My final Dispatches column offers reflections on 20 years at the Post.
As anyone who has read this blog knows by now, I am a dog owner and a dog lover. I have two crazy mutts — Rosie and Sophie — and have had dogs for about 25 years. They are like family.
I also think dog parks can be great for some dog owners (my dogs, however, might not do so well — Rosie is not very friendly to other dogs).
This brings me to South Brunswick’s proposed purchase of a private dog park in the Little Rocky Hill section of town. The plan, which gets a final vote on Tuesday, calls for the council to
purchase the privately owned Rocky Top Dog Park, 4106 Route 27, for $360,000, which would come out of the open space fund.
”The plan is to try and generate revenue so the park pays for itself with maintenance, but also to replenish the Open Space Trust Fund,” said Ron Schmalz, public affairs coordinator.
The 5.75-acre dog park currently generates between $60,000 to $90,000 in revenue each year, Mr. Schmalz said.
The plan appears to have majority support — only Republican John O’Sullivan voted against it — because council members view it as a revenue-generator that would increase the money available for future open space purchases.
But, as Frank Chrinko, a former member of the Township Committee and a longtime gadfly in town, writes in this letter, it is a dangerous gamble and “does not meet the test of an essential municipal function.”
And that seems key to me. I am not a small-goverment conservative. I believe government has a role in providing for our well-being, and I don’t see how getting into the dog park business does this. This is the kind of spending we should be targeting — as with the governor’s proposal on the horse-racing industry. A dog park is not essential any more than state-subsidized horse racing or a sports stadium.
Let a private firm buy Rocky Top if it wants.
The fireworks show in South Brunswick was as good a show as I’ve seen in a long time, and it offered a great closing to a nice community event designed to bring people in town together.
What was nice, I think, was that the event had nothing to do with the kind of marshal nonsense that tends to characterize these things, the gaudy, overbearing patriotism and flag-waving that always makes me a bit queazy.
We got there late, but my brother and his friends were there and set up near the front. We grabbed some food and I had a chance to talk to Councilman Joe Camarota, who was the primary organizer. He was marveling at the crowd and rightly pleased with the response from the community. Volunteer groups and businesses jumped in when the town opted not to fund the display (the right choice in these budgetary times) and the result was something more and better than it otherwise might have been.
(Before anyone jumps in to say this is proof the private sector can do things better than the government, I need to point out that the fireworks festival is not a necessity and should be handled privately, unlike fire and police, medical care and many other things.)
Camarota says he’s hoping to kick the whole thing off with a parade next year. If tonight’s event was any indication, I’m sure he’ll make it happen. And I’m looking forward to it already.
I know where it is — smack in the middle of New Jersey, between New Brunswick and Princeton and along four major north-south highways (Routes 27, 1 and 130 and the N.J. Turnpike). But not everyone knows, which this is why you get this kind of misleading press info, published in the Princeton University Bulletin in September after Segal’s work was donated to the university:
Segal, a painter and sculptor associated with the Pop Art movement, lived in North Brunswick, N.J., for most of his adult life.
Segal, one of the more prominent artists of the last century, lived not in North Brunswick — though he had a North Brunswick mailing address — but in South Brunswick. Frank Chrinko, a former South Brunswick mayor, called my attention to the error, saying that it offered proof that the township needs a single, South Brunswick mailing address. Maybe he’s right. Maybe it’s time.
The folks with the Dayton Village Coalition have been trying to get South Brunswick’s local government to focus on efforts to create a more pedestrian-friendly village area — a goal that is certainly worth pursuing.
As I’ve written a number of times in the past — both in columns and in editorials — the area surrounding Five Corners (shown in the video above, which was shot at about 11 today) could serve as a perfect “downtown” for South Brunswick. The office/local retail mix already is in place and, with a little work, the area could be transformed.
First, sidewalks need to be extended — not only on Georges Road, but on Ridge Road, as well. And public parking needs to be added (this could be accomplished by gaining an agreement from the individual strip malls allowing people to park and walk).
Most important, though, is taking a broad enough view of the area so that its boundaries include the library, the two middle schools, Pierre’s, Indian Fields, Wetherill and the Stop & Shop on Route 522.
The work done so far by the Coalition has been positive, bringing as many of the stakeholders to the table as could be arranged. That has to be the first step. The next step is to bring the Township Council and Planning Board along, to make them understand that modest changes in thinking will allow the Dayton village to be everything it should be.
(Jump in on this one, either by commenting here, at The Blog of South Brunswick or on our South Brunswick Post Forum.)
Hank Kalet 