My family and I are relatively new residents to Millstone. We purchased our home a year ago next month. Since we’ve been here, it seems that all we hear is "what’s wrong with Millstone." Even before buying our home, we were informed by real estate agents that Millstone had "problems." Many people we talked to believed that Millstone has the potential to be the next Colts Neck but it was being held back by all the political infighting.
The purpose of this letter is not to tell Mayor William Nurko what is wrong with Millstone. It’s to tell him about something that is right with Millstone."
I am currently having my basement finished and just completed the initial permit-filing process. Despite all of the horror stories I’ve heard about going through this process in other towns, my experience with the Millstone Building Department was nothing less then outstanding. Everyone I dealt with in that office was friendly, knowledgeable, professional, and willing to help. Being the first time doing a project like this, I felt like I had friends I could go to in that office that were there to help me through it. When it came time to pay for the permits, I didn’t mind it because it was like paying for a personal consultant. They provided me value. That’s a novel concept — government providing value.
This is one of the few times that I felt good about Millstone government since I’ve been here. It made me feel good about being a resident. This is what we need to be striving for in the way that our local government operates — provide value.
It’s no mystery that there is concern about how business has been conducted in Millstone in the past. Mr. Nurko, as a key player in our government leadership, you need to set the sights of Millstone’s government on working together to provide value to its residents.
As residents, we need to spend more time looking at what is right with Millstone. I challenge each resident to take the time to write to the Examiner and tell them about it. Let the Examiner print a weekly column titled "What’s Right With Millstone" and let’s see what we get. Together we can make Millstone the premier place to live in central New Jersey. We all want that. It needs to start with our leadership.
Best wishes to you as mayor, Mr. Nurko. You can count on my support and hopefully the support of all Millstone residents in building a community we can be proud of.
Sal Rossano
Millstone