BY JESSICA SMITH
Staff Writer
Residents of the Southwood development in Old Bridge are fed up, and they are not going to take it anymore.
A group of about 40 showed up for Monday night’s Township Council meeting to express their unhappiness with some things going on in their neighborhood – namely drugs, vandalism and speeding.
“We pay enough taxes in this township to have our neighborhood safe,” Tina Garra, a Southwood resident, said. “It’s getting ridiculous.”
Garra organized the group of citizens to attend the meeting, and presented the council with a petition of about 400 signatures from residents who are calling for change in their section of town.
Mayor Jim Phillips called a private meeting with the residents, along with Police Chief Thomas Collow and Capt. Chester Popek, to discuss their concerns.
“It’s the best meeting I’ve attended with citizens since I became mayor,” Phillips said. “I feel more positive than I have in a while. Here is something that we can definitely all sink our teeth into and make things better.”
Phillips said the residents brought forth very specific concerns, making it easier for the council and police force to try to address them. During the meeting, all agreed to come together again within 30 days. The citizens plan to form a neighborhood watch group, and police said they would crack down on both crime and speeding in the area.
“We’re going to go in there, and we’re going to address their concerns,” Popek said. “We’re going to go in there every shift.”
Popek said the police do not receive any more calls from the Southwood development than they do from any other section of town.
“It’s tragic, but I’m sure their concern is heightened by the accident that happened on Marlboro Road,” Popek said.
Bakr Seliem, whose 21-year-old daughter Samar was killed Dec. 29 by an allegedly drunk driver as she backed a car out of her driveway, came out to speak at the meeting.
“I lost one-third of my heart,” Seliem said, referring to losing one of his three children. “I still have two-thirds. There should be a solution, because we’re going to lose more children on these streets.”
In her statement to the mayor and council, Garra said there are a number of young people in the development who are selling drugs. The dealers are brazen in their actions, she said.
“Homeowners who have young children are finding drug paraphernalia in their yards and driveways,” Garra said. “They are witnessing cars pulling up and money being exchanged, and groups of teens banging on doors trying to collect their money. These same individuals have been seen inside the schoolyard fence.”
The Southwood Elementary School is located within the development, on Southwood Drive.
While police officers have responded to calls from concerned residents, by the time they are able to get to the scene, the alleged teenage dealers have already dispersed. And as soon as the police are gone, they reconvene on the street corners.
“I don’t like the fact that I can no longer send my son up to the school to play,” Garra said.
Phillips said Collow emerged from the meeting with a sense of vigor about addressing the issues brought forth by the residents.
“He made a promise to the people in that room that he would apply the resources needed to take care of the problem,” Phillips said.
Some of the residents said they were hesitant to come forward due to fear of retribution from the dealers.
Councilman Kevin Calogera told those in attendance it is essential that they are not afraid to talk with the police, and that they could remain confidential if need be.
Citizens of the neighborhood have had their homes vandalized after informing police about criminal activity in the area, Garra said. Lawn ornaments and holiday decorations have been stolen or destroyed, and vulgarities spray-painted on various locations throughout the neighborhood.
“Southwood School has been under attack for many years,” Garra said. “Each and every incident that happens at the school affects the taxpayers who support that school. This is also disturbing to the young children who see their school being ruined.”
The walls and windows, both inside and outside the building, have been spray-painted with profanity, and there have been windows broken, Garra said. She also made reference to an overpass in the neighborhood, where some of the young children walk. Aside from drug paraphernalia and discarded liquor bottles there, obscene words are also spray-painted throughout, she said.
“These are little kids,” Garra said. “If they do know what those words are, they’re not words we want them to see on their way to church.”
About a month ago, six to eight car windows in the neighborhood were smashed by vandals, according to Garra. Police responded to the scene, but were unable to apprehend the criminals.
Speeding is another major problem in the neighborhood, residents said. While stop signs have been installed throughout the development, there remains an issue with vehicles traveling at high speeds, particularly on Marlboro Road, Southwood Drive and Farmbrook Drive, Garra said.
Southwood Drive is used as a short-cut by commuters to get from Route 18 to Route 516, and oftentimes the drivers fail to slow down from the speed they were traveling on the highway, according to Garra.
Council President Patrick Gillespie said the council has signed off on a state-run project that will directly connect Routes 18 and 516, which should alleviate some of the problem.
Councilman Richard Greene disagreed.
“This is an ongoing problem,” Greene said. “I don’t think that this new configuration, this new bridge is going to help.”
There is also an NJ Transit bus route that runs through the neighborhood, with buses sometimes exceeding posted speed limits, according to Garra. Phillips said township administrators will reach out to NJ Transit officials and ask them to help slow the buses traveling through the area.
There will also be lighting installed on the streets, along with more traffic-calming devices, Phillips said. Garra’s statement called for more stop signs and other devices, and referenced several blind spots on the neighborhood streets.
Marlboro Road seemed to pose the largest issue for residents. Garra cited the fact that it is poorly lit and that motorists are able to drive the straightaway without stopping, as reasons why it is a dangerous thoroughfare.
“The fact that since 2004 two motorists have already been killed due to excessive speed, in itself warrants attention from the township and the county to implement some form of traffic-calming device,” Garra said.
Garra proposed speed bumps as a possible solution to the problem.
“We’re going to be strict in regard to the speed limit,” Popek said.
Phillips said it is a good time to address the various issues in the Southwood development in part because of the five new police officers added to the force.
“I wouldn’t want to be a speeder on Southwood Drive, or a juvenile that is making mischief, and I wouldn’t want to be someone looking to do damage, because we’ll be making it very uncomfortable for them,” Phillips said.