DON GREENBERG
Citizens For a Safer Route 206
SUSAN KAPOOR
Chair, Princeton Regional Health Commission
BOB RODGERS
Laurel Road
RICHARD TRENNER
Province Line Road
COLIN VONVORYS
Mount Lucas Road
To the Editor:
Six homeowners along State Road near the intersection with Arreton Road have received letters from the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) announcing its intention to acquire by eminent domain substantial swaths of frontage on Route 206 for a drainage project. Not only would the forced purchase entail the felling of some 27 trees — trees that form part of the stately canopy that makes State Road so lovely — but clearing the area around the road would inevitably encourage speeding by giving drivers the sense of being on open highway.
These proposed "improvements" would expend state funds to undermine another ongoing state-funded project to develop a unified vision plan for the entire northern leg of Route 206 in Princeton. As most people who live in town know, consultants hired by the NJDOT have been working with residents and local officials on this plan since last year. One of the things the vision plan stresses is preserving our wonderful tree canopy. It does so because that's what Princeton residents have overwhelmingly told the consultants and the NJDOT they want. The plan also includes proposed road improvements at State Road and Arreton Road, the very intersection where the drainage project and the taking of private property is now scheduled.
It is my understanding that the flooding of State Road, which the drainage repairs are supposed to address, came as a result of the confluence of obstructed drains beside the road and the occurrence of Hurricane Floyd, which was considered a "500 year" storm. The drains were obstructed because no jurisdiction was clearing them properly. It is also my understanding that the Township has now assumed responsibility for clearing those drains on a regular basis, and that temporary repairs have already been made to the section of the road in question.
There are better, more environmentally sensitive and context sensitive methods to permanently solve this drainage problem besides the inordinate taking of private property and the destruction of 27 trees. Instead of having one project work at odds with another, we urge the NJDOT instead to incorporate the drainage repairs into the ongoing unified vision plan on which so many Princeton residents and officials have spent so much time and hard work.
DON GREENBERG
Citizens For a Safer Route 206
To the Editor:
This letter is to alert residents of Princeton to the current unsatisfactory state of emergency preparedness in our community, and to recommend that the two governing bodies appoint a qualified individual to serve as the leader in emergency planning, management, and response for the Township and the Borough.
Mayor Marchand and the Township Committee are in agreement that emergency response management must be addressed and have agreed, informally, to fund their portion of such a position. On January 24, representatives of the Princeton Regional Health Commission appeared before the Borough Council to discuss the need for a joint emergency response manager. While several suggestions were presented by the Borough Council, no commitment to this recommendation was made.
The Health Commission has had heightened concern about the vulnerability of our community to emergency and catastrophic events since the September 11 terrorist attacks and the local anthrax letters. The contamination of our drinking water during the 1999 Hurricane Floyd flood originally alerted us to the problem that there was no coordinated response at that time; information spread by rumor. Unfortunately, little has changed. There is no individual in charge of coordinated emergency and catastrophic event planning, management, and response for the Borough and Township. There is no clear chain of command, no ongoing planning and coordination among the many entities (including local businesses, public and private schools, the University, the Seminary, Police, Fire, Rescue Squad, Health Department, and County and State governments) that would be involved in a large scale emergency response, nor are there rehearsals to test the system. At present both the Township and Borough have assigned the responsibility of emergency management to a staff member in their respective police departments. However, both police departments indicate that the time and resources allocated to this effort are inadequate to the task.
For the past two years, the Health Commission has spent considerable time and effort trying to advance the state of emergency preparedness in the two municipalities. A year ago, a representative of the Health Commission met with the two mayors to discuss the need to identify an individual to lead emergency management as their primary job responsibility. The Health Commission also organized and hosted meetings involving the Borough, Township, Princeton University, and Princeton Medical Center to discuss logistics, coordinated responses, specific procedures, and rehearsal needs. Although all parties were concerned and cooperative, major issues of roles, responsibilities, and especially leadership remain. The recent events associated with Hurricanes Katrina and Rita make it abundantly clear that failure to establish leadership, clear lines of authority, and realistic, detailed, and rehearsed responses results in the loss of life and considerable suffering.
The Princeton Regional Health Commission thinks that this matter is so vital to the welfare of Princeton residents that we are obligated to share our concerns with the residents of Princeton. We urge that Princeton residents support the employment of a qualified individual, with experience in emergency planning and response, to be jointly appointed and serve as the leader during a community emergency or catastrophic event. We do not want to wait for another emergency to ask "Who is in charge?"
SUSAN KAPOOR
Chair, Princeton Regional Health Commission
To the Editor:
This is in appreciation for the special service of Bill Hearon, with regret, but understanding, for his resignation from the Princeton Township Committee.
Bill epitomizes the best of representative service to his community. He welcomes neighborhood views and concerns, helps pull them together practically, engages them constructively with the governing body and administration, and guides the process toward fruition, all in the most self-effacing way. We need more like him.
Knowing that our experience with Bill in development of the Route 206 improvement plan is just one of many like it around the Township, I hope it may be commemorated by naming the first stage "Hearon Circle."
BOB RODGERS
Laurel Road
To the Editor:
Half the real story is missing from your recent front-page articles on the controversial "revised master plan" for Morven, the historic house and garden in the heart of Princeton. The articles insinuate that criticism of the plan — especially of the scheme to graft two large glass boxes to the old house in order to make a visitors' center and staff offices — is unfounded. Indeed, the stories repeat what the proponents want yet ignore what the critics think.
As you continue to follow the Morven story, please convey the views not only of those who have commissioned and endorsed the revised master plan but also of those who have concluded that the proposed changes are too ambitious, too expensive, and, in a word, alien to the look and temper of the handsome house and mellow gardens. Please publish a few of the architect's drawings so that your readers can visualize the proposed changes. And please remind the readers that, of the thousands of acres once part of the Morven estate, only seven remain, so every bit of those seven acres contributes to preserving and conveying a sense of the past.
Please take a walk in the gardens at Prospect House, the big Italianate style house on the Princeton University campus. (Once the residence of Woodrow Wilson and other presidents of the university, Prospect is now the faculty club.) In particular, please look carefully at the glass box stuck onto the back of Prospect House several years ago. The box is boring; the original house is enchanting; together they are a groom in torn jeans kissing a bride in white brocade.
Three last points. First, I much prefer good contemporary architecture to most revival architecture, but historic context calls for stylistic congruity. Second, I fear that the proponents of a bigger and fancier Morven are too readily embracing the discontented spirit of the present age, which confuses quantity with quality and self-promotion with authenticity. Finally, my wife, Annabelle Radcliffe-Trenner, worked as a preservation architect on the restoration of Morven a few years ago, yet as I write this letter, she is climbing on the roof of an old church in Bernardsville and has no idea that I'm asking you to tell both sides of the Morven story.
RICHARD TRENNER
Province Line Road
To the Editor:
I'd like to alert you to a possible misprint in last week's article about Township Committeeman Bill Hearon's resignation (Town Topics, February 22). In it you quote Princeton Township Democratic Committee (PTDC) municipal chairman Dan Preston as "looking for a fully open participatory process" for finding Mr. Hearon's replacement. Mr. Preston must have been misquoted. How do I know? Because I called him to see how I, a registered Republican, could be included in his review process. His four-word response stunned me: "Register as a Democrat!" So I asked him, "Aren't you putting partisan politics before what could potentially be beneficial to our community?" He responded by saying that it was his obligation as PTDC chairman to further the Democratic agenda here in Princeton.
My background, which includes current service on the Princeton Township Housing Board overseeing our Affordable Housing Program, former service on the Princeton Commission on Civil Rights, lifetime residency in Mercer County with the last 20 years spent in Princeton Township, almost 25 years of business experience, and an outspoken passion for this town, apparently isn't enough to even warrant consideration unless I register as a Democrat.
My wife's a Democrat. My mom's a Democrat. I have four sisters who are Democrats. Sorry, not good enough. The process is closed to me unless I sell out my core values. I'm faced with an interesting Catch 22: to be included in the process, I have to show a complete lack of character. But why would Mr. Preston consider recommending a candidate with no integrity?
I spoke with our Township attorney, and although the state statute is clear that the PTDC gets to lead the candidate vetting process, there's nothing that specifically states only Democrats can be considered as replacements.
So there must be some mistake. I've learned that in order to be considered as a replacement for Mr. Hearon, one must first be a registered Democrat, yet less than half of the voters in Princeton are registered Democrats. So how can Mr. Preston say he wants "an open process" if that process excludes a majority of Princetonians? Unless, of course, he means open only to those who share his liberal views.
And if that's his intent, I'm fine with that. This isn't a case of sour grapes. Democrats keep winning elections, and to the victors go the spoils. But here's the rub: every election season, the Princeton Democrats defend one-party rule by claiming party affiliation has no bearing on local politics. Well, clearly that's not the case. My conversation with Mr. Preston proves these assertions are disingenuous or, worse, downright deceitful.
My father once told me that not too long ago there were signs in businesses that read, "Irish-Catholics need not apply." In a town like Princeton that values diversity, we ought not to have the attitude that when it comes to public service the message is "Republicans need not apply."
COLIN VONVORYS
Mount Lucas Road