The Record: Letters, Monday, Jan. 4
JANUARY 4, 2016 LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 2016, 1:20 AM
THE RECORD
Keep school out of county park
Why do the Hudson County freeholders believe giving away part of Braddock Park to North Bergen for a school is a good idea? Many residents want to save this park for what it was intended: open space and recreation, not development.
Soon the decision will be up to the state, as the freeholders have applied to the state Green Acres program for a diversion that would allow this school to remain in the park.
This school was moved into the park 15 years ago in violation of Green Acres regulations, and it has remained there even though, in my opinion as a retired safety investigator, the public’s health has been jeopardized. A recent traffic engineering safety study at the school’s location recommended widening the school’s too-narrow roadway and installing a sidewalk.
Why was this study never conducted before the school was moved into the park? And why were the school trailers never tested for formaldehyde (a cancer-causing chemical used in trailer construction), when it was well known after Hurricane Katrina that this is an important safety concern? After Katrina came Sandy, which caused two of the trailers to be destroyed by fire after trees fell onto electric wires during the storm.
New Jersey officials should enforce state regulations and safeguard the public. This school should be moved out of the park and into the community, where it belongs. Affordable alternative sites are available. If the state rewards North Bergen and Hudson County with this diversion, no park is safe from similar municipal expansion. For 15 years North Bergen has disregarded state regulations, and it should not be rewarded by a loophole in the same regulations.
Robert Walden
North Bergen, Dec. 29
