EDITOR
Back in September 2004, I attended a Bernardsville Borough
Council meeting to see how the street on which I reside,
Bernards Avenue, would improve from the town’s new
budget plans.
At the time, I was quite happy to learn the council had
received a $150,000 grant from the state for road maintenance.
The meeting ended with a plan to improve Bernards Avenue
with curbs, sidewalks and new pavement from end to end. The
project was scheduled to be completed by spring 2005.
It has now been a year since that meeting, but not a single
improvement has been made. Residents of the street have become
extremely frustrated over the last 12 months so I decided
to attend the council meeting Monday, Sept. 26.
Despite the overwhelming amount of time they have had, it
wasn’t until this meeting that the council finally
decided to vote on exactly how to spend the state grant.
The council members basically had two choices:
1) Curbs, sidewalks, and new pavement would be added to
Bernards Avenue to improve the street’s pedestrian
safety, water drainage and drastically improve the street’s
appearance, and therefore, property value. Final cost was
approximately $300,000.
2.) Only new pavement would be added. The street’s
water drainage, appearance and property value would not change
at all because curbs and sidewalks would not be added. Furthermore,
the street’s pedestrian traffic would be in much greater
risk because the driver’s on the street would now have
a newly paved speedway to drive past the many children. Final
cost was approximately $200,000.
The council had saved over $200k from Bernardsville taxpayers
to go along with $150k state grant. Therefore, the cost of
each option wasn’t of much concern to the council members.
One by one, I heard each council member explain why he or
she felt option one would be the best decision. Despite the
greater initial cost, option one would actually be less expensive
in the long run because curbs provide better water drainage
and therefore, potholes would be much less likely to form.
I almost left to go home midway through the meeting because
it seemed like an easy decision. A week after this meeting,
I’m still shocked and deeply disappointed to know that
all but one - Joseph Rossi - of the six council members in
attendance voted for option 2.
Their reasoning for this is even more pathetic than the
decision itself. They realized that in order to keep the
state grant, the project would need to be completed by the
end of 2005. Option 2 received five of the six votes because
it would take less time to be installed.
Therefore, one simple question needs to be answered: Why
did it take the council so long to make their decision? To
make things even more frustrating, each council member, with
the exception of Rossi, literally laughed out loud at how
slow they have worked over the past year.
They each knew that option 2 would not be helpful in stopping
the numerous problems that Bernards Avenue residents currently
face, but their only concern seemed to be getting home in
time to watch Monday Night Football.
To a much lesser extent, I now understand how the residents
of New Orleans must feel after their city officials wasted
years and millions and millions of dollars before being hit
by the Hurricane Katrina disaster. I’m just happy that
Bernardsville is located in Northwest New Jersey and not
on the Gulf Coast because it is easy to see how the council
would waste the money needed to improve the levees.
I’m one of several angry parents who live on Bernards
Avenue and feel literally too scared to walk my kids up to
the local Pine Street Park because of the risk of being hit
by some landscaping-truck. To most people around the state,
Bernardsville represents the finest in New Jersey’s
luxurious communities.
However, to those on Bernards Avenue, Bernardsville is nothing
more than a place for landscaping trucks to park and illegal
aliens to hide.
To be blunt, I am literally embarrassed to bring people
to my street due to the deterioration of its appearance and
a serious lack of curbside appeal. As a Bernardsville taxpayer
and a registered voter, I am asking you for assistance in
improving life on Bernards Avenue.
Please reconsider your vote this Monday. Keep in mind, the
residents of Bernards Avenue will be putting together a petition
this weekend and remember that elections happen every November.
STEVEN TOBIN
36 Bernards Ave.
Bernardsville
