Hopefully, you feel positive change like I do throughout the country as we enter 2023. I find more people are drifting back toward the middle on important issues and eager for leadership that helps us find common ground.
I personally see opportunities for a great year ahead in Fredon if we drift toward this more moderate approach too. There are some obstacles, of course, but a small, caring community like we share has every chance to find solutions to the local topics important to us.
If you’d like to get involved or stay up-to-date this year, I recommend signing up for Township alerts and following these Township-wide conversations too.
Master Plan Re-Examination
Public meetings on the re-examination of the Master Plan will start sometime this year. If you have questions or input you’d like to give on any aspect of the Master Plan, please sign up for alerts through the Township website so you know when public input starts to be accepted.
To me, warehouses are a top concern in rural areas right now as the opportunities for companies to build in more dense areas (such as Middlesex County) become limited. This can result in unintentional sprawl pushing out to rural areas and traffic from warehouses in neighboring towns affecting our small community and roadways. The re-examination of the Master Plan is a great time to openly discuss land use topics such as these.
Incorporating Bear Brook
The chance to open the gates of Bear Brook and make it public has come up as a possibility. While I am sure there are different opinions on the idea, it would incorporate a part of town that we already share so much with anyway. It is an interesting concept that I hope is explored more in 2023. As always, the benefits can always outweigh the costs if we remain open to the possibilities.
Fire and EMS
I see three big challenges for the fire and EMS teams in 2023 and I know there are hundreds of Fredon residents who can help.
They need donations! They need new vehicles and a generator for the civic center. Please donate all you can this year or volunteer to run a fundraiser.
They need non-technical volunteers too such as administrative help or runners during an emergency. Our local heroes get stuck on site for hours putting out building fires or managing gas leaks. Wouldn’t it be great if they had more administrative team members who can help with food runs or charging phones?
When the firehouse moved years ago, the lights alerting cars on Route 94 that the fire and EMS vehicles were leaving for an emergency didn’t come over completely with it too. I believe this was for many reasons, but the safety of our volunteers and those driving on 94 is important. I am hopeful a solution to this safety issue will be found in 2023.
Coursen House
It appears that the Coursen House property may need repairs, so please be on the look out for updates to this historical site and consider fundraising for this important community centerpiece too.
School
2022 was a rough year for the school socially as culture wars seemed to take up the conversation. I saw heated arguments and personal insults and the resignation of a much-needed leader.
But, I also saw a school filled with teachers and administrators who tuned out this noise enough to try to catch our kids up from learning losses while maintaining a tight budget and overcoming challenges finding enough staff. They turned their cheeks at unfair claims of what may go on in their classrooms and at the untrue notion that some join a union for selfish reasons when the union is there to protect them from all of this chaos from unfounded claims in the first place.
I heard an elected official say at a Board of Education meeting this year that we needed God back in the schools. I don’t discuss faith often, but my personal God is one of kindness, grace, and truth. These are also our family values and this year proved to me that there is plenty of these tenets inside our schools already. My hope is that the winds of change toward moderation breeze through our tiny local schools this year too.
Gas Station
Speaking of God, for the love of everything holy, can someone please open a gas station back up in Fredon? It would definitely make so many of us happy in 2023!
Happy New Year, Fredon! May we all find peace and health in 2023.
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