MAHWAH DESERVES TO BE PROTECTED. SO WHERE IS THE TOWNSHIP COUNCIL ON THIS ISSUE OVER 9 YEARS LATER
Have you seen a sign like this anywhere in Mahwah? Unfortunately, thanks to our Township Council's continued neglect on this issue you still won't find one. A wellhead protection area is a surface and subsurface land area regulated to prevent contamination of a well or well-field supplying a public water system. Given that Mahwah has a sole-source aquifer that our residents depend on for their drinking water, one would think that it would be a priority for the Township Council to enact all reasonable forms of legislation to protect that supply. Why do towns surrounding Mahwah and all throughout New Jersey have such protections in their municipal code but Mahwah does not? As the links below will show, this issue has been before the Council since 2008! Why has this not been a priority? Nine years later and we still do not have a Wellhead Protection Act in Mahwah? I approached the Council in January of last year and thanked them for finally having passed the ordinance to ban the development of privately owned petroleum pipelines in Mahwah, including the Pilgrim Pipeline. I then reminded them that the Township still did not have a Wellhead Protection Act and that passage of such legislation would add another powerful tool to our arsenal to fight threatening development in our Township such as that posed by the Pilgrim Pipeline. After not having heard anything from the Council on this issue in 10 months, I approached the Council again at the start of October to ask where they stood in their consideration of a Wellhead Protection Act. At that time I was informed by the Township attorney that a draft ordinance would be ready to first present to the Council "in about 60 days." Well over 60 days has passed and we are still are no closer to enacting a Wellhead Protection Act than we were 9 years ago! In December, former Council-President John Spiech approached the Council to share this same concern with the Council over their continued neglect in focusing on a Wellhead Protection Act. As you can see for yourself in the video of Council-President Spiech's appearance before the Council found at 21:30 of the video found at: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/94731372 Mr. Speich was, in my opinion, disrespectfully rebuked by the Council for raising the issue of their continued neglect. The Council went so far as to actually attack Mr. Spiech for raising his concern! What is this Council not telling us? Why do they continue to avoid the issue of a Wellhead Protection Act? During my campaign for Council, I was very vocal on this issue and received intense positive feedback across the Township from residents who were equally concerned about protecting our watershed. If it were not for the nefarious acts of cowards hiding behind anonymity, I would be on the Council right now and pushing this issue to the forefront. Now that I was forced to decline my rightfully earned position, it comes as no surprise to me that the Council continues to avoid this issue. I was pleased to see that our Planning Board agrees with me that this issue should be a top priority for our Council as one of their first official acts for 2017 was to form a special subcommittee to push the issue of Wellhead Protection before our Council. Why is the Council continuing to drag its feet on this crucial environmental issue? Why do they continue to make excuses and promises that they do not keep on this issue? The record of neglect is clear. The reasoning for it is not. Mahwah residents deserve better. We deserve to have a Council that puts residents' concerns ahead of politics. Nefarious forces may have found a way to force me out of being your official voice on the Council, but they will not silence me from speaking out as to what is best for our Township. That is what bullies do best. They find ways to silence their opposition. If you agree with me, please "like" and "share" this post. Let's let our Township Council know that protection of our water supply and the placement of THIS sign around our wellhead areas in the Township is more important than whatever political agendas they may be pursuing to avoid dealing with this issue. LINKS TO MINUTES OF MEETINGS FROM 2008 WHERE WELLHEAD PROTECTION WAS RAISED: http://www.mahwahtwp.org/uppages/wsmpmm626200811.doc http://www.mahwahtwp.org/uppages/wsmpmm1002081.doc
