Borough residents and businesses owners to have new numbers beginning April 1
By: Scott Morgan
There are 223 addresses on 13 streets in the Borough of Fieldsboro. Three of those streets share their names and ZIP codes with streets in Bordentown Township; another three with Bordentown City.
Sound confusing?
"It is confusing," says Bordentown Postmaster Newell Kehr. "We get a lot of crossed mail."
While mail is the lesser of two concerns (the other being emergency services), it is one of two major reasons the borough is about to change physical address numbers for every residence and business in town. Beginning April 1, borough residents and business owners will have new numbers beginning in the 200s.
It is a concept that has been taking root for several years, said borough Mayor Ed Tyler.
According to Mayor Tyler, talk had been circulating among Fieldsboro officials in recent years to revert to the borough’s original name, White Hill. Eventually, that movement faded into a plan to rename the streets themselves after 13 early U.S. presidents. That plan, the mayor said, generated a great deal of public hostility and, too, was abandoned.
But there still was a basic problem present. Common addresses, such as Mayor Tyler’s own on Second Street, which also exists in Bordentown City, can cause not only the occasional mail snafu, but confusion among county medical and fire responders unfamiliar with the area.
"It’s really not a problem for us," said Brian Maugeri, deputy emergency management coordinator for Hope Hose Humane Fire Company on East Burlington Street in Bordentown City. Mr. Maugeri said his department, the primary responder for both the city and borough, is familiar enough with the area that they know where to go when called.
Mayor Tyler says, however, that state police and ambulances from other parts of Burlington County (such as those from Lourdes Medical Center in Willingboro) often do not realize there are two different versions of the same address. To keep things running smoothly, the mayor says, the Borough Council decided the best thing to do would be to change the numbers on every house and business in Fieldsboro.
Letters will be sent out by early next week, the mayor said. Informing residents and merchants of the coming change. Every address in Fieldsboro after April 1 will begin with at least the number 200 because, Mayor Tyler says, no addresses in either Bordentown, on any of the common street names, reaches 200. Mayor Tyler’s address will change from 15 Second St. to 219 Second St., for example; and Borough Hall will change from 18 Washington St. to 204 Washington St.
As for cost, the mayor says it won’t cost the borough anything beyond basic paperwork costs and the price of mailing address-change letters to 223 addresses. He does expect people to be upset, as they will have to change legal documents, such as checks and wills.
"People don’t like it," he says, referring to gripes he’s heard by some residents already. "I don’t like it either. But the reality is, it’s necessary."
Necessary, according to the letter as a "step for the safety of the residents."
As for the mail? Mr. Kehr says the carriers at his post office are happy to know they won’t have to spend time re-sorting mail that the machines have misfiled based on common addresses and the common 08505 ZIP code.
"It’ll be uncomfortable for the residents now," he says. "But in the long run, it’s for the better."