I feel it necessary to respond to the April 10 letter by Mr. Kolenda of North Monmouth. He wrote that Monmouth rejected the articles last year to build new emergency services and highway department buildings. His statements, I believe, are misleading.

As a 28-year member of the Monmouth Fire Department and a 19-year member of Rescue Association, I have a good idea of the conditions of municipal facilities.

Except for our school facilities, all of our buildings have been planned, built and maintained under ultra-conservative circumstances for too long.

The fire station is so small we buy trucks to fit it, not necessarily what we need.

The police station is closed, and the police department has had to camp out at the town office.

The rescue station, built in 1988, was too small the day the association moved in. The town garage was built in the early 1960s, as was the fire department, but its now far outgrown.

We need good leadership to stand up with the support of us all. The plan to build a make-do police station is unacceptable. A new turnpike bypass is going to open and Monmouth will become even more attractive as a bedroom community. This means even more demand on our municipal services.

The town said “no” last year, not because it did not see the need or support the direction headed toward adding to service capabilities. What the taxpayers did not like was that no good plan was in place.
Hugh H. LeMaster,

Monmouth

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