To the Editor:
Lower Township’s government officials have worked hard to keep the annual budget under control. This benefits residents of Lower Township by keeping our tax dollars as low as possible. The 2013 budget was increased by 2.9 percent. Good management and good fortune have enabled the 2014 budget to remain the same as the 2013 budget, which means no tax increase this year. Thank you for a job well done.
There is another, very important issue still in the decision-making process, where to house our police department. In this process, safety, cost and commercial growth must be weighed against tradition and convenience.
In its nearly 60-year history, the police have been housed in three locations. The department began on Seashore Road, later moved to the Villas in the Bayshore Road government complex and currently is in the Cape May County Airport complex. The deteriorated state of their current building means that the Department needs a new home. There does not seem to be any debate on that front. The debate centers on where to house the department.
The options being considered are returning the station to the Villas location, once that building has been expanded and modernized or building a new home in the airport complex. The former would be a return to tradition and convenience, a central location in the township.
But, today our police face new challenges. One of the most serious is the growing epidemic of heroin abuse. This means a steady stream of addicts, dealers and others involved in the crimes defining this epidemic entering and leaving the police station. That is the strongest reason for not returning to the Villas location. Since they left, the David Douglas Memorial Elementary School and a recreation center have opened near that location. Our children and others must not be exposed, even accidentally, to those involved with heroin or any crimes. Another reason to keep the police at the airport complex is the township’s goal of developing it and attracting businesses to locate there. A police presence is a positive to attract businesses.
A bond issue of $2.5 to $3.5 million will be used to finance this new building. For the Villas location, that range does not include the cost of road and other infrastructure changes mandatory to returning there. In the Airport complex, a new building needs no infrastructure changes, will improve the area and help attract new businesses to move there. The discussion should end. Protecting the most vulnerable of our residents, cost and encouraging commercial growth and the tax dollars that generates is a clear winner over a return to tradition and convenience.
Cape May – Governor Murphy says he doesn't know anything about the drones and doesn't know what they are doing but he does know that they are not dangerous. Does anyone feel better now?
