Much has been made about the “pocket park,” which has progressed far beyond the design stage. Despite multiple presentations, the financial details remain murky and incomplete.
Why not join me in a community effort to restore “The Oasis,” the hidden jewel at the Princeton Junction Train Station, which would be enjoyed by commuters and cultivated by schoolchildren as an important ecosystem? The current mayor has had 20 years to do something to make it happen.
This story isn’t about Councilman Maher or the frustration we as taxpayers feel with profligate spending. Mr. Maher seems to be the only one on the dais who is looking out for the taxpayer by raising legitimate questions about unbridled spending. Financial details are almost always missing, including the proposed 2013 municipal budget.
The story is lost when the media fails to detail the complete story. Remember, the litigation-happy township government leadership sued to stop the property owners from constructing a 7-Eleven. From my observations, it seems the pocket park is 75 percent constructed without any detailed funding, maintenance plans, neighborhood notifications, or approvals. The township and county, for 30 years, failed to coordinate the removal this past summer of the barrier on Route 571 between Alexander Road and Clarksville Road.
Rather than starting another political bonfire for which the Hsueh Administration is famous, why cannot we finish several projects already underway, and left in limbo?
To wit:
Should not the township focus on lowering its outrageous property taxes? The main street of Princeton Junction cannot seem to coordinate its sidewalks and streetlights.
Several years ago, a Councilwoman opined that burying utilities along Route 571 in the business district was “too expensive” yet there has been no plan to restore taxpayer funds of over $1,000,000 on a transit village debacle. Township beautification is a noble effort but short on accomplishment.
Following Tropical Storm Irene, promises were made to Penns Neck residents to address the flooding from Little Bear Brook using free, builder-provided funds. I guess the mayor’s neighborhood doesn’t flood so there is no sense of urgency.
Despite presiding over the cover-up of the Grover Homestead in which a taxpayer-owned 170-year-old farmhouse was ransacked, the shift is to . . . a pocket park? Our priorities seem major league misguided.
There is currently a four-step process in West Windsor: (1) headlines; (2) absolve responsibility when errors or problems arise; (3) move on to the next photo op; (4) blame all problems on just-resigned business administrator.
The area behind the Ellsworth Center has been a graffiti ghetto for 20 years; the new Alexander Road rotary, built with $27 million of free money, is obsolete and crumbling; and the Howard Hughes/General Growth/former Cyanamid property used to contribute $2 million in quality ratables with professional jobs but is now a prospective site for more housing, just what West Windsor doesn’t need.
I encourage you, the reader, to come out to express your opinions — both pro and con — about how your government spends your tax dollars. Freedom is not free.
Pete Weale
