Not just about money
To the editor:
It’s not just about the money. At least in Hopewell Borough it’s not just about the money.
There has been some discussion recently among the Hopewell Township Committee, and discussion in the Hopewell Valley News, about the three municipalities that coexist in Hopewell Valley investigating consolidation. The Township Committee has passed a resolution calling upon the boroughs to join them in an application for a state grant to investigate the potential property tax savings to be realized from consolidation or additional use of shared services.
While in Hopewell Township this would seem to be a fairly cut-and-dried, dollars- and-cents issue, in the boroughs, at least in Hopewell Borough, it’s not just about the money. For residents of the current Hopewell Township a combined Hopewell Valley community would not be noticeably different than the experience that they now enjoy. For the residents of the two boroughs things would be considerably different. The two boroughs are discreet communities that each share among their residents common interests, common concerns, and common goals. Hopewell Township is a sprawling entity, comprised of several distinct population centers each of which have concerns and interests that may very well be at odds with those of other parts of the same municipality. Hopewell Township actually covers more area than Hudson County. Consolidation would eliminate the sense of "common cause" that the boroughs now enjoy.
Should consolidation be seriously considered a minimum requirement (at least for me), there would be a change in the form of government of the newly formed municipality to a "ward" system in which committee people would be elected from geographic areas as opposed to the current township model where representatives to the governing body are elected at large. Given the overwhelming opposition of the voters of Hopewell Township to last year’s proposal by the Township Committee that the committee be expanded, I have no idea how they would react to the changes that would be needed to reasonably represent a united Hopewell Valley. Both boroughs would undoubtedly need representation, as would population centers in the township including Brandon Farms and Titusville. Township residents who balked at expanding the township committee last year might very well be horrified at the prospect of a new municipal body consisting of perhaps 10 members plus a mayor.
The boroughs also enjoy a level of service that it is not practical for the township to provide to its residents. Among these are trash collection, leaf collection and brush collection (the latter two services are also offered by the township but on a much less regular schedule). This is possible because of economies of scale. A concentrated population such as Hopewell Borough can, and does, demand a higher level of service than a primarily rural community.
We haven’t even approached other municipal services here. Both boroughs have municipal water and sewer services. Both boroughs have tried for several years to create green belts around their town centers to preserve the character of their communities. Hopewell Township has a daunting COAH (a state mandate to provide affordable housing) obligation of 280 units in the current round. Given the sewer and water facilities available in the two boroughs, where would new development (to help satisfy those COAH requirements) happen? Development would almost certainly surround the boroughs, especially around Hopewell Borough as we have available capacity at our sewer plant.
This observation is not a swipe at affordable housing, but one at the mechanism by which COAH requirements are typically fulfilled. Two hundred and eighty units may not seem like a lot, but when a developer erects them in the context of a "builder’s remedy" at a rate of one (affordable) to seven (market rate) or one to 10 units to help the municipality fulfill its COAH commitment without financial cost to itself, we’re suddenly looking at a whole lot of development.
One of the reasons Hopewell Valley is still the Hopewell Valley while the rest of the state of New Jersey has become the bedroom for either New York or Philadelphia is because Hopewell Township decided not to form a sewer district in the late 1960s and early 1970s when there was a lot of federal money available to encourage the formation of such districts. Many people condemn the township leaders of those days as shortsighted. I, for one, bless those municipal leaders every single day, as their "shortsightedness" is the reason that the Valley is as it is today and not a twin of West Windsor or Plainsboro.
The merger of the two water and sewer systems into a united Hopewell Valley would result in unprecedented development around both boroughs.
There are myriad other issues, large and small, that would complicate any consolidation but I’d like to point out one that may have been overlooked by many people. Both boroughs have their own libraries. Both are beloved by the residents of the boroughs and frequented by both borough and township residents alike. Hopewell Township subscribes to the county library system and hosts an excellent facility adjacent to the high school on West Delaware Avenue. State statute mandates that any municipality that hosts a library or subscribes to a library system must devote a percentage (granted, a very meager percentage) of their property taxes to fund their library. Hopewell Borough devotes this money to the Hopewell Public Library, Pennington earmarks their collection for the Pennington Library, and Hopewell Township sends its contribution to the Mercer County Library system. What will happen to the local (borough) libraries should consolidation become a reality?
I completely support, and will ask the council to endorse, a resolution to pursue the investigation of sharing services between the municipalities. I am all for the implementation of additional shared services if the taxpayers can benefit from savings and the residents of Hopewell Borough would not loose valued services.
I am very reluctant to rush to consolidation. I know the municipal government of Hopewell Borough delivers excellent and efficient service to its residents. I am very skeptical that there would be any meaningful savings achieved by consolidation and, even if there were, that the savings in dollars would be worth the cost in quality of life.
Again, it’s not just about the money.
David Nettles, mayor
Borough of Hopewell
Willow Creek stop
To the editor:
I gave the new bus stop at Titus Mill Road a chance. I still get a knot in my stomach every time a car turns onto Willow Creek Drive or the bus stops and 10 chatting children, K-five, traverse the road will the next car stop? What if it is dark? What if it is rainy or icy?
If the school district takes a hard line on busing rules then the township needs to step up and address the serious safety concerns generated by a bus stop on a busy rural road where the speed limit is 40 mph. Given a 30-minute walk, this intersection will be dark by early December when the sunrise is a 7:20 a.m. and sets at 4:30 p.m.
The police department his provided two orange cones for the parents to place on the road when the children are waiting for the bus. This is woefully insufficient. The following accommodations are necessary to ensure the safety of our children:
A significant street light at the intersection of Titus Mill Road and Willow Creek Drive.
Streetlights down all of Willow Creek Drive. There are no houses along the curvy farm road.
Bus stop warning signs from both directions on Titus Mill Road and on Willow Creek Drive.
A safe clean dry area for children to wait (rather than the middle of the road).
Sidewalks down Willow Creek Drive.
Complete snow removal across the entire breadth of Willow Creek Drive, not just down the center.
Permission for the residents to install a shelter and bike rack at the intersection.
Let’s examine the whole picture before making a decision.
Anita Bhala
Pennington
Parke lineage request
To the editor:
I am writing to ask your readers to assist me in my search for information about Roger Parke, who was born in 1775 in Hunterdon County.
The Hopewell history is famous for the Parke family. Dr. Roger Parke, born in 1684 in England, arrived in New Jersey in 1682; he died in 1739. Recent DNA testing indicates that Roger Parke is a descendent of this line. He left New Jersey circa 1773 for Loudoun County, Va., and married in 1774 at the age of 19. Dr. Roger Parke had a son, John Parke, who came to Virginia circa 1745 after the Cox’s land dispute in New Jersey. He lost his land and was forced to move on. His brother Roger Parke Jr., who was born in 1684 and died in 1755, stayed in New Jersey. I am sure my line descends from this man.
If any of your readers has information related to the Parke lineage, I would appreciate hearing from them. Please write to Ann Newell, HC 75 Box 320, Chloe, W.Va., 25235 or e-mail: [email protected].
Ann Newell
West Virginia
Attention: CHS parents
To the editor:
The No Child Left Behind Act has a provision that allows military recruiters to request and receive a list of students and their personal information from high schools.
For the past several years, the back-to-school information forms sent out by Hopewell Valley Central High School have included a check-off box for families to indicate that they would not permit the release of their child’s personal information to military recruiters. It would appear that a new policy has been adopted in addressing this issue. I am writing to highlight the new procedure since it may become lost in the deluge of back-to-school forms and information.
According to the back-to-school packet this year, if parents make the decision to prevent their child’s name and personal information from being accessed by military recruiters, they must write a letter to the high school principal to that effect. This new policy is explained in one of the half dozen or more pieces of information that have been sent out to high school families. In sorting through all of these forms and information sheets, it is possible that some parents will inadvertently miss the paragraph that explains this new policy. Parents have until Oct. 1, 2006 to write such a letter. After this deadline, the list of students will be made available to the military.
Peggy Snyder
Hopewell Township
