Administration has dropped the ball on open space in O.B.
GLORIA E. GRAU Guest Column
Often, we don't personally know the people for whom we vote. In the local elections for which Old Bridge voters will be casting their ballots this year, the people, as in "of the people, for the people, and by the people," will be voting for candidates we know very well, fairly well, somewhat well, or not at all. Today's communications, however, can make anyone who is interested as knowledgeable as the next person.

And what are these people, this down-home Old Bridge electorate, asking for besides lower taxes and the other financial variables that make living here possible/ enjoyable? Well, it's the same thing they have asked for in ballot question after ballot question, election after election, and been promised again and again, election after election, for the better part of the 45 years we have lived in this community. More open space, of course.

Who controls our master plan and zoning laws? If we've been stifled all these years by the statutes rather than our local township councils, planning boards and zoning boards, why hasn't the party in power exerted its influence with its Trenton affiliates to change state zoning laws - that is, before their various indictments and convictions, and in one case at least, before being drummed into the federal penitentiary? How is it that today's Planning Board is sitting on no fewer than seven applications denied by this board, awaiting court decisions that will probably again favor developers? We the taxpayers, ladies and gentlemen, are financing these lawsuits against our Planning Board.

In all the talk about the plans for Crossroads, my thoughts always go back to the well-attended initial public hearing for a proposed nursing home on that land - a use for which the public has never clamored, then or now. One of that proposal's foremost proponents was the former township engineer who, incidentally, was also subsequently convicted. I still remember one resident who, after asking how much the proposed project would save in reduced taxes, said, "About $200? You can

keep it."

That was the feeling of most people there that night, especially those who live nearby and would experience daily the loss of that priceless natural environment. After years of living with the threat of Olympia and York, they finally saw the land released, but to one after another proposed money-making schemes, fortunately or unfortunately unfulfilled, that would eventually destroy forever one of the remaining small forests in this overdeveloped township, county and state.

If the now-proposed data center is such a red-hot deal, is this the only land left in Old Bridge that can accommodate such a facility? Approximately 75 employees in four buildings equal a minimum of 300 employees - with two or three shifts, 600-900 employees - but "no children added to our schools" and "creating virtually no traffic?" No big rigs hauling supplies in and out? Think Englishtown Road now during Raceway Park events and the Englishtown Auction. These projects always sound better to those who do not have to live with them.

We would be discarding forever resources at the forefront of global warming - wetlands and trees. As temperatures increase, so does evaporation. Water has been scarce in Western states for decades, and now it's getting closer to home. Scientists expect shallower lakes, lower water tables and unpredictable stream flows. While we lose fresh water, warmer oceans can bring profound change, not only with hurricanes but to our fisheries and agriculture as well as to human health. Diseases can be spread by migrating rodents and insects, and increasing heat aggravates asthma and respiratory illness. Have we forgotten that trees convert carbon dioxide into oxygen? It is apparent that 300 acres of them are worth more than a ratable. Of course, we need and want ratables, but not at any price.

We've seen their signs, but how much land in this township has really been preserved since the current administration took office? They're not even thinking preservation of some of South Old Bridge's most valuable land.

As a disillusioned Democrat, I'm going to vote for change. I'm going to vote for Owen Henry for Township Council because I know him, know he's eminently qualified and know the campaign literature honestly depicts him and his views. I've also met the other Republican candidates and believe they are fine people who will do their level best to move our community forward in a direction closer to the desires of the people who live here.

Sorry, "Team Old Bridge." You just haven't measured up.

Gloria E. Grau is a resident of Old Bridge