Don’t keep public in the dark

Hazlet residents must wonder just what’s going on with plans for a new municipal center near the Cullen Community Center in Veterans Park.

What’s not clear at all is why the Democratic majority seems to consider everything a done deal, while the Republican minority thinks just the opposite.

No one doubts that the township needs a new town hall. For years, the Township Committee has been concerned about erosion and water problems related to the Middle Road facility.

At one point, probably in the early 1990s, the committee seemed on its way to expanding the Middle Road police-court building into a municipal complex, but that idea, for which plans were prepared, fell through. At least it hasn’t been mentioned in years.

The most recent plan, to condemn property on Union Avenue south of Middle Road for a municipal building, has taken a lot of people by surprise.

Perhaps this is because the township has never been very forthcoming with information for public consumption.

What seems perfectly clear is that the Township Committee needs to have a public hearing on the issue, to give residents an opportunity to at least express their views.

That may well be achieved by an ordinance introduction which was planned for Tuesday, to ratify a previous ordinance authorizing the acquisition of the property by purchase or condemnation.

It’s not clear why this ordinance is needed. It may be a formality required for next month’s court hearing on the condemnation. At any rate, it provides a good opportunity for the committee to explain its plans in detail to an increasingly curious public.