GUEST OPINION
Kathy and Tom Dallessio
For almost 20 years, we’ve been proud to call Hopewell Borough our home. Anyone who has had the opportunity to visit or live here, for even a day, knows what a special place this is. The beautiful natural resources, quaint community character and generous people make this village a wonderful place to live, work and raise a family. We’ve tried to give back, in many small ways, over the last two decades, as a small sign of thanks for all that’s been given to us. That’s the Hopewell way, and an important lesson that we want our 9-year-old son to learn.
The recent flurry of claims raised by Judy Jengo and her supporters at the December Borough Council meeting and through this newspaper with regard to the construction of our home are disturbing. Like the Mayor and Borough Council in their opinion piece on Dec. 18, we won’t try to address every claim raised by Ms. Jengo, but after three weeks of misinformation, spurious claims and attacks, we are compelled to speak.
We are confident that the construction of our home was done by professionals, reviewed by competent officials, and inhabited by Hopewell residents of integrity. To claim otherwise is, at best, false, at worst driven by an agenda that is bent on personal destruction.,
Let’s take these points one at a time. Our house was built according to code, without any variances or waivers. We received a Certificate of Occupancy after a thorough review by the borough engineer. And, we chose a design that reflects the Victorian character of this town. The claims of “reckless” development have no basis in fact.
Indeed, long before we built the house, we began planting our Christmas trees around the property to ensure that we’d be good stewards of the property. Our gifts to each other celebrating 40 years of life were to plant Weeping Willow trees, which now grace our backyard and absorb water flowing from nearby areas. In total, since we purchased the property, we planted 26 trees. Construction of the house did not require any tree removal.
That being said, we’ve received a number of e-mails and letters from Ms. Jengo over the last five years on what we should be doing with our property, and how construction has affected hers. The initial complaints were that water was pooling at the foot of her arborvitae, causing damage and destruction. That escalated to runoff was flooding her driveway. The most recent claim is we’re responsible for flooding her basement. Attempting to address these points has been at best confounding, at worst impossible, because there’s no direct evidence that connects the construction of our house to these issues. The simple fact is that our plans were drawn by professionals, approved by local officials and built to code. We have not taken any action since receiving the CO to deviate from these approvals.
In response to Ms. Jengo’s complaints, we met with her and Borough Engineer Dennis O’Neal, and walked the area with Councilman David Mackie. Following that meeting, Borough Clerk Michele Hovan sent a letter to us and Ms. Jengo dated April 19, 2007, indicating that the borough engineer prepared a report for the Mayor and Council that “concisely and accurately depicts the borough’s position on this matter.” The report was a memorandum dated April 16, 2007 from Hopewell Valley Engineering that detailed a short background, provided findings of site inspection and review of documents, and offered suggestions that could be incorporated by one or both property owners.
To quote the report, “Following up on Ms. Jengo’s complaints, both Dennis O’Neal and David Mackie met with Ms. Jengo and conducted several site inspections. Both O’Neal and Mackie reviewed additional data including the original topographic survey, and the proposed grading plan, and the as-built grading plans. It was Mr. O’Neal’s opinion that the addition of the house on Lot 15, and the grading shown on the approved plan did not significantly increase runoff reaching Lot 26.”
Despite this finding, last April, we received a copy of a letter sent to the Borough Council from Ms. Jengo’s attorney, where she filed a Notice of Tort Claim against the borough. A few days later we received a letter from the same attorney, concluding: “As a result, please be advised that we are preparing to file suit in the very near future unless you will agree to meet and resolve this situation without delay by making appropriate compensation to Ms. Jengo for her losses and to taking the necessary mitigation measures that will prevent the flooding by stormwater.”
Needless to say, a threat of a lawsuit is not the Hopewell way, nor is trying to resolve an issue such as this by making claims at a council meeting or through the newspaper. We believe that we have acted in good faith in cooperation with the borough to address the claims raised by Ms. Jengo. If either Sen. William Schluter or Sourland Council President Andrea Bonnett had contacted us prior to making their statements, they would have heard evidence that might have tempered their remarks.
We’ve seen evidence of how the people of Hopewell address challenges. When we first moved to town, a car hit our dog. The driver was not at all at fault, and, in fact, did not know the dog was hurt. Being a Hopewell resident, though, he searched to find us, and through a neighbor, stayed in contact. Hopewell people care, and work together to improve all of our lives.
Over the last two weeks, a number of neighbors, friends and other associates who read the news and letters to the editor offered their sympathies, support and concern. To all who have reached out to us or have thought about how such an attack could affect our young son, we offer our thanks.
We’re more than willing to work collaboratively with Ms. Jengo and the borough to better understand the issues raised by Ms. Jengo, and find real, long-term solutions. However, the threat of lawsuits and personal attacks in the press do not deserve the dignity of a response, let alone action. Not in Hopewell. Not in Our Back Yard.
Kathy and Tom Dallessio are residents of Washington Avenue.