprise to us if this company fails to clean up illegally dumped material that has the possibility to affect our water supply that it would again go bankrupt and leave us to clean up yet another failed project? History will only repeat itself if we allow it to.
Councilman Marinello referred to these issues and said he didn’t want to leave a problem for a board to deal with one hundred years from now. Based on what I heard we may be drinking water right now that will affect us and our children a lot sooner than that. But we will never know unless we force the cleanup by enforcing our ordinances.
I am asking that this letter be made part of the record in this matter. Any attention you may give this matter will be appreciated.
William F. Seaman Jr. Juliustown Georgetown Road Jobstown

