By Frank Mustac, Special Writer
Opinions from residents are being solicited on whether parts of River Drive near two damaged stone bridges in Titusville should be reopened after repair work on the bridges is completed, probably sometime next year.
Residents can post their comments online on the Hopewell Township municipal website at http://hopewelltwp.org/titusville/titusville.html.
Scroll down the page a bit to find dialogue boxes to write and submit comments about the issue. Scroll down the page farther to find previously posted comments. To date, seven people have left comments.
The northern bridge was closed in March 2011 due to severe flooding, according to a July 2013 letter from Mercer County to Hopewell Township. The southern bridge was closed as a result of damage sustained by Hurricane Irene in August 2011. Both culvert bridges are owned and maintained by the county.
Before the two portions of River Drive were closed back in 2011, residents reported that a relatively large number of motorists were driving through the neighborhood to avoid traffic on Route 29, whether during rush-hour commutes or traveling to and from nearby Washington Crossing State Park. Traffic, it seems, has lessened since then.
During Monday’s Hopewell Township Committee meeting, Committeewoman Vanessa Sandom requested that a public meeting on the issue be held, similar to a meeting the township hosted back in 2013 at the District No. 1 firehouse in Titusville.
“I thought we already decided we were going to have public discussion about that here,” Ms. Sandom said.
Mayor Harvey Lester responded by saying, “I thought we were waiting for people to weigh (in) with their opinions.”
“Well, we have to ask them,” Ms. Sandom said. “We have to have a public discussion to formally ask them for their opinions, I thought. I thought we were going to have a work session here and then go from there.”
Mayor Lester responded “some people gave their opinions” on the website, but only seven people leaving comments “does not seem to be indicative of a neighborhood interested in acting immediately, but rather a neighborhood interested in taking a wait-and-see attitude, in my judgment.”
“So we’re not going to have a meeting; we’re not going to talk about it then,” Ms. Sandom said.
“I believe we’re waiting for more members of the community to respond by way of the website,” the mayor said.
Committeeman Kevin Kuchinski asked how many people have to post on the website before a public meeting can be held.
“The rule of thumb is that for every person taking the time to actually call a 1-800 number or weigh in on a website, there are 20 other people who hold similar points of view,” said Mr. Kuchinski, suggesting there are more residents interested in the issue than just seven.
“We had a packed house in Titusville. It was packed so I think there is a great deal of interest,” Ms. Sandom said, referring to the public meeting held back in 2013.
“That was 2013, and I was there,” Mr. Lester said. “This is 2015, and only seven people have weighed in to date.”
“But nobody knows about the website,” Ms. Sandom said. “If we put it on the agenda and let people know, they can come and talk. That seems to be a more open and transparent way of dealing with this issue.”
“We made it more convenient for people to simply sit at their computers at home and type their opinions in, and seven people did that,” Mr. Lester said.
Paul Pogorzelski, the township’s administrator and engineer, told Township Committee members that postcards could be mailed to residents encouraging them to write their opinions on the website.
“We don’t need a postcard and spend more money,” Committeeman John Hart said.
By the end of the discussion, committee members did not come to a consensus on holding a public meeting as requested by Ms. Sandom.
