Resident says citizens’ comments were not considered by officials

On Aug. 27 there was a Township Committee meeting. The committee was to address ordinance No. 37-01, connecting to the water system, and ordinance No. 38-01, connecting to the sewer system. This was to be the second reading of these ordinances.

The problem is there was never a first reading of these ordinances. The first reading of this ordinance was to be on Aug. 13. At that meeting the ordinance was proposed, but the committee refused to read the actual content of these ordinances.

When asked what these ordinances contained the committeemen said the ordinances would be available at the township clerk’s office. No public input was allowed at the first reading.

At the second reading over 75 people showed up to listen and express valid concerns about the wording of these ordinances. After 45 minutes of comments from the public on ordinance No. 37-01, the Township Committee was asked to vote on ordinance No. 37-01. Not one of the committee members or the mayor ever asked if they should make changes to ordinance No. 37-01 based on the comments made by these citizens. They just ignored our concerns and voted 5-0 to pass the ordinance as is.

The audience sat stunned in disbelief, unable to comprehend how their concerns were ignored. Not one of their recommendations was considered valid by the mayor or committee.

After 15 minutes of comments they voted 5-0 and passed ordinance No. 38-01 with only one change that was recommended by the township lawyer - again ignoring citizens’ concerns.

Vincent J. Dugan

Jackson