Readers Voice concern over Village Planning Board Attorney’s Objectivity
-Thed
Of course Price will be handling Valley with kid gloves. According to her law firm’s website, she “…represents commercial, industrial, and residential developers in connection with land development and construction related issues.”
She’s not going to go against her main source of income representing developers to get projects approved. It’s like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse.
Aronsohn better show he “has a set” and run a fair hearing as mayor (yes I realize he’s not chairman but he should have significant influence and we’ll hold him accountable if these hearings go to hell again).
Readers Sound Off on March 11th Planning Board Meeting at BF
Last night we got a glimpse of how Gail Price has run and will run these hearings. When Pete McKenna from the CRR got up to ask his first and very reasonable question about using an urban planner in these hearings, Valley’s attorney got out of his chair and stormed the microphone. When he got to the mic, he physically moved Mr. McKenna out of the way so that he could object to the QUESTION.
Ms. Price opened and explained how the slate was wiped clean and all previous testimony was essentially null and void. Valley’s attorney then made a statement telling the PB who would testify and when they would testify. It left me wondering who is running the show — the PB or Valley’s attorney. Maybe this is normal as I don’t have much experience with these hearings .
Ms. Price pointed her finger at the audience when Mr. Grant’s (new planning bd member) comment about the fact that “Valley needs to expand” comment was questioned by an audience member to determine Mr. Grant’s objectivity. This is going to get nasty if Valley’s new attorney keeps objecting to everything the public has to say and Ms. Price lets him. Maybe she should call Matt Rogers for some pointers on how to run a Valley meeting..
Valley’s attorney was not only interrupting Mr. McKenna, he was interrupting members of the Board as they were attempting to answer Mr. McKenna’s question. Ms. Price allowed Valley’s attorney to continue his rant at the microphone until the audience finally shouted him down at which point Ms. Price chided the AUDIENCE for interrupting. We never did get a chance to hear the Board’s response. Unbelievable. So this is how it’s going to be. Again.
Early school budget plan would increase Ridgewood taxes by 2%
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER
The Record
RIDGEWOOD — The school board has unanimously approved a preliminary budget that would increase taxes for the average homeowner by $203.
A public hearing on the proposed $91.3 million budget, which would raise school taxes 2 percent, is set for March 27. No dramatic changes to the 2013-14 spending plan are expected over the next two weeks, said Board President Sheila Brogan.
“There may be some changes, because there is some exploration still going on,” Brogan explained. “We did have to make some adjustments in our budget to get to the 2 percent [cap].”
Brogan said the budget reflects no cuts to programming or full-time personnel, however some part-time staffing reductions would affect the number of teachers’ aides in the classroom.
Plan for smoking ban in Ridgewood parks moves forward
Tuesday March 12, 2013, 10:30 AM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News
Ridgewood council members are pushing ahead with a proposal to ban smoking in all village parks, but the governing body reached a consensus to exclude sidewalks and other specially requested areas from a future ordinance.
The Ridgewood Council is considering a smoking ban in village parks, similar to an ordinance recently enacted in Paramus.
The council can introduce the ordinance enacting the new regulations as early as Wednesday.
The village is one of several municipalities that have been recently targeted by Global Advisors Smokefree Policy (GASP), a statewide program intended to create smoke-free environments in all public parks. GASP representatives, with support from the village’s Parks, Recreation and Conservation Board, pitched their ideas in Ridgewood in January.
GASP has also appeared in Garfield, North Arlington, Wood-Ridge and Westwood, among other towns. If Ridgewood approves an ordinance, it will be the 15th municipality in Bergen County to adopt the 100 percent smoke-free parks policy.
10 Bergen County schools on list of highest performing in state
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
The Record
Ten Bergen County schools are among 57 that New Jersey has deemed to be “Reward Schools,” meaning they were among the highest performing in the state last year, or saw the greatest student gains in passing state tests.
Most of the schools winning the new designation — which the state Department of Education posted online last week with little fanfare — are in affluent communities or are selective magnet schools, such as the Bergen County Academies in Hackensack and Bergen County Technical High School in Teterboro.
The others in the high-performance category include Alpine Elementary School, Lyncrest Elementary School in Fair Lawn, Richard E. Byrd School and Central School in Glen Rock, Charles DeWolf Middle School in Old Tappan and Sicomac Elementary School in Wyckoff. The state said these schools had the highest rates of proficiency on state tests last spring — schoolwide and in various racial and ethnic groups.
Two Bergen schools, Hillside Elementary in Closter and Orchard Elementary in Ridgewood, were deemed to have shown especially high growth for three years.
Tiger Team : Establish a Five-Year Staffing Strategy
Mayor Paul Aronsohn says he does not support layoffs to realize no tax increase but during the election he called for 0% tax increase. So which is it Mr. Mayor the taxpayers or the unions?
The Village should establish a five- year staffing plan that incorporates anticipated attrition, compensation rates for new hires, outsourcing, civilianization opportunities and modeling of efficient staffing levels. Personnel costs, staffing levels, and service offerings are some of the main drivers of the excessive operating costs of the Village. Historically, when one Village employee retires, another is hired as a replacement with little or no attempt to reengineer other employees’ duties to consolidate positions or reduce cost.
Across the Village, a significant number of employees are near or currently eligible for full-time retirement benefits. These long-term employees are at the highest end of the pay scale and it is critical for Village management to evaluate the cost-benefit for them to continue working for the Village or attempt to accelerate their retirements and replace them, if necessary, with lower cost employees . This must be facilitated under collective bargaining agreements . In order to properly evaluate this, the concessions from existing employees, as well as the terms of contracts for new hires must be known. There fore, this analysis should be performed in conjunction with collective bargaining agreement negotiations, in collaboration with
the FOB, and in alignment with the Strategic Financial Plan.
The manner in which services are delivered must be closely evaluated for every service offering throughout the Village. If the Board of Education can save hundreds of thousands of dollars by terminating the use of Village services and outsourcing them, it is only logical that the Village itself could save significantly larger amounts by doing the same. As referenced throughout this report, Village management must carefully evaluate the cost-
benefit of outsourcing the delivery of all service offerings.
The analysis of all of these components requires coordination among numerous departments and Village management. In order to more effectively manage future personnel levels and compensation / benefit costs, in terms of the immediate and long – term impact , the committee believes it is critical for management to develop a five-year staffing plan
Plan for scoreboard in Ridgewood is deemed home run
Tuesday March 12, 2013, 10:27 AM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News
The Ridgewood Baseball Softball Association’s (RBSA) pitch for a new scoreboard at Veterans Field was a hit with Ridgewood Council members, who last week gave their support to the general plans.
Residents Chip Conklin and Kurt Hommen presented their proposal for the scoreboard, which if all falls into place will be up and running for the start of the Ridgewood High School varsity baseball team’s season opener.
In addition to the high school baseball team, squads from the RBSA will also reap the benefits from the proposed scoreboard. Preliminary plans indicate that the scoreboard will be located just beyond left centerfield between the walking track and the Ho-Ho-Kus Brook.
According to Conklin, RBSA will foot the entire bill for the purchase and installation of the equipment. Running between $3,500 and $4,000, the cost of the scoreboard is “not a significant expense,” Conklin said.
“It’s given as a gift to the town, but in a practical standpoint, the RBSA is going to take care of it,” he added, addressing council members’ questions regarding future maintenance.
Other issues raised by the council at last week’s work session included operational costs, flooding and potential advertising.
Bill Opens Debate on Ultrasound Scans for Breast Cancer
Should women in New Jersey whose mammograms reveal that they have extremely dense breast tissue follow up with an ultrasound — and should insurers be required to pick up the tab for the additional test?
Those questions — at the heart of a bill being considered by the Assembly — are causing contention among medical specialists and lawmakers. (Kitchenman/NJSpotlight)
Bergen County authority advances plan to issue $400M in bonds for American Dream project
Tuesday, March 19, 2013 Last updated: Tuesday March 19, 2013, 1:14 PM
BY JOHN BRENNAN
STAFF WRITER
The Record
The Bergen County Improvement Authority board on Tuesday unanimously approved a pair of resolutions that will lead to the agency making an application to the Local Finance Board expressing its intent to issue at least $400 million in bonds for the American Dream Meadowlands project.
The bonds would be part of a $1.75 billion financing package that would also include $200 million in equity from developer Triple Five as well as private funding.
The board spent more than an hour at the special session asking questions of several executives, attorneys and bankers involved in the project, with many of the inquiries seeking to clarify that the agency can still back out of the project if certain conditions are not met.
Christie proposes to toughen rules on those seeking N.J. unemployment benefits
New Jerseyans hunting for jobs would have to climb an extra hurdle before they can collect weekly unemployment benefits under new regulations being proposed by Gov. Chris Christie’s administration.
Jobless residents would have to search for openings online, on a state-run jobs board called Jobs4Jersey.com, every week. The only current requirement is that they check in with state officials by phone, mail, in person or online. (Rizzo/Star-Ledger)
Christie unapologetic about trying to change court
NORTH BRUNSWICK – Senate President Steve Sweeney’s apparent refusal to give the governor’s nominees to the Supreme Court a confirmation hearing is a “child’s playground game,” said Gov. Chris Christie.
The governor responded Monday to comments made by Sweeney recently that indicated a confirmation hearing is not around the corner out of fears that Christie would try to “stack the court.” (Arco/PolitickerNJ)
NJ Consumers Could See Small Hike in Electric Bills With Grid Upgrade
With many power plants being shut down because of tougher environmental regulations at the state and federal levels, the operator of the nation’s largest power grid is authorizing more than $2.4 billion in new transmission projects in the region, including many in New Jersey.
The retirement of the power plants is not unexpected, given the more stringent rules to control emissions from older, more polluting plants. Also contributing to the phase-out: historically low natural-gas prices, which have made it tougher for coal plants to compete with the cheaper fuel. (Johnson/NJSpotlight)
Ridgewood NJ ,Tuesday, March 12th @ 6:00pm,Former Indiana Hoosiers Basketball Coach, Bobby Knight, will sign his new book: The Power of Negative Thinking. Books available March 5th
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.
While we try to insure that all customers coming to Bookends’ signings will meet authors and get their books signed, we cannot guarantee that all attendees will meet the author or that all books will be signed. We cannot control inclement weather, author travel schedules or authors who leave prematurely.
Bookends, 211 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450 201-445-0726
Five Guys: Obamacare will boost burger prices
March 11, 2013 | 4:22 pm
The fight over Obamacare, so far held at the 30,000-foot level, is about to hit home. The latest impact hot off the grill: prices of burgers and hot dogs at Five Guys, the national chain that started in Washington, are going to rise to cover the president’s mandated insurance coverage.
“Any added costs are going to have to be passed on,” said Mike Ruffer, a Five Guys franchise holder with eight of the popular restaurants in the Raleigh-Durham, N.C. area. He will need all the profits from at least one of his eight outlets just to cover his estimated added $60,000-a year in new Obamacare costs.
What’s more, he’s iced plans to build another three restaurants until after the administration explains the exact rules and penalties employers will face. The law’s plan to have those available March 1 has been pushed back to October.
