We, as residents of Raritan, do not want the borough’s Department of Public Works (DPW) moved out of Raritan into a neighboring town. Keep Raritan DPW in Raritan Borough where it belongs!

As stakeholders in this decision, we believe that it is in the best interest of our town and it’s residents to keep DPW within our own community.

The benefits of a move out of town have not been made clear and it is time that we are given clear and transparent information. We as the residents do not have any specific information on how this would affect our town and its services.

We’d like to highlight several concerns:
- It becomes difficult to get in and out of Hillsborough due to flooding.
- There is really only one way in and out of Hillsborough due to a 4 ton weight limit on Roycefield Road.
- The increase in gas prices due to traveling a further distance will cost us.
- The additional wear and tear on vehicles will be another added expense.
- Response time is a major concern. We are worried about employees traveling a greater distance in hazardous weather conditions to address a need in town. If there is something requiring a quick response such as a sewer problem the increased response time could be detrimental.
- If a DPW employee is working on a specific task and an additional tool is needed or forgotten the employee would have to travel a longer distance back to Hillsborough, and then back to Raritan to complete a job. This is not only additional gas money and wear and tear on vehicles, but also a waste of time and tax payers’ money.

At this point the council has shared that this is not in an effort to develop “shared services”, but what’s next? Could a DPW move to a new location outside of OUR town possibly lead to shared services or privatizing trash removal, and losing our small town dedicated employees? Will we eventually be losing bulk pickup?

It is time that our council and administration support the residents of Raritan and keep the borough’s Department of Public Works (DPW) in Raritan Borough where it belongs.