Month: January 2013

Readers have Serious doubts whether Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli did or did not violate Open Public Meetings Act.

You can 6 lawyers the same question and the will give you 6 complete different answers.

Do you think as stated by the Deputy Mayor that the second council member who attended the meeting just happened to be around at the same place and the same time. How many were held with Terminal Construction ” Ken Smith property” or how many parking garage meeting were held without anyone knowledge?

BOE looks into Superintendent Salary Caps
January 11,2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Readers question is the BOE is looking to do and end around taxpayers on Superintendent Danial Fishbien’s Salary .

A small item appeared in the rps.eNews :

Superintendent Salary Caps

Michele Lenhard introduced the topic of asking the New Jersey School Boards Association NJSBA) to look further into this issue and possibly take an advocacy position by way of a resolution. The Board agreed to further explore the drafting of a resolution that would then go before the NJSBA Resolution subcommittee for review and feedback. The state regulation imposing salary caps on superintendents’ salaries dates to the summer of 2010.

Readers wonder if the BOE is looking for and out to pay the Superintendent more money than the state allows ? Board Member Michele Lenhard looking to take an advocacy position ?  Village taxpayers and inquiring minds want to know?

Ridgewood Police Department investigation revealed theft of money from the Village of Ridgewood meter collection room
January 8,2012

Ridgewood NJ , On January 8, 2012 the Ridgewood Police Department, with the assistance of the Bergen County Prosecutors Office, conducted an investigation into theft of money from the Village of Ridgewood meter collection room. An employee noticed that coins appeared to be missing from the room.

The investigation revealed that the room had been entered numerous times by an employee that was not authorized to be in the room. The accused, Thomas L Rica, 42 of Hawthorne, who was employed by the Village as a Public Works Inspector, was arrested and charged with Theft in excess of $500.00 and Hindering Apprehension. The accused was released pending an appearance in Ridgewood Municipal Court. The investigation is ongoing.

All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

file Photo Boyd Loving

VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS NEEDED IN RIDGEWOOD

The Ridgewood Volunteer Fire Department is looking for new volunteer members.

Volunteer firefighters assist members of the career department at major fires, during storms or anytime the on-duty shift needs additional personnel at an emergency scene.

All training and equipment will be provided by the fire department at no cost to the individual.

Volunteer firefighters attend training drills once a week on Monday evenings from 7 to 9PM.

file Photo Boyd Loving

To be a volunteer firefighter, applicants must be at least age 18, live or work in Ridgewood, hold a valid New Jersey Driver’s License and be prepared to commit the necessary time and effort involved in being a volunteer firefighter.

For more information, call 201/444-8822 or visit rfd.ridgewoodnj.net

Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli did not violate Open Public Meetings Act.
Ridgewood meeting deemed within the rules
Thursday January 10, 2013, 4:57 PM
BY  DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News

Neither the spirit nor the letter of the law was violated when Ridgewood’s deputy mayor convened an informal meeting on Nov. 27, according to Village Attorney Matt Rogers.

At least two residents suggested last month that Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli violated the state’s Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) when he held the meeting in an effort to gain additional information regarding a proposed ADA-compliant ramp at Graydon Pool. The Village Council vote on the ramp took place Wednesday, Nov. 28.

Pucciarelli indicated that he purposely did not invite other members of the Village Council so as to avoid the legal obligations surrounding a public meeting. One other council member was in the same building where the meeting took place and eventually attended.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/186368531_Ridgewood_meeting_deemed_within_the_rules.html

Unlimited Prepaid Parking – UP3 Permit January – December 2013

Parking rules have changed for all Ridgewood parking lots. Hourly rates in Village lots are 25 cents* per hour 6AM to 6PM, Monday through Saturday. Â Unlimited Prepaid Parking is offered through the new – UP3 program.

UP3 – Unlimited Pre Paid Parking permit provides the convenience of “coinless” unlimited parking in all lots. Â Annual permits are issued for a calendar year at a cost of $650. Â If the permit is purchased later in the year, fees are prorated as follows:

Purchase Month	FEE	Purchase Month	FEE
January	$650	July	$350
February	$600	August	$275
March	$550	September	$225
April	$500	October	$175
May	$450	November	$125
June	$400	December	$75

To obtain an UP3 – Unlimited Pre Paid Parking permit application for all lots, go to Village Hall Reception Desk, Monday to Friday, 8:30AM to 4:30PM. Applicants – residents and non residents – must show current Driver’s License and Vehicle Registration for up to three vehicles.

Train Station Lot will continue to require a Ridgewood Resident Commuter Parking Permit in addition to UP3 Permit.  Resident Commuter parking Permits are issued free to residents at the Village Hall Reception Desk.

Please refer to the Explore Ridgewood Parking Guide that provides information and maps for locating parking lots in the Village at www.ridgewoodnj.net .
The Explore Ridgewood Parking Guide is located on top bar of the Homepage.

*Exception – Rt. 17 Park and Ride is 50 cents per hour, Monday to Saturday, 6AM to 6PM

Childrens Program – Dragons and Dreams – Sciencetellers – February 20

“Dragons and Dreams” presented by Sciencetellers

Children’s show at the Community Center

The Ridgewood Parks and Recreation Department is pleased to welcome Sciencetellers on Wednesday, February 20th, 11 a.m. at the Anne Zusy Youth Center, Village Hall, 131 North Maple Avenue.

“Dragons and Dreams” is a spectacular adventure to be enjoyed by ages 5 to 95. With castles, kings, an Ice Sorceress, the Horn of Fire, two villagers and a daring journey to save an entire kingdom, spectators are swept away to a world where dragons are real, dreams come true, and only the most daring of people will survive to tell the tale!

Admission is $5.00, ages 2 and up. It is suggested tickets be purchased in advance either online at www.ridgewoodnj.net/communitypass or in person at the Recreation Office at the Stable, 259 N. Maple Avenue, weekdays between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

For additional information kindly contact the Recreation office at 201-670-5560.

State of NJ still spending like drunken sailors

Audit shows state missed 2012 revenue projections to sustain $2 Billion spending increase
Thursday, January 10, 2013
BY JOHN REITMEYER
STATE HO– USE BUREAU
The Record

Governor Christie’s $31.7 billion budget projects more than 7 percent revenue growth. But a new audit shows tax collections fell short of his more modest predictions for last year, coming in at less than half of what he expects for this year.

Christie, a Republican who is seeking reelection this year, based his call for the income tax cut he proposed in early 2012 on a blossoming state economy.

But information included in the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report released by the state Department of Treasury on Wednesday shows Christie missed his revenue projections for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2012, by roughly $288 million.

The shortfall was whittled down to just $123 million after a series of routine budget adjustments, and no bills were left unpaid or overdue. The gap was simply carried over into the current budget year because the state constitution prohibits deficit spending.

But Christie is projecting much bolder growth to support the $31.7 billion spending plan he signed in June, and the audit offers no evidence of such an expanding state economy.

The audit confirms the state saw growth during the last fiscal year, but not as much as Christie predicted and much less than he’s projected for the current budget year. Major revenue sources grew by a combined 2.8 percent during the last fiscal year.

The current budget, however, projects revenue growth of more than 7 percent to sustain a $2 billion spending increase.

But so far, tax collections have failed to live up to the governor’s budget targets. All 14 revenue sources tracked by the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services have lagged Christie’s projections.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/186266492_Audit_shows_state__missed_2012_revenue_projections_by__288M.html

Ridgewood public works inspector charged with stealing meter coins
Thursday January 10, 2013, 10:06 AM
BY  DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News

Ridgewood’s public works inspector was arrested and charged Tuesday night with allegedly stealing more than $500 worth of coins that had been collected from municipal parking meters.

Thomas Rica, 42, was charged with theft and hindering apprehension, Village Manager Ken Gabbert told The Ridgewood News on Wednesday night.

According to the Ridgewood Police Department, an investigation was prompted on Jan. 8 after a municipal employee reported that coins stored in the meter collection room at Village Hall “appeared to be missing.”

The investigation, which was conducted by members of the police department’s detective bureau with assistance from the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, revealed that an unauthorized employee entered the coin collection room “numerous times,” police said. Authorities identified the employee as Rica, who has been employed by the village since 2004.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/186312351_Ridgewood_public_works_inspector_charged_with_stealing_meter_coins.html

Bolger Heritage Center presents : The People of New Netherland

Bolger Heritage Center, Ridgewood Public Library
January 4,2013

Ridgewood NJ, Save the Date: Tuesday, January 22, 7 pm. The People of New Netherland: Roughnecks, Multitaskers, Grandees, or All of the Above?

A program by Firth Haring Fabend, author of the just-published New Netherland in a Nutshell: A Concise History of the Dutch Colony in North America. The book has been described as a “handy, richly packed resource that gives the background, the actors, the action, and the legacy in clear prose” in a mere 125 pages.

Firth will show slides to illustrate who the diverse people were who inhabited the seventeenth-century colony that became New York, New Jersey, and parts of Delaware, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. She will have this book and some of her other books available for sale and signing.

The Ridgewood Public Library Bolger Heritage Center has a wide variety of resources for the study of genealogy and of Ridgewood and New Jersey history. The Center is located on Level 2 and is open during all library hours. Special assistance is available by emailing heritagecenter@ridgewoodlibrary.org. For more information about the Heritage Center see www.ridgewoodlibrary.org/localhistory.

Located at the Ridgewood Public Library , 125 North Maple Avenue  Ridgewood, New Jersey 07450  Phone (201) 670-5600 ext. 135

Flu reaches epidemic levels in N.J.
Wednesday January 9, 2013, 10:32 PM
BY  BARBARA WILLIAMS
STAFF WRITER
The Record

Influenza is rampant across the nation, and New Jersey is smack in the middle of what local physicians are calling an epidemic.

“It’s here. Big time,” said Dr. Thomas Birch, president of the medical staff at Holy Name Medical Center. “When the virus comes into a community with susceptible individuals, it will literally spread like those wildfires in California that burn everything in their path.”

The onslaught of the illness marks the first time in about a decade that influenza is so prevalent this early in the year — 41 states are reporting widespread flu activity. More than 2,200 people nationwide have been hospitalized and 18 children have died, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

So many people are sick that St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson on Monday treated a record number of patients — 514 compared with about 420 it normally sees, said Dr. Mark Rosenberg, chairman of emergency medicine at St. Joseph’s Healthcare System, which has hospitals in Paterson and Wayne.

The city hospital admitted 90 patients, up sharply from the 60 to 65 typically kept for treatment on any given day.

The flu is spreading fast — and it’s virulent, doctors said.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/bergen/Flu_in_NJ_reaches_epidemic_levels.html