ANNEXATION BILL PASSES AS AMENDED
Milltown Measure Has the Boundary Lines Narrowed and Referendum Included—Mayor Kuhlthau Jumps Into Fight—Statement by DeVoe
Mayor Christian Kuhlthau, progressive Mayor of Milltown, took off his coat yesterday and entered the fight for annexing a small portion of North Brunswick Township. At nine o’clock in the morning he instructed Borough Engineer G. P. Stelle to attend the hearing on Bill 237 and ask Assemblyman Fred W. DeVoe to accept a substitute along the lines approved by North Brunswick at the hearing on last Thursday evening, and also insisting that a referendum be placed on the bill for the voters of Milltown.
Ever since the opposition sprung up, which happened while the Mayor was sojourning in the South, the progressiveness which has characterized the preceding administration has been menaced, also the spirit with which the Chamber of Commerce started their organization has been threatened.
Upon arriving home from the South a few days ago, the Mayor was confronted with the old time opposition, which he never expected. The Mayor originated the move for annexation in the Chamber of Commerce about eight months ago, never dreaming but that all parties would favor it. It did not take long for him to size up the situation and he moved quickly. He challenges the opposition to step forward with any fundamental reasonable arguments against it. Seeing the possible defeat of his progressive policy, the Mayor has stepped half way to meet North Brunswick.
North Brunswick Compromise.
The Mayor took into serious consideration the compromise offered by North Brunswick Township and considered that her desire to still control Elkins Lane and the Oak Hill School House was very fair, and as a result he favored only a bill taking in the properties on the south side of Elkins Lane, the Elkins and Gebhardt properties, and the small portion of Vanderbilt Manor. It was with instructions to accept this compromise that the Borough Engineer attended the hearing yesterday. It was said today that sentiment aroused in North Brunswick Township against Bill 237 in its original form made it difficult for the committee from that township to even accept this compromise yesterday, but they chose the committee substitute in preference to the original bill. The lines as finally embodied in the bill were those suggested by North Brunswick at the hearing on last Thursday night in the Council chamber.
Owing to opposition created in Milltown on Bill 237, the Mayor also favored a vote of the people and a referendum was embodied in the bill.
For and Against.
It is expected that the following will line up for the bill: The Mayor, H. R. B. Meyers, president of Chamber of Commerce; Harold Schlosser, president of Council; William Hannah, candidate for Freeholder from Milltown, who attended the hearing yesterday and is in favor of the lines laid down by North Brunswick; James Herbert and Chas. V. L. Booraem, Councilmen; ex-Councilmen Wm. R. Evans and Joseph M. Crabiel, Postmaster John V. L. Booraem, Assemblyman DeVoe and others who have served their borough in the past.
The opposition up to the present is being led by Charles E. Denhart, Spencer Perry, Oscar Lindstrom, Casper Graulich and Charles Wolff.
Middlesex Assemblymen Solid.
Assemblyman DeVoe was ably assisted by Assemblymen Albert W. Appleby and C. Raymond Lyons in the Legislature and the vote was overwhelmingly in favor of the amended bill on third reading, only four or five votes being registered in opposition.
Attorney Irving Hoagland, counsel for North Brunswick appeared at the hearing and objected in behalf of the residents of the township to the proposed new boundary line as provided in the bill.
When the bill came up for a vote, the Mercer County delegation objected to its passage on the ground that the voters in the section to be annexed were not permitted to vote on the annexation, under the provisions of the bill. Mr. DeVoe explained that a petition had been received by him signed by every resident in the area affected requesting that the bill be adopted.
DeVoe Issues Statement.
For the purpose of explaining why he fathered the bill, Assemblyman DeVoe issued the following statement today:
“Two changes were made last night in the Milltown–North Brunswick Annexation Bill, as introduced by me, in order to satisfy the opposition from the Township of North Brunswick, and also to allow those who live in Milltown and who have evidenced a desire to vote on the question, an opportunity to be registered either for or against annexation.
The first change was to so re-adjust the boundary lines that the school house known as Oak Hill School House would remain in the Township of North Brunswick, and not be annexed to the Borough of Milltown, as provided for in the original bill. If the bill becomes a law, as amended, the boundaries of Milltown on the northerly side of Milltown will be as follows: Westerly to the brook called Sucker Brook; northerly on the westerly side of the Berdine’s Corner Road to the gully at the Oak Hill School House; northerly, on the easterly side of the Berdine’s Corner Road, to Elkins Lane, and extending easterly along Elkins Lane to the right of way of the Raritan River Railroad.
The second change, as stated, was the addition of a referendum allowing the voters of Milltown to vote on the question as to whether or not they desire annexation, at the presidential primaries to be held on April 27th. The voters who were registered at the November election in 1919 are eligible to vote at the presidential primaries on this question. Those who were not eligible to vote at the November election in 1919 and are now legal voters of the Borough of Milltown will have an opportunity to be added to the list at a special registry, to be held one week prior to the presidential primaries.
The Chamber of Commerce of Milltown, which has, and will always have, the best interests of Milltown at heart, has endorsed the annexation proposition. A majority of the Common Council of Milltown favors the extension of the borough lines to the boundaries hereinbefore described.”
