Big deals keep N.J. office vacancy rate in check, report finds
A handful of new deals with large tenants helped stabilize New Jersey’s office market in the third quarter, staving off a decline as many other large users continue to wait before making new moves of their own, according to a new report from Colliers International.
Office vacancy in northern and central New Jersey held steady in the quarter, thanks in large part to Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, which committed to the 770,000-square-foot former Merrill Lynch facility in Plainsboro, the report said. Matt Dolly, head of research for the New Jersey region of the real estate services firm, said the move comes as other companies cope with the lack of modern class A office space, which leads them to pursue build-to-suit options and “extend(s) their search time in the market.” (Burd, NJBIZ)
Officials: Local pay-to-play reform must be enacted
Discussions of government waste in Trenton since Gov. Chris Christie took office have often centered on public worker compensation and benefits. But the real jackpot in New Jersey arguably is found in contracts with private business entities.
Despite news conferences and statements from governors and lawmakers over the years, little has been done to regulate the flow of cash from businesses that also hold local government contracts, according to New Jersey’s top watchdog.
“Such a system may have comported in some sense with New Jersey’s notion of home-rule in that it vested local officials with nearly unlimited discretion in contracting,” wrote Comptroller Matthew Boxer in a report released Sept. 15. “In so doing, however, it permitted those officials to make contract-award decisions, without oversight, that were contrary to the interests of the general public.” (Roh, Gannett)
Linda Evans,Saturday, October 15th @ 1:00pm Dynasty Actress, Linda Evans will sign her new book: Recipes for Life. Books available Oct. 11th
Perez Hilton,Sunday, October 16th @ 2:00pm TV Personality and Celebrity Blogger, Perez Hilton, will sign his new book: The Boy with Pink Hair
Appearing authors will only autograph books purchased at Bookends and must have valid Bookends Receipt.Availability & pricing for all autographed books subject to change.Bookends cannot guarantee that the books that are Autographed will always be First Printings. Autographed books purchased at Bookends are non-returnable.Please call the store for details.
Bookends, 211 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450 201-445-0726
Village Council Special Public Meetings Concerning Proposed Valley Expansion
The Ridgewood Village Council will be holding Special Public Meetings concerning the proposed Valley Hospital expansion in the Ridgewood High School Campus Center, 627 East Ridgewood Avenue, on the following dates: October 13, October 24, November 3, November 22, and November 29, 2011.
The meetings will begin at 7:00 p.m. The doors will open at 6:45 p.m. and seating will be on a first come, first served basis. The meetings will also be televised on Cablevision Channel 77 and through computer video streaming (limited viewers due to bandwith limitations). Agendas for each meeting will be posted on the Village’s website prior to the meeting.
>Ridgewood plans changes to water discharge fee collection
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011 BY KELLY EBBELS STAFF WRITER THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The village is looking to charge more “significant discharger” water fees in 2012, according to Village Manager Ken Gabbert.
Some property owners are not being charged for discharging more than 110,000 gallons of water a month – a standard limit set in village codes. Only non-profits and commercial properties are currently paying fees, despite an ordinance stating that residential property owners and multi-unit properties are also supposed to pay.
“For some reason, we were never going around tallying up the residentials – and there are some, it’s not a whole lot [that exceed the standard] – and the multi-family units,” Gabbert said at last Wednesday’s council meeting. “So that needs to be plugged for 2012 so that we also do the allocations there.”
The council last year approved a fee of $4.03 per 1,000 gallons beyond the standard. Gabbert noted that the fee amount will also have to be examined, though it will not necessarily increase.
Hackensack, New Jersey – Bergen County Executive Kathleen A. Donovan and the Departmentof Human Services, Division on Disability Services announced that the 13th Annual “Salute toChampions” will take place October 28th 2011, from 10 – Noon in the Freeholders PublicMeeting Room. “This event recognizes unique accomplishments of individuals with disabilities and those persons in the community who perform selfless acts of assistance and advocacy on behalf of persons with disabilities” said Donovan. “We are extremely fortunate to have so many individuals from this area who demonstrate acommitment to the importance of inclusion and changing attitudes,” said Jim Thebery, M.A.,CSW, Division Director. “We are extremely proud of all of our champions. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of the 2011 award recipients who make a tremendous difference in the lives of so many individuals” he said. The 2011 award recipients include Ridgewood High School Principal, John Lorenz, who helpeddevelop the “S.A.I.L.” Program (Strategic Actions and Innovations Program) designed toprovide students with special needs the ability to become independent learners. “The S.A.I.L program is a godsend,” said Ridgewood Councilman Paul Aronsohn. “By keepingour special needs students in-district, the program is a win for them, a win for the other students and a win for our entire community.” “Jack’s vision and passion have made it all possible,” explained Aronsohn.The Division on Disability Services provides such services as Meals-on-Wheels, PersonalAssistance Services, Respite Care, Information and Referral, Caregiver Education, Post Strokeand Disabled Adult Support Groups.
>Why money can be found NOW for this work at Habernickel , yet time and again the answer is “no money” from Village Hall when you ask about repairs to streets, curbs, walks, storm drains, sewers, and many other things?
Still would love to know why money can be found NOW for this work, yet time and again the answer is “no money” from Village Hall when you ask about repairs to streets, curbs, walks, storm drains, sewers, and many other things.
This has been the case for several years. Over and over you are told “no money” to fix badly decayed infrastructure or even to hook up some storm drains not connected to mains and which then back up and flood streets and some homes, even in moderate storms or less-than-blizzard snow.
Yet “no money” over and over on those things… but magically money is found to do this stuff now – and for retroactive raises and on and on.
And again, if projects like Habernickel are fully paid by grants specific to each site, then sure, go ahead now.
But they are not. Money is taken for doing them now that should be used for other things like the urgent infrastructure needs. Those problems have been waiting and getting much worse for years… yet the answer’s always “no money”. They- and lots of other muck– get swept under the rug.
Fields are nice, sure. But Village owned infrastructure that is falling apart and damaging many properties time and again should warrant a higher priority for spending tax dollars than finding money to demolish a house NOW which could be bringing in revenue, as indeed it had been doing.
I’m not against fields at all, but sure am against spending tax dollars for projects like that when there are so many other basic things long past their lifespan and falling apart. Fix those first, THEN use future dollars for the other stuff.
Next thing probably is that they’ll do what has been done with sewer lines, some former Village trees and much else–give the falling apart stuff to you the homeowner– retroactively of course.
And then tell you “oops, your part of the street is falling apart, you’ll have to fix that or we will assess you a zillion bucks and do it for you”.
Oh by the way, if you wanna do that newly mandated work yourself, you’ll have to meet all the Village specs and pay for a cop to watch if any street disruption is needed to fix your part of the street.
You’ll also have to pay for our engineering fees, permits and loads more on that little project we’ve just handed you.
Oh, and did we mention your share of the storm drain we built in the dark ages but never connected now must be connected, so we’re going to charge you extra for that too?
And no, you can’t charge US anything for all that runoff water we deposited on your property because of that unconnected drain that the Village used to own. Nor for any damage it might have caused.
It’s now yours– and so if any more water is discharged from it, we will be charging you for the cost of cleaning that up, too.
Can I put up a toll booth on what you now say is my part of the street to recoup these costs? Uh, no, you can’t do that, either. Oh, and we’re raising your taxes and will now charge you some more new fees, too. Have a nice day!
It’s obviously ridiculous of course, right? Yet with many things, retroactively, the Village has done that already – that’s a fact.
So.. isn’t it time to demand your tax dollars be used for these other urgently needed things first? THEN use what’s left for the other stuff.. or wait to do it until there’s money for it.
The Congressional Redistricting Committee will hold its second and third public hearings tomorrow as part of a process that so far has consisted of committee members saying nothing or something innocuous enough to have the effect of nothing.
Insiders continue to remark on this process – fulfilled with far less evident urgency than the legislative process, where machine political interests along with their lieutenants in public office, had a power stake.
“Tomorrow’s hearings in Newark and New Brunswick are intended to give the commission the benefit of public testimony,” said 13th tiebreaking member John Farmer, dean of the Rutgers University Law School. (Pizarro, PolitickerNJ)
State’s raft of health plan choices include high-deductible coverage
On Wednesday, the State Health Benefits Commission will meet to consider a new set of health plans for government workers, who over the next four years will pay an increasing share of their health coverage premiums. The choices include plans with significantly lower premiums, but higher deductibles that require workers to pay more of their own medical bills.
AON Hewitt, a benefits consultant to the state, has developed a premium schedule for the plans, which the commission will consider Wednesday. The plans are being phased in, but in four years, the highest-paid workers will pay 35 percent of their premiums, while a worker earning $30,000 will pay 5 to 10 percent of the premium, depending on the level of coverage; everyone pays at least 1.5 percent of their salary for health care. (Fitzgerald, NJBIZ)
>For every instance of kids walking into the street without looking I could site examples of mothers with baby carriages waiting in crosswalks as cars zoom past.
The fact of the matter is the majority of pedestrians killed or seriously hurt in town in recent years were in crosswalks. The law clearly states that pedestrians have the right of way and drivers MUST STOP for them.
The problem in Ridgewood is compounded by drivers who get annoyed by situations that “force them to stop” just like you expressed. Usually there is a very good reason for the car in front of you being stopped – they are probably obeying the law and yielding to a pedestrian. The impatient driver will make the determination that the driver in front of them must be daydreaming and pull their car around the stopped car, usually with the pedal on the floor….OPPS, I just ran over a person in the crosswalk! Oh well, I’ll just get a ticket for failing to yield to a pedestrian and go on with my life.
Bringing “Wall Street” into this issue is silly and irrelevant but since you did – The only obvious similarity between the two issue is this: Neither the self important Wall Street hot shots (who ran the world economy into a ditch) nor the distracted drivers who hit pedestrians in crosswalks go to jail. Oh, and both groups live in Ridgewood. What a surprise!
Finally, why is enforcing the law as it pertains to pedestrians in crosswalks or jaywalking for that matter an example of a “nanny state” mentality? If someone came up behind you on the Ridgewood Ave and stole your wallet out of your pocket, I’d bet you’d go straight to the police, right? I might argue (in your world at least) that you should have been more careful, had your wallet in your front pocket with your hand over it to prevent someone from pickpocketing you. I could go on to argue that by reporting reporting the crime to the police you were looking for the big bad Government to bail you out of your own stupidity. Just because you’re clearly inconvenienced by the law that compels you to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks doesn’t make the law go away. Do everyone a favor and slow down, yield to pedestrians and help solve the problem we have in Ridgewood. The life you save just might be one of your loved ones.
Credit downgrade makes for pricey Collingswood bailout
The borough of Collingswood is betting a renter’s market will get it out of a hole dug by the flailing LumberYard condominiums project.
Borough officials — including Mayor James Maley — lobbied Moody’s analysts Sept. 30 in Collingswood to revisit the six-notch super-downgrade the borough received Sept. 12. Moody’s is the only ratings agency that monitors the borough’s finances. The downgrade to junk made more expensive the town’s plan to purchase 14 empty condominiums and put them on the market for rent.
Information exchanged in such meetings with analysts is confidential and Moody’s would not comment. Maley would only describe last month’s conversations as “productive.” (Roh, Gannett)
>Authorities raid alleged illegal massage parlor in Ridgewood
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2011 THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
An alleged illegal massage parlor was raided by the Ridgewood Police Department and the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday afternoon, resulting in one arrest, authorities said.
According to Ridgewood Police Chief John Ward, the parlor was operating out of the second floor of the building at 553 N. Maple Ave. Sometime after 1 p.m., officers conducted a search of the premises. Six Ridgewood police officers, including Ward, responded to the scene, in addition to investigators from the prosecutor’s office. Officials from the Ridgewood building and fire departments were summoned to the scene as well to document and verify all violation citations.
In the past several weeks, a number of events have had an impact on the Garden State’s court-mandated affordable housing program, often called “Mount Laurel housing.”
Long administered by the state Council on Affordable Housing, the program has required every town to provide homes that low- and moderate-income residents can afford. This housing was funded in part by fees paid by developers. In recent weeks, though, the governor has signed another 2½-year moratorium on the fees, and COAH has been abolished. The state’s Department of Community Affairs now will administer the program. (MacKenzie, Gannett)
>The Forget Me Not Foundation Announces Second Annual Fundraiser: “An Evening To Remember”
Ridgewood Non-Profit raises funds to support families suffering from pregnancy loss, increase educational programs for the medical community, and raise infant death awareness
The Forget Me Not Foundation is proud to present our second annual fundraiser “An Evening to Remember” on Monday, October 24, 2011 at The Woman’s Club of Ridgewood. “An Evening to Remember” is a tasting event showcasing Bergen County’s finest restaurants and caterers. In addition, there will be a chance auction of many exciting prizes with all proceeds benefiting The Forget Me Not Foundation. Tickets to the event can be purchased on the foundation’s website: https://www.fmnfoundation.com.
The Forget Me Not Foundation is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to supporting families suffering from pregnancy loss or infant death, and educating the medical community about the emotional needs of such families.
The Forget Me Not Foundation was established in memory of Emma Grace Barry, a beautiful baby girl born still on August 11, 2009. Emma was lost to a nuchal cord accident at 35+5 weeks gestation. Founders Dave and Melissa Barry of Ridgewood are determined to celebrate Emma’s life by helping families suffering through the death of a baby
>Society Cafe Concert Series, First Concert October 15
The Society Cafe Concert Series is offering a new series of acoustic singer, songwriter, folk and Americana concerts to the community. The Concert Series will be performed at the Unitarian Society of Ridgewood, in Anderson Hall. They will be offering desserts provided by Oliver’s Chocolates and Dawn’s Catering, and coffee provided by Ridgewood Coffee Company. The first concert will be on Saturday, October 15th, and features blues roots rock artist Kirsten Thien, with special guest Galia Arad. Doors open and dessert served at 7:00 p.m., music begins at 8:00. Tickets are $20 and can be reserved by going to www.societycafeconcertseries.com. Please pay for tickets at the door. For any booking inquiries or information about the series please contact Mark Meding at m.meding@att.net. The Unitarian Society of Ridgewood is located at 113 Cottage Place, Ridgewood, NJ, www.uuridgewood.org.
