Public Speaks on Roads, Health Care, More

Road conditions, health care and South Avenue reconstruction were among topics at Tuesday's Second Ward Town Meeting in Cook School.

Barely a handful of residents spoke, leaving plenty of time for elected officials to expound at length on chronic city issues. They were able to promise relief soon from rutted roads with passage of three bond ordinances that will provide for repair of 30 roads, but had no immediate cure for the city's loss of acute medical care at the shuttered Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center.

In answer to resident David Cook, Council President Adrian Mapp said the work on South Avenue will be completed over the next couple of months and will include paving of some side streets. The traffic-calming devices known as "bump-outs" were removed last year in preparation of the reconstruction.

Cook asked about the Armory on East Seventh Street and was told the state has finally sold it.

Residents Delois Dameron  and Robert Darden talked about car damage due to road conditions, but Dameron also deplored the city's limited ambulance service. She said when she came back to Plainfield in 2005, she was shocked to find out there was only one ambulance, and today there is still only one ambulance. Resident Tony Rucker also questioned the need, saying he recently had to wait 50 minutes for an ambulance after becoming ill from possible food poisoning.

"If anybody's having a heart attack, they're pretty much dead," Rucker said.

Dr. Harold Yood traced the history of ambulance service, saying up until the Korean War, it was provided by the hospital, but after that a group of dedicated volunteers formed the Plainfield Rescue Squad. in response to Councilwoman Rebecca Williams' comment that she understood the city was getting another ambulance provided by the state, Yood said an extra ambulance was not an answer to the city's needs. Without ambulance service and a community critical care facility, he said, "We will never have health care again."

Resident Dottie Gutenkauf said she chairs the Restore Muhlenberg group as well as the Community Advisory Group and  passed around clipboards with sign-up sheets for email updates on efforts to regain a hospital in Plainfield.

Among other topics, resident Rosa Winston criticized both the mayor and council for the negative image they give the city by bickering at public meetings. She called the behavior "just shameful" and said, "You need to grow up."

Williams said the council each year adopts rules of order for its meetings and both she and Councilman Cory Storch called on residents to identify specific behaviors that they would like to see improved. Storch called it "a very sensitive issue."

Storch spoke at length about economic development, a topic raised by Rucker, his opponent in the 2011 Second Ward election. Rucker said "nobody knows" what the city's economic development strategy is, but Storch cited a study by a Rutgers team that has now led to hiring the Anglin Group to come up with a comprehensive economic development and growth strategy.

"Let's be honest about it," Storch said. "We do not have a plan right now."

But he said with the Anglin Group bringing together the expertise of the business community, the plan will emerge.

"We will not see results in the near term, but this is what we need to do," he said.

The remaining two Town Meetings are Ward 1, 7 p.m. May 29 at the Senior Center, 400 E. Front St. and Ward 4, 7 p.m.June 26 at Jefferson School. The latter will be a joint meeting with the Housing Authority of Plainfield.

Council members also urged residents to attend budget deliberations. There will be a session 7 p.m. tonight (Thursday, April 19) at the Senior Center's Conference Room. Topics will be budget requests for Public Works, Recreation, Inspections and the offices of the mayor and city administrator.

--Bernice