It has always been our belief that our local government serves the citizenry of Greenvale Township and should act responsibly with our tax dollars that we entrust to them. Our current representation does neither of these. Our money has been wastefully used on vendettas that have no merit or benefit to our township. There is an ongoing lawsuit against two previous board members that has cost us nearly $110,000 in lawyer fees and court costs in the past year and a half. This is nearly half of our yearly budget of money that should be used for road and infrastructure improvements. The lawsuit was ruled to be without merit but has since been sent to an appeals court which will squander more money from us. These costs equate to a rise of more than 26% of our tax and will cost each household in the township more than $600 in rising taxes; we can do better.
When Carr’s Tree Service applied for a conditional use permit to acquire and develop 30 acres on Jamaica Ave, there was a public hearing. The town hall was packed with citizens voicing their opinion about this acquisition. Despite every person speaking against approving the permit, the board continued with Carr’s Tree Service’s application anyway. There was a paragraph in the town ordinance that stated, “All land uses NOT specifically listed as permitted shall be considered PROHIBITED.” The present board removed this clause which had been in place since 1980. There are presently 35 parcels of 40 acres or more that could entice commercial interest onto historically used farmland (such as Carr’s Tree Service). Our current board has shown already that they will sacrifice our rural way of life for commercial enterprise; we can do better.
Responsible business enterprise is and should be welcomed into our township. The current board has tried to hide their agenda with closed meetings or hearings that are at times when many citizens cannot attend; we can do better.
There is a very important election on March 11th and at 8:30 PM an in-person vote will take place on the tax levy. We have 3 fine and very qualified candidates; Mark Legvold for clerk, Craig Host for treasurer, and Joy Royle for supervisor. Their backgrounds are listed on www.responsiblyrural.com and they can be emailed at responsiblyrural@gmail.com. We thoroughly encourage you to contact them and our current board members to clarify the actions of the lawsuit, permitting, and plans for the future of Greenvale Township.
Let’s do better!
Sincerely,
Patrick & Kathleen Edwards
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