To the editor:
Steve Misiura, Rick Pratt, Fred Montferrat, as well as Denise Hansen and Walter Sikorski are the committee members who circulated a petition in 2013 that halted the bond ordinance that allowed council to move forward with rebuilding the municipal complex. Three out of the five members of the committee were on the Planning Board.
The petition committee claimed they circulated the petition because they did not think the administration had considered all of its options and payment amounts from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the insurance company before passing the bond ordinance to begin the rebuilding process.
The truth is, certain Planning Board members have other plans for that site, and worked with the former mayor and council president to squash any rebuilding on that site. As part of that plan, borough officials did not negotiate in good faith with FEMA and the insurance company. This was another attempt to stop the rebuilding of a new borough hall complex. Outsourcing is essential to keep this plan viable, otherwise we need a police station that meets code, which would be built in the only available location, the old site.
Moonachie, NJ, recently received $4.6 million from FEMA to rebuild a borough hall and police station destroyed by Sandy. FEMA had to pay out hundreds of millions of dollars after that devastating storm. Irene was a storm that only wiped out Hightstown. Imagine what Hightstown could have gotten if officials had negotiated aggressively with FEMA. Council President Hansen stated that we got $2 million from the insurance company. Imagine a possible and likely $4.6 million from FEMA and $2 million from insurance equals $6.6 million. That is more than the 2013 starting estimate to build a new borough hall and police station with flood mitigation features, an estimate based on plans for a top-of-the-line building that allowed for alterations that would bring the price down.
Two members of the petition committee are now council members and a third lives under the same roof of another member. It is in the best interest of those who still want the old borough hall site empty to outsource police services at any cost, financial savings for taxpayers and public safety are not the driving force behind any negotiations.
We need leadership from a council that cares about what is best for the people of Hightstown. We need a police department run by the leadership stated in our police ordinance.
A supervising officer is currently in charge of the Hightstown Police Department. This was meant to be a temporary position. There is question about the integrity of that leadership. Perhaps not addressing that issue is another tactic for justifying outsourcing. The appearance is, see we don’t need them anyway. The problem is that by not addressing that leadership issue, it creates public safety concerns.
Hightstown residents deserve services provided by a well-run police department, which makes financial sense for the taxpayers. Let your council members know public safety out trumps individuals with special interests.
Lynne Woods
Candidate for Town Council
Hightstown
