Good Morning Garden Friends and Supporters,
As this summer is quickly coming to an end, so too are our hopes for creating the Morrisville Botanical and Community Gardens.
For seven weeks now Borough Council has remained completely silent on the project – a project that has the potential to draw praise, recognition and tourists to our Borough, and more importantly, to make a fresh start rebuilding a desperately needed sense of community among our neighbors.
I have recently been informed, by one of our neighbors who is very familiar with the plans and activities at Williamson Park, that demolition at the pool site will include the destruction of the concrete pads and the buildings along N. Delmorr Ave. These features were critical components that, in their absence, will prohibit our ability to provide garden access for people with mobility handicaps and to protect the gardens from wildlife and possible vandalism.
It is troubling to me to see the failure of Council to even contact me personally so that I might, with your help, offer other alternatives to their demolition plans. If Council had clearly stated their concerns and intentions, we could have spent the past several weeks actively fundraising to cover the additional expenses that will be necessary to make this site a safe and functional location for the gardens.
The reasons behind Council’s silence and inaction are unknown to us. Unlike the residents and elected officials of so many of our neighboring towns, perhaps our Council found it difficult to understand and appreciate the very real value that this garden would have provided to the residents and guests of our Borough. Perhaps they underestimate the desire, dedication and support that our garden members and volunteers had pledged, along side of so many of our local businesses, to make this garden a success.
Regardless of motive, when the Elected choose to remain silent, the Electorate will certainly lose. Without a doubt the Public will lose control of their government. They will lose the rewards of the systems of open debate and exchange of ideas. They will lose access to valuable resources and beneficial outcomes from their taxes and their voluntary efforts. And in this particular case We will lose a wonderful opportunity to form a cohesive community.
What does seem apparent is that Council never had any true interest in adopting the Gardens project. No Council member has ever stepped up to say that they would sponsor this project, let alone, fight for it. No Council member has requested the formation of an advisory board to research the needs of the project further, and likewise, to serve as a liaison between Council, MEAC, Parks and Public Works. No Council member has publicly promoted the project to the residents of Morrisville. No Council member has identified themselves as having signed up for our web site to follow the ongoing efforts of the garden supporters or to examine the additional documentation provided here.
These, to me, are an ominous sign of the continuing dissolution of a meaningful government, that is, a government that is proactively engaged with its citizens and one that continues to seek ways to build a better future for us all. These are core issues that go beyond taxes and budgets. These are troubling lapses that fail to encourage the involvement of our fellow citizens and will continue to fail as long as we have a government that becomes ever more complacent in their roles as leaders and increasingly content with minimizing meaningful communication with the citizens they serve.
Consider this truth: If we don’t have long-term and sustained opportunities to come together as a whole community, one that is not bound or restricted by age, gender, politics, religion or ethnicity, then we have failed as a community.
Is it too late now for us to change the current course that our Borough Council has set? I would like to know your thoughts.
Morrisville's Community Gardens 