To the Editor:
In his March 13, 2020 letter to the Board of Selectmen, published in The Cricket, John Jay called for a six-month moratorium on all grant-driven Town projects.
I whole-heartedly support that proposal.
In recent months I have spoken and written (Cricket, Nov. 14, 2019, “Is the Tail Wagging the Dog”) about the Town’s alarming abuse of grant procedures, requests, and expenditures. This pattern prevails, as evident in the determined, wasteful allocation of the Masconomo/Beach St. sidewalk project (ranked #16 out of 16 repair needs) and costing $222,874 above the grant allocation, hence, to be born by Manchester taxpayers.
I do not exaggerate when I say that the survival of MBTS as we know it depends on the responsible use of (now shrinking) State and Federal grant monies.
To abuse this privilege threatens our future.
Sheila Hill
Manchester
