LETTER: Resident grateful for efforts of Bedminster Township Committee

TO THE EDITOR: My name is Richard Costa. I am the president of the Wood Pond Condo Association in the Hills.

I am writing to acknowledge the work that Colin Hickey and the Bedminster Township Committee have done to help residents address multiple issues with the utility companies plaguing our community for years.

I wanted to share this letter with you as I thought their efforts should be recognized for making Bedminster Township a better place for their residents. Please see my thank you letter below sent to Colin Hickey and the Bedminster Township Committee:

Colin,

I am writing to thank you and the Bedminster Township Committee for everything you have done to help residents of Wood Duck Pond address power issues that have plagued the Hills and for spearheading the efforts to bring the Altice fiber project into our community.

Thank you for championing these efforts for the past several years! When there’s a power outage in The Hills, whether it is working the phones with JCP&L or providing status updates on social media, you’re always there for us.

Last year we experienced multiple failures with JCP&L’s underground lateral lines that provide critical power from the transformers to the buildings in our neighborhood. This cost our association tens of thousands of dollars in emergency work after JCP&L refused to be held liable for maintaining their own equipment.

Thanks to your persistence and tenacity, you researched JCP&L’s policies and were able to successfully hold them accountable for making the necessary to repairs to the lateral lines and refund our association the money that we paid out for those emergency repairs. I suspect that as the electrical infrastructure continues to age in our community, these ‘lateral breaks’ will become more commonplace, and I am relieved that the burden for these repairs will be lifted off all our shoulders.

We are also grateful for everything you did in making the Altice fiber installation a reality in Wood Duck Pond. For years our residents complained that their internet service was slow and unreliable. Our 30-plus-year-old coaxial infrastructure was antiquated and was never designed to support the capacity of today’s needs in a post-pandemic world.

We are especially grateful for your help making all the necessary arrangements with Altice and negotiating project terms that protected the interests of the residents of Wood Duck Pond.

You have always had our backs!

Kudos to Mayor (Larry) Jacobs, our Township Committee and especially you, Colin, for being our allies and advocates! We are very fortunate to have you on our side.

RICHARD COSTA

High Pond Lane
Bedminster Township

Editor's note: This Letter to the Editor originally appeared in The Bernardsville News.