Again I find myself reading the comments on various articles about local issues: the Riverton Rd/Rt.130 intersection, the Devon Road and Wayne Drive bridges, the car for Mr. King and so on, and then have to go back and reread the articles to see specifically what people are commenting on. Most who comment make very good points and ask some interesting questions. Then I began to wonder about articles/comments/questions from the past. Is it just me, or do things just sort of fade away? Are we intentionally being distracted or do we just have short attention spans that are being taken advantage of?
For instance, with all the talk about the Riverton Road/Rt.130 intersection, are we supposed to forget about the plans for Riverton Road at Parry? Would this project interfere with the "roundabout" plans? And that leads me to wonder about the roundabout plans - the developer at that intersection was just hit with $58,000 in fines for assorted environmental violations. More construction at the same site seems pretty risky to me until the developer's issues are settled. I've been waiting on a detailed article about the neighbors' battles with the developer for months - "it's still being researched".
A resident spoke up at the meeting the other night, trying to get some answers about who was responsible for the violations. While the developer is the one who was fined, this man wondered who was doing the site inspections on the property and wanted to know why they hadn't caught the problems before the county and state had to be brought in. Inspections were to have been performed by Remington & Vernick - Were they? Only OPRA can tell us now. Should they be held responsible as well? Should they be reappointed next time around?
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That brings me to the Devon Road bridge. Last summer, an engineering firm kept on retainer by the township said the bridge was sound, and we took them at their word. They never suggested a weight limit sign. Now, after the bridge collapses, this same firm is doing inspections and making recommendations. Personally, I wouldn't trust them. And I have never been clear on why we have to have/pay outside firms for things like site inspections and engineering opinions when we have a construction official/site inspector, zoning officer and township engineer already on our payroll. Do we not trust the people we hired? Are they not qualified? (No offense to these people is intended, I'm just asking).
As I have been saying for some time now, it's great for us to be able to vent on the Patch, but I think it more effective to vent at committee meetings, especially the meetings that are videotaped (3rd Monday of each month). As long as you have the opportunity to ask questions of elected officials, take advantage of it. You might be surprised at how attentive the committee is. You may not get immediate action, or the answers you want to hear, but your voice will be heard and acknowledged, and that's a start.
