Towns could benefit from school mergers
New Jersey towns fear cuts will change their way of life. Municipalities are considering shared services and mergers to stay afloat. Nowhere is this more applicable than in Metuchen with its unique location in the middle of Edison.

As a Metuchen resident, I see Edison trash trucks, police cars, fire engines, ambulances, etc. on our streets just as numerous as our own Metuchen municipal vehicles. If you can add 2 and 2, you can realize the savings, and the reduced taxes, to both Metuchen and Edison from a merger of municipal services. But that can be taken a step further for even greater tax savings by merging the contiguous schools of both towns.

Even as a relatively new resident of Metuchen (25 years,) I can remember when school bus service was eliminated as a budget saving move. I am not advocating that school bus service be eliminated, but since our children are now being bused in our own very small community, it makes sense to combine the educational resources of both towns in the most cost efficient manner (eliminating the need for two school administrative expenses.) The quality of Edison's schools is on-par, if not better, with Metuchen's.

The politicians that represent us need to face that reality if they want to maintain a quaintly unique Metuchen that is affordable for folks like myself living on a fixed income pension in a small bungalow. Otherwise, without a residential Floor- Area-Ratio law, their inaction will slowly create a 'torn-down' town replaced by million dollar 'McMansions' and 'trophy homes' whose owners can afford five figure property taxes creating a very different Metuchen that will seamlessly integrate our town with Edison in an adverse way.

John Barr

Metuchen