Month: March 2013

Planning Board Special Public Meeting – March 11 at BF Middle School Auditorium

PLANNING BOARD

AMENDMENT TO MEETING SCHEDULE

Work Session & Public Meeting: Monday, March 11, 2013

In accordance with the provisions of the “Open Public Meetings Act,” please be advised that the Planning Board has scheduled a special public meeting and work session for MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2013, in the BENJAMIN FRANKLIN MIDDLE SCHOOL AUDITORIUM, 335 NORTH VAN DIEN AVENUE, RIDGEWOOD, NJ beginning at 8:00 p.m.

The Board may take official action during this Work and Public Meeting at which time the Board will preview presentation and have Board discussion regarding the schedule and scope of future hearings concerning an application for an amendment to the Land Use Plan Element of the Master Plan concerning the H- Hospital Zone, The Valley Hospital, 223 N. Van Dien Avenue, Block 3301, Lot 51.

All meetings of the Ridgewood Planning Board (i.e., official public meetings, work session meetings, pre-meeting assemblies and special meetings) are public meetings which are always open to members of the general public.

Jane Wondergem

Secretary to the Board

Ridgewood has super hopes for Super Bowl
Friday, March 8, 2013
BY  CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER
The Record

RIDGEWOOD — The village has already started planning several special events for the week leading up to next year’s Super Bowl at the Meadowlands in an attempt to lure football fans to Ridgewood’s shops and restaurants.

The council on Wednesday heard from resident John Saracino, who sits on a 20-member village committee devised with a singular mission in mind: make Ridgewood a draw for tourists coming to the area for 2014’s big game.

Saracino said Ridgewood and Montclair were both chosen by the official host committee behind Super Bowl XLVIII as places to visit before kickoff.

The local committee that Saracino sits on will “organize Super Bowl-related events in the village,” all geared toward attracting residents of Bergen and Rockland counties to Ridgewood’s downtown.

One of the committee’s suggestions, Saracino said, would be to throw an event similar to Ridgewood’s annual Winterfest, which in 2012 boasted scenic horse-drawn carriage rides and ice sculpture demonstrations.

“We’re looking at concepts and ideas,” Saracino said, “including a fairly significant festival like Winterfest, just a level up.”

https://www.northjersey.com/community/196249921_Ridgewood_has_super_hopes_for_Super_Bowl.html

Ridgewood faces new debate on Valley Hospital expansion
Thursday March 7, 2013, 11:42 PM
BY  MARY JO LAYTON
STAFF WRITER
The Record

The Valley Hospital’s new expansion plans are dividing Ridgewood again along predictable fault lines, with opponents and supporters bracing for months of hearings while the long-term future of the hospital hangs in the balance.

Experts for Valley are expected to appear before the Planning Board on Monday to detail the project, which would expand the hospital from 570,000 square feet, to 910,000 square feet, excluding parking, and bring years of construction to the residential neighborhood.

At sporting events and school drop-offs and after religious services, there’s a collective lament throughout the village, no matter which side is doing the talking: Here we go again. After years of sometimes raucous meetings — the first expansion plan was presented to the Village Council in 2006 and this one is not significantly different — residents are steeling themselves for more hours of testimony on setbacks, traffic reports and the merits of single-patient rooms and larger diagnostic areas.

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

Ridgewood housing hearings stalled
Thursday March 7, 2013, 1:42 PM
BY  DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News

Ridgewood Planning Board members found enough merit after nearly two years of presentations and expert testimony to move out of the work session phase and into an official public hearing to consider four developers’ request to amend the village’s master

The public hearing on proposed multi-family housing in the Central Business District (CBD), however, likely will not begin for several months.

For a litany of reasons – most notably the imminent, court-ordered second public hearing for The Valley Hospital expansion – the start of the public hearing on downtown housing will be pushed back toward the latter part of the year.

A scheduling order handed down last month by Superior Court Judge Alexander Carver III requires the Planning Board to reach a decision on Valley by June 30; however, the summer will not be optimal for the housing issue since those months typically preclude full public participation, which Mayor Paul Aronsohn said he hopes to avoid.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/196021981_Ridgewood_housing_hearings_stalled.html

Senator Menendez at Ridgewood REORG photo by Boyd Loving

Robert Menendez prostitution scandal: Judge says senator needs to testify
Published: March 5, 2013 4:51 PM
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic – A Dominican Republic judge ruled Tuesday that he needs to hear from a U.S. senator and one of his campaign contributors before deciding whether to grant a court order sought by a woman who says she was paid to falsely claim she had sex with the men.

The woman, 23-year-old Nexis de los Santos, asked the court to block any possible arrest for making statements she now says are false: accusing the senator and several associates of using prostitutes in the Dominican Republic.

Judge Ismael Ramirez, at a hearing in the town of La Romana, determined he did not have enough information and ordered the testimony of U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) and Salomon Melgen, a Florida eye doctor and major campaign contributor.

https://newyork.newsday.com/news/region-state/robert-menendez-prostitution-scandal-judge-says-senator-needs-to-testify-1.4755502

Special Event at the Tobacco Shop of Ridgewood
Join Us: Saturday, March 16th
1:00-4:00PM

Buy and 3 Romeo y Julieta or Montecristo
cigars and try the #3 rated cigar of 2012 the
ROMEO Piramides

~Gary, Barbara and Collin
The Tobacco Shop of Ridgewood

The Tobacco Shop of Ridgewood | 10 Chestnut Street | Ridgewood, New Jersey 07450
Phone: 201-447-2204 | Email: info@tobaccoshop.com
Hours: Monday – Saturday 10:00AM – 5:30PM and Thursday Night 6:30PM – 8:30PM

Cigars ,Pipes , Tobacco , Accessories ,shop Ridgewood

file photo Boyd Loving

Village Council Special Public Meetings on the Budget – March 15

March 15, 2013 Budget Meeting at 5PM

REVISED

MEETING NOTICE

VILLAGE COUNCIL

Pursuant to the requirements of the Open Public Meetings Act,

Chapter 231, P.L. 1975, notice is hereby given that the Village

Council will hold a Special Public Meeting on Friday, March 15, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. (not 7:30 p.m. as previously noticed) in the Sydney V. Stoldt, Jr. Court Room on the fourth floor of the Ridgewood Village Hall, 131 North Maple Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ.

The purpose of this Special Public Meeting is to discuss and review the 2013 Annual Budget with various Department Directors.

Formal action may be taken by the Village Council at this Special Public Meeting.

Heather A. Mailander, RMC/CMC/MMC

Village Clerk

The MOMS Club of Ridgewood and the MOMS Club of Glen Rock present Movie Day!

MOMS Club of Ridgewood® and the MOMS Club of Glen Rock®. are hosting a joint fundraising event – “Movie Day” – benefiting Shelter our Sisters, a local agency for victims of domestic violence.

Their mission is to assist women and children of emotional, economic, sexual and/or physical abuse. The agency provides emergency and transitional housing, emotional support, and a diversified continuum of services focused on safety, empowerment, and self sufficiency. www.shelteroursisters.org.

The MOMS Club of Ridgewood and the MOMS Club of Glen Rock present Movie Day on Sat, March 16, 10:00 AM at the Warner Quad Theatre on E. Ridgewood Ave in Ridgewood.

All are welcome! Money raised will go to support Shelter Our Sisters, a local non-profit serving families affected by domestic violence – www.shelteroursisters.org. “Wreck-It-Ralph” and “Curious George, Show Me the Monkey,” will be shown in separate theatres.

Both movies start at 10am. Cost is $8/person – paid at the door – and includes admission, unlimited popcorn and beverage. Children under 2 are free. Contact csiembieda@gmail.com with questions.

FBI watching Sandy aid in N.J. for fraud

The FBI doesn’t normally come knocking for fraud cases involving a few thousand dollars. But that’s likely to change very soon in New Jersey as federal investigators turn their attention to the billions in federal aid coming into the state to rebuild after superstorm Sandy. Record

https://www.northjersey.com/news/crime_courts/FBI_is_watching_Sandy_aid_for_fraud.html