An Infinity of Headstones

Last week, during a trip to the Nation’s Capital, I and some of my family – together with hundreds of other people – paid our respects to America’s heroes with a visit to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, on the other side of the Potomac River, across from The National Mall in Washington, D.C. 

 

Rows upon rows, in a seemingly endless

expression of the ultimate sacrifice.

It’s not the first time that I’ve walked upon those grounds.  Yet the site holds a special place in my heart, as do some of the other national monuments such as the Vietnam War Memorial and other similar sites dedicated to those who have fallen in the service of America.
 
The National Mall holds reminders of other conflicts – more than any of us would like to see – yet they stand as a necessary tribute, lest we forget. 
 
I’ve asked myself more than once why I feel such an attachment to these fallen men and women.  Perhaps it is because it has been my good fortune not to have lost in battle my three ‘big brothers’ who were drafted into military service during World War II.

Is it Merely “NIMBY,” or is there Legitimate Worry about Water Encroachment and Other Environmental Concerns?

Sunday afternoon, I decided to take a drive along Twin Oaks Road, the narrow, northerly passage which hangs on the shoulder of the First Watchung Mountain in Bridgewater:

A short stretch of drainage ditch along

 the north side of Twin Oaks Road. (Bergeron Image.)

This short stretch of macadam runs from Morningside Drive to the West and Steele Gap Road to the East.  It roughly defines the northern boundary of a 36 acre tract of land proposed for development.  Opposition to this plan, popularly known as “Stop 18 Homes,” has grown more organized and vocal.

The proposal is currently before the Bridgewater Township Planning Board.  Another meeting is planned for this evening at 7:00 pm in the Municipal Courtroom.  The applicant, Mr. Lang, current owner of this property, is represented by counsel and has also retained an environmental expert who will present his findings and, presumably, his conclusions to the Planning Board this evening.

Smoother Roads and Better Traffic Control Reduce the Stress of Driving.

There is still a long way to go, and a lot of bumpy pavements to fix in Bridgewater Township.  Yet, despite the fiscal constraints under which the Township is operating, the Administration has moved ahead by repaving some of the more badly damaged sections of Bridgewater’s roads. 

New traffic lights are being installed at the intersection

 of Foothill Road and Mine Road in Bridgewater.

 (Bergeron Image.)

It has also focused its attention upon remedying what was progressively becoming a very hazardous intersection.

Mine Road, as its winds its way in a serpentine fashion down the shoulder of the First Watchung Mountain to its terminus where it meets Foothill Road, forming a perpendicular intersection with the latter, has long presented a blind spot to all drivers at that location. 

Example:  A vehicle making a turn from the bottom of Mine Road may proceed to the left or the right.   Negotiating a left turn has become especially perilous.

The Quandary of the Quorum

In its decision to visit the site for the proposed development of 18 homes on 36 steep acres of mountain property once owned by John Wemple on Foothill Road, the Bridgewater Township Planning Board made a wise choice. 

Planning Board Attorney Thomas Collins and

Board President Joanne Kane witness questioning

 of engineer James Mantz by attorney for Stop-18-Homes,

 Jeffrey Brookner. (Bergeron Image.)

But in declining to do so with at least five members of the Planning Board present, it made a very unwise decision – one which is contrary to the best interests of Bridgewater residents and which blurs the window of transparency in governance.

Under New Jersey’s “Sunshine Law,” if a public body has at least a majority of its members at any one place at any one time, there is a quorum, and the event is considered a public meeting.  As a result, the public must be notified in advance and it cannot be denied admittance.

Largely at the prodding of Mr. Jeffrey Brookner, the attorney for Stop 18 Homes, the Planning Board discussed inspecting the site bounded by Foothill, Twin Oaks, and Steele Gap Roads.

To Build, or Not to Build.

The 36 acres of land proposed for development just north of Route 22 and Foothill Road in Bridgewater is an athlete’s stone’s throw away from the Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School.  (Some of this Township’s longer-term residents may remember it as the former Bridgewater-Raritan High School East.)

Bridgewater residents Robert Vaucher (foreground)

 and Jeffrey Brookner — Attorney for 'Stop-18-Homes' —

listen to testimony at the June 25, 2012,

Planning Board Meeting at the Bridgewater

Municipal Complex. (Bergeron Image.)

Tonight, there will be another meeting of the Planning Board at 7:00 pm in the Township Municipal Complex to continue a discussion about the eventual fate of those 36 acres.  They were originally owned by John Wemple, whose wish it was that they remain passive as green space.

That piece of property presents an interesting dilemma, because it raises the fundamental question of what constitutes the highest and best use of land within a community – a question which can reasonably be debated from a technical, aesthetic, environmental and societal point of view. 

However, what has been discussed so far at the meetings at which I have been in attendance seems to have concentrated mainly with satisfying the proposal’s technical aspects; that is, the strictly interpreted code requirements of both Bridgewater Township, as well as those of the State of New Jersey. 

But nothing in life is all that simple – and this project might be one such example.

Sum. . . Sum. . . Summertime!

Coming in for a landing.

RANDOM MUSINGS:  It’s one of those times when it’s necessary to put aside – if  only briefly – the daily cares of life and to take at least a modicum of respite to smell the roses; or, as in my case, to observe the workings of nature’s winged creatures.

The very hot weather that is keeping so many of us indoors in air-conditioned comfort has also prompted hordes of others to head to the Jersey shore:  Everybody has his or her own preferred way of dealing with escaping this brutal heat.

The Business of the Bee

I’ve been working in the front-yard garden on these recent, steamy days of early summer, when the perennial butterfly bushes come into full bloom and begin to attract nature’s pollinators.

Each season, bees are the first arrivals:  They waste no time in their efforts to collect as much nectar and pollen as they can and to fly it back to their hive for conversion into the honey that will carry them through the winter months. 

Butterfly bushes (Buddleia) come into full bloom during the very last days of June, and they continue to push out their long and colorful flowering spikes into August and September.

However, the adopted Bergeron bees have been very pre-occupied over the last three weeks with an earlier source of food – the end of June is too late for them to wait for plants that start blooming then.