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Township's Deer Reduction Program Has Also Reduced Lyme Disease Cases

LEWIS A. EDGE JR. Cleveland Road West

Unsatisfactory Alternatives Seen To Shopping Center Postal Station

ETHAN C. FINLEY
Princeton Community Village

Candidate for Borough Council Seeks More Financial Aid from University

ANNE WALDRON NEUMANN
Alexander Street

Story of Baxter, the Cairn Terrier, Elicits Human and Canine Response (3 letters)

KARL LESSIG and CAROL WEISS
Birch Avenue

MARY M. ZIMMERMAN
Pilgrim Way
Yardville

Your understanding friend, Fred.
(As told to) ANGELINE F. AUSTIN
North Road

Proposed Princeton Ridge Development Would Violate Princeton Master Plan

PAT LIGHT
Van Dyke Road

Need for Senior Housing Justifies Bunn Drive, Mt. Lucas Developments (2 letters)

ELEANOR ANGOFF
Coalition for Senior Housing in Princeton

FLORA DAVIS
Erdman Avenue

Township's Deer Reduction Program Has Also Reduced Lyme Disease Cases

To the Editor:
Charles K. Bowman's letter (Town Topics, April 21) offers some helpful suggestions to avoid being bitten by deer ticks, but his letter is misleading about the involvement of white-tailed deer in the disease transmission.

According to Lyme Disease: A Public Information Guide, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "a relationship appears to exist between the abundance of deer and the abundance of Ixodes ticks in the eastern United States. Reducing and managing deer populations in geographic areas where Lyme disease occurs can reduce tick abundance. Removing plants that attract deer and constructing physical barriers may help discourage tick-infested deer from coming near homes."

Clearly, Mr. Bowman's assertion that the white-footed deer mouse is most likely to bring Lyme-infected ticks in contact with human beings is not supported by information from the CDC. That is why Princeton Township's deer reduction program has produced a concomitant reduction in human Lyme disease infections.

LEWIS A. EDGE JR. Cleveland Road West

Unsatisfactory Alternatives Seen
To Shopping Center Postal Station

To the Editor:

After the Skater Alliance store in the Princeton Shopping Center closed, the Post Office substation that was part of the Skater Alliance also left the Shopping Center. When I discovered that the Skater Alliance had closed, I saw a handbill in the window of a vacant storefront stating that a new store was going to open, and when it did the post office substation would then reopen.

The existence of a Post Office substation is not only a substantial benefit to the people of Princeton, it is something they need. As long as there is no Post Office substation in the Princeton Shopping Center the only alternative is the Post Office in Rocky Hill. Because of the extreme parking problem in downtown Princeton, I do not consider the Palmer Square Post Office to be a suitable alternative.

ETHAN C. FINLEY
Princeton Community Village

Candidate for Borough Council Seeks More Financial Aid from University

To the Editor:

As a candidate for Borough Council, I'd like to clarify my position expressed at the recent PCDO meeting to endorse candidates for Borough Council and Township Committee.

At the meeting, I stressed the need to keep Princeton affordable, especially for fixed- and low-income residents. Retired Princetonians want to continue living here; low-income Princetonians deserve to live decently near their work. To control property taxes, I made concrete suggestions for cutting municipal spending and raising revenues.

First, I suggested cutting the Police Department budget, about $3,500,000 in 2004, by reducing the number of police. I hoped this could be done through attrition and by consolidating Borough and Township police departments. Mark Freda confirmed that a recent study showed savings from consolidation would be substantial, once a larger station to house the consolidated force had been built and paid for. In fact, Mr. Freda wondered whether the new Township Municipal Complex might suffice.

As for raising revenues, Princetonians should first understand how Princeton University affects the Borough's and Township's finances. Princeton Borough now contains some billion dollars worth of taxable property but $1.1 billion in non-taxable property, most of it the University's. The University does pay property taxes on commercial and residential buildings in the Borough. After the schools and county took their share last year, the Borough got $600,000, plus $150,000 in lieu of taxes for McCarter Theater.

As for public services, the University pays the Borough for sewer use – $1 million annually. It gives the fire department $5,000 yearly for equipment. But it pays nothing directly for police services.

The University does donate to the Borough's general operating budget: $300,000 this year, recently renegotiated by Roger Martindell from $100,000 annually. And it gives $50,000 a year to the Borough's affordable housing fund, supposedly reflecting a percentage of its year's spending on new construction. The University also sometimes contributes to civic projects, such as school expansion or the new library. Excluding any such gifts this year, the University will pay the Borough some $2,500,000, perhaps one tenth the Borough's 2004 operating budget. This from an institution with an endowment of $9 billion and half the Borough's land.

If we Princetonians understand how the University affects our budget, and think and act cooperatively, we will have greater impact if we ask the University to support our town more generously. Then the Borough need not balance its budget by raising property taxes. The University's retired faculty members will be among those who can pass their retirement in Princeton. And its service workers will be among those lower-income Princetonians who can live in dignity near their employment. If I am elected to Borough Council, I promise to help continue this dialogue with the University, as I hope I have helped initiate it here.

ANNE WALDRON NEUMANN
Alexander Street

Story of Baxter, the Cairn Terrier, Elicits Human and Canine Response

To the Editor:

The short and tragic life of Baxter, the cairn terrier (Town Topics, April 21) reflects the need for knowledgeable and compassionate people to care for dogs with special needs such as Baxter's. His new owners did not understand how their behavior contributed to his terror. After leaving a loving and caring Emmett Wilson. Baxter clearly should have been put at ease in his new home before undergoing such a traumatic experience as being groomed. The vet also let Baxter down by not recommending an evaluation by an animal behaviorist. I am still wondering why he was quarantined. Was there a contagious situation? Wouldn't quarantining make him more frightened and isolated? Was Emmett Wilson aware that these people were going on vacation for two weeks only days after they adopted Baxter?

This seemingly educated and caring couple demonstrated how people expect dogs to act like humans (calm and grateful for being adopted) and then punish them (or kill them) for acting like dogs – being fearful and biting in stressful situations. Baxter needed a calm, stable environment to feel comfortable enough to begin trusting these people and believe this was forever his home. Pets are not disposable, and sometimes a perfect match is not always made. But certainly someone was capable of giving Baxter the home he needed, and his life should not have been cut short because he did not fit in.

Baxter's story will live in our hearts for a long time as will Emmett Wilson's noble and compassionate commitment to those dogs who are victims of our throwaway society.

KARL LESSIG and CAROL WEISS
Birch Avenue

To the Editor:

Thank you for your story on the little dog Baxter (Town Topics, April 21). It was a touching, well-written piece with charming photos. It was also educational; I never knew about the Small Dog Rescue Sanctuary and was glad to read about it.

Knowing there are people like Emmett Wilson in the world makes it a little easier to deal with the fact that there are also people who will cast a pet out of their home or even euthanize it for almost any reason. The story brought tears to my eyes and inspired me to send a donation to Dr. Wilson that very day. I hope the story not only touched the hearts of animal lovers like myself but also made others pause to think about the repercussions of tossing out a pet as though it were an old toy.

Stories like these are what make Town Topics such an excellent newspaper. Keep up the good work.

MARY M. ZIMMERMAN
Pilgrim Way
Yardville

To the Editor:

Dear Baxter: My name was Fred. Breedwise I was a cousin of yours, a West Highland White Terrier. At six years old I was left in a municipal pound about to be euthanized. There was a sign on my cage stating "nasty, bites and doesn't speak English." (Of course not, I'm Scottish). No one wanted me. Once again I had no home, until a kind man, Emmett Wilson by name, saw me and saw something in me beyond the words on my cage. He saw hope. He took me out of that dreadful place, snatched from certain death. He took me to a veterinarian, then to his home.

There were lots of other dogs there. You wouldn't believe some of their stories. But I stayed to myself. So much had happened to me. So many humans had never taken the time to understand me. I had been abused both physically and emotionally. Yet there was kindness and patience in Dr. Wilson's eyes that gave me comfort.

Little did I know that as this part of my life was unfolding the lady who owned my mother and had bred me was just steps behind. How she knew I needed her I will never know, but she knew. On a warm Saturday in May, 1995, she was there outside the gate to Dr. Wilson's yard. She had another Westie with her. It was my mother, Emma. I heard the lady's voice, the same voice I knew from my puppy days. As Dr. Wilson handed me into her waiting arms he smiled and said he guessed he hadn't had to verify my connection with this lady. The love and trust between us said it all. At last I was home, forever.

I lived out the last six years of my life with dignity and pride and, above all, an abiding trust. I earned two obedience titles. Wherever I went people who knew my story would call my name. "It's Fred," they would say. I tried to show that where there is life there is always hope.

At age twelve when I had to be put to rest for medical reasons, the kind lady's arms were holding me again. This time for my final sleep. Oh, how we loved each other and all the years we had shared. As long as she was with me I knew I was safe.

So, Dear Baxter, I understand your story for I too came with an agreement that I could be returned, no questions asked, to the kind lady if no one wanted me. But it seems that humans can quickly forget their promises. Their minds become cluttered and clouded with selfish thoughts and matters. Perhaps this is because they have never known the sheer joy of running around with a Frisbee on their head. Sounds like fun to me!

We must thank Dr. Wilson and others for their faith in us. We returned their trust in so many ways only they understood. We must forgive those humans who have lost sight of caring and compassion. They will never know all that they have missed.

Your understanding friend, Fred.
(As told to) ANGELINE F. AUSTIN
North Road

Proposed Princeton Ridge Development Would Violate Princeton Master Plan

To the Editor:

Regarding the proposal presented to the Planning Board at a concept hearing by developer K. Hovnanian, I would like to make some comments and ask two questions of the Planning Board and Township Committee.

Have all (or any) of you read the Planning Report, a critique for land use on the Princeton Ridge, prepared in October 1983 by Wallace, Roberts, and Todd, planners and landscape architects? This report substantiates the restrictions placed by the Princeton Master Plan of 1980 on building on the Ridge.

Do you have any reason to believe that these environmental constraints have disappeared since the Hovnanian proposal (or the Ridge overlays, for that matter)? In view of these restraints, I find it hard to believe that a development with buildings more massive than the new Township Municipal Complex and Library – in fact, the largest in the area – would be considered for this site.

In addition, the clear-cutting of approximately 1700 trees is not only horrendous but makes a farce of the new Township ordinance prohibiting homeowners from removing one single sizeable tree without a permit.

I am an "elder," and not a neighbor of the site, who agrees that there is a call for accommodations suitably designed for the needs of us who either must, or choose to, leave our homes. However, to my knowledge there has never been a survey done to find out how many seniors are projected to be in need of housing, what kind of housing they will need, and at what price. Hovnanian estimates that each unit in its development will cost approximately $350,000, a figure they cannot, obviously, guarantee, and which will undoubtedly increase.

Additionally, this development does not include assisted living facilities, which is an important reason for many to move to senior housing.

It seems to me that to proceed with two large developments on the Ridge, desecrating a critically fragile environmental site for housing that probably only a few Princeton seniors will find affordable before exhausting all other possibilities – including the obvious site at the Shopping Center, already in the process of studying and planning – is premature and misguided.

PAT LIGHT
Van Dyke Road

Need for Senior Housing Justifies Bunn Drive, Mt. Lucas Developments

To the Editor:

This is in response to a letter from Charles DiSanto (Town Topics, April 21) regarding the Planning Board meeting at which a concept site plan for senior housing on Bunn Drive was discussed.

Mr. DiSanto states that the public is being misled about the need for senior housing and the potential impact it will have.

You bet there is a need for senior housing in Princeton. It is estimated that by next year 30 percent of Princeton's population will be seniors. Many seniors will want to downsize and remain in Princeton. The fact is that there are few apartments, making it impossible to stay in town. The positive impact of these seniors staying in Princeton is paying taxes, volunteering, etc., and asking little in return.

Mr. DiSanto also states that no mention was made of the Mt. Lucas property which is also zoned for senior housing. The concept site plan for Bunn Drive was not the time to talk about the Mt. Lucas property. I might add that all of the members of the Planning Board know of the Mt. Lucas property, as did most of the audience at the meeting.

I hope that both properties are built on soon, so that the next group of seniors will be able to remain in Princeton.

ELEANOR ANGOFF
Coalition for Senior Housing in Princeton

To the Editor:

In his letter to the editor (Town Topics, April 21), Charles DiSanto got a number of things wrong, but what really disturbed me was his suggestion that "the public is being misled about the need" for senior housing in Princeton.

Seniors have fought for appropriate housing for more than a decade, only to be stymied again and again by neighbors like Mr. DiSanto who are motivated by sheer NIMBYism (Not in my backyard). They claim they're all for senior housing – as long as it's not built anywhere near them. As a result, there is still nowhere for middle-income seniors to go when they need to downsize. The developments planned for Bunn Drive and Mt. Lucas are badly needed.

When Stonebridge opened a few months ago, the vast majority of the seniors who moved into this new retirement community were ex-pat Princetonians, many of them fuming because the town they loved, the place where they raised their children, had no room for them once they had to downsize. Their departure hasn't lessened the need for senior housing in Princeton one iota. There are still hundreds of us who want more than anything to age in place in our own community.

Someday, Mr. DiSanto, you, too, will be old enough to need senior housing. If people like you have their way, Princeton will have no place for you to go, either.

FLORA DAVIS
Erdman Avenue

For information on how to submit Letters to the Editor, click here.