| Author | Message | ||
     MHD Citizen Username: Mayhewdrive Post Number: 3838 Registered: 5-2001  |
Residents ‘Tau’ting irresponsibility Thursday, April 6, 2006 4:01 PM EDT As evidenced by last week’s article in the News-Record regarding the procurement of the Tony Smith sculpture, some South Orange residents are incensed about the trustees’ decision to fund the project and have made their opinions known during the last few village meetings. Public outcries became more frequent following a meeting in early March when trustees announced they had misspoken about how the project would initially be funded. Trustees had once told residents the sculpture, which will cost in total approximately $410,000, would be covered by a federal community development grant. Thus, the cost of the art would not be levied on taxpayers. Since then, trustees have rescinded those comments after discovering those federal monies can’t be appropriated for the sculpture, but can be used for the South Orange Performing Arts Center. Their response was a quick apology [sic] to the public and a decision to move forward, in spite of the new information on how it would be funded. Their recourse is to take the $250,000 originally slated for SOPAC and apply that money toward the partial funding of the sculpture. The remaining $160,000 will be raised through private donations. The decision prompted a backlash from some residents, who have told the News-Record they feel misled by village government and believe that going forward with the project is not the best use of their tax dollars. Instead, more pressing issues they believe trustees should focus on include funding repairs to some of the municipal buildings around town, such as Village Hall, which suffered a roof collapse last year, and the South Orange Public Library, which has roof leaks and a defunct air conditioning system. Folded into the funding issues lies another bone of contention, which is the placement of the sculpture. On its own, the fabrication of the sculpture, called “Tau,” will cost about $85,000. What drives the cost to $410,000 are the site preparations. The sculpture will be installed on Sloan Street, near the train station. Its resting spot just so happens to be occupied by a gazebo, which will have to be removed and relocated. Then, the site has to be revamped before the 14-foot-high, 21-foot-wide sculpture is installed. The bottom line is that taxpayers are contributing to this project after four years of being told the project would require no taxpayer money. In light of this information, trustees shouldn’t have been so quick in their judgments to go forward with this project without first bending their ears to the concerns of the citizens, who are essentially being left to foot the bill. |
