‘Trashy' contract obligation

To the Editor: The following is an open letter to Sparta Township Manager Henry Underhill. I can not imagine one more "trashy" contract obligation for Sparta taxpayers. I can see the proposed $325 per year charge for trash collection escalating to five times that amount over the next 10 years. If this is negotiated by the township, considering present similar municipal and school district contract obligations, Sparta taxpayers could be picking up the tab for the pension and benefits of trash collectors until the sun expires. Would you also establish and staff a Sparta Trash Office (or maybe STO for short), to oversee the new collection program? Don't you get it? This is the very thing that is breaking the backs of many hard- working people throughout the state. If you can guarantee in writing all the sanitation services mentioned will remain at $325 per year for, say, at least the next five years, I would consider supporting it. Otherwise, forget it. You should be very wary that this garbage could possibly be loaded with more than just the usual waste and perhaps maybe even the smell of possible corruption. Besides, when it comes to my property, I like selecting my own contractors. I don't need you to do it for me. You wouldn't like it if I chose someone, at your expense, to paint your house or mow your lawn. And I don't need you or anyone else to make any more choices for me or to continue spending my money as though it were yours. You resurface our roads with molten tar and stones which, when completed, looks much like a dirt road and remains a filthy mess years after the work is done. You say this process saves money. Yet when the township decided to unnecessarily build a new place to house municipal employees, little consideration was given to cost control. I'm sure the new building will not be a filthy mess. Are you planning on using molten tar and stones for the new municipal building parking lot? I'm surprised the town hasn't yet used this process on Sparta Ave. If my memory serves me correctly, over the past five years that road has been dug into more times than a child's sandbox. Speaking of incredible wastes of money, when will the sidewalk project on Sparta Ave. be completed? I will be retiring in about 15 years and I want to be one of the first to go flying down it in my wheelchair. I understand the township anticipates senior citizens will make good use of the new walks. Perhaps you should consider a guardrail to prevent seniors in wheelchairs from sailing off the curb into traffic while they are navigating Sparta's new "Sidewalk Expressway." Anthony Giovannitti Sparta