“Hello Neighbors,
This morning, Dino Colarocco, Director of Public Works for Robbinsville paid me a visit. Together we took a walking tour of Washington Town Center. Dino also provided me a well thought out presentation which he gave to the town council during budget season. The presentation provided a clear insight into ways he trying to maximize efficiency with the limited resources allocated to the maintenance of everything from the parks in town center, to the air conditioning in the municipal buildings. I appreciate the time Dino took to talk with me. It is clear that he is doing the best he can with the little that has been given.
To recap, for the community at large, Dino said that the Town, not Sharbell, is responsible for both sides of the lake, and most of WTC west of Robbinsville-Edinburg Road, and north of Union Street. Dino acknowledged that there are just not enough resources dedicated to the maintenance of Town Center. He said that at a bare minimum WTC should have two to three full time public works employees, if we want the parks and open space maintained adequately. But, there are no plans to make anything like that a reality. There is nothing in the budget allocated or earmarked specifically for this level of maintenance.
We looked at the trees, landscaping and grass in the North Street park. Dino acknowledged that the trees are extremely stressed because they do not get regular watering. Some of the trees that were replaced (for the second time) just last year, are just about dead. He said that there are plans to add mulch and weed the landscaping at some point, but did not have specifics as to when it would happen. Dino also admitted that it’s been at least a year since any fresh mulch was put down, and that it should be something that is done in the spring. He said adding a sprinkler system to properly irrigate the North Street park would cost the town $15-20K and that there are no plans at this time to do that. He did not know why North Street park was not built with a sprinkler system, but the newer parks in WTC were, and acknloweged that it was probably something that was an after tought and agreed to after the township engineer and Sharbell realized it makes sense otherwise everything basicially dires up and dies.
We walked to the retention pond (some call it a lake) and Dino told me about options the township is exploring to keep the lake clean, and the algae at bay, but told me the price of some of the things they are looking at are over $50K and just not in the budget. We also looked at the cracked walkway around the lake. Dino said that Sharbell was supposed to fix it before their bond was released, but was not surprised that it had not been fixed. He acknowledged that it is a hazard, and should be fixed, but did not know when the town would get to it.
I provided Dino the list of streetlights I collected that were inoperable. Dino said that the town has had trouble getting PSE&G to fix some of these lights, since in some cases they are not bulb issues. In some cases there is no power going to the streetlights. In some cases electric lines may have been clipped when residents had in-ground sprinklers installed. In any event, Dino acknowledged that it is not only unsafe, but unsightly to have 40+ streetlights in the community inoperable. He took my list and said he would contact PSE&G to have the lights fixed (thanks to Lauren Roberts for the additional list).
We looked at other dead trees, patches of dirt that are packed so solid that grass will never grow, gound cover in the center island of Newtown Blvd that is filled with weeds, the Garden Street park that has mulch washing out all over the weed filled brick walkway, and the poorly laid brick walkways on North Street, Ely Crescent and Garden Street that collect puddles of water and are a hazard in the winter. Dino acknowledged that all of these things, and more are an eyesore, and not something he is proud of. If he had the crew and resources, he would love to make our community beautiful.
When I asked Dino what we as citizens of Robbinsville could do to help him get the appropriate resources, he suggested starting with getting a motivated group of residents to speak to the town council. He also said that without the Special Improvement District, it’s likely that there will be little to no improvement over what we have today.
I would like to know if there is anyone out there that would work with me to put a plan together to present to the town council? Dino, Mary and David, who are CC’d on this email, I would appreciate your input and recommendations as well.
If we do not make this an issue, no one will. List lurkers, who are shy, or do not want to speak out to the group at large, please feel free to contact me directly. Those that have already contacted me for one thing or another, let me know if you want to help too. Together, we can make our community better, and more beautiful. If we don’t take action now, what will our community look like in 15 years? I shudder at the thought.
As this is a big year in national politics, I must have the civic bug… I keep hearing over and over again, “Yes We Can!”
Have a happy Independence Day neighbors.
Cheers,
Scott
”
— The preceding is the letter I sent to the residents of my community after meeting with the director of public works. Mr. Smith, look out!
