Consolidation rebuttal letter is now on Township Web site

WANTAGE — With just days left before Sussex Borough and Wantage Township residents vote whether to unite the two municipalities — a move endorsed by nine of the 10 consolidation study commission members — Wantage officials decided to post an opposition argument penned by the lone dissenter, Wantage’s Art Jacobs. Earlier this month, members of the 10-person consolidation study commission mailed a four-page newsletter to residents of both towns. That document was designed to answer some questions about how a municipal consolidation would affect property taxes, police services and other services. But according to Wantage Township committee member Clara Nuss, the newsletter called “One community, One government” is an endorsement from the study commission on the benefits of consolidation and doesn’t include any of the potential disadvantages. “I don’t feel the public got both sides” of the study commission’s findings, said Nuss during the Wantage Township Committee’s Oct. 29 meeting. “I feel like we’re cheating our public” of information, she added. She recommended that the township post Jacobs’ rebuttal on its Web site: www.wantagetwp.com. His rebuttal is a marked-up version of the commission’s newsletter.