Spend Money On Roads,

Not Ball Fields

To the Editor,

In last Friday’s editorial column you asked for the interpretation of the vote. Well, let me give you a 37-year resident of Newtown’s interpretation – that being me.

The roads and infrastructure are in a deplorable state – the road I live on hasn’t been oiled or chipped in the past 15 years. The culvert that runs under the road is nine inches – no longer allowed since the floods of 1955, and has collapsed, and when my neighbor and I have called the highway department for the past three years – we get “lip service” saying, “it’s on the list.”

The idea of spending a half a million dollars on ball fields is a frivolous way of spending money when you can’t drive the roads to get to them. Has anyone taken a look at Pine Tree Hill Road lately? It’s in a total state of disrepair and it’s not because there’s building going on – it’s been that way for the past 10 years. Maybe when the town gets their act together, and starts allowing light commercial industry into the town, and generates revenue and reduces the load on the already overtaxed taxpayers, the budget might pass.

Sincerely,

Arthur W. Hechler

2 Bayberry Drive, Newtown                                       May 1, 2000