file photo
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, yet another slap in the face to Ridgewood taxpayers is currently being concocted by Mayor Paul Vagianos and his conniving crew.
Despite an admission on the Council’s part that there are several other athletic fields/parks in the Village devoid of “storm shelters” and nearby permanent restrooms (e.g., Citizen’s, Lower Hawes), and without undertaking a prioritization process/needs analysis to determine where to build first, Ridgewood’s governing body is set to allocate $340k of taxpayer funds for the construction of an outdoor pavilion with permanent restrooms at Habernickel Park.
During a recent Village Council Budget Meeting, Parks & Recreation Director Nancy Bigos stated publicly that once the pavilion is in place at Habernickel, and despite it having been fully funded by Ridgewood’s taxpayers, Healthbarn USA (a privately owned business) will be authorized to reserve the pavilion regularly for its own (commercial) use without charge.
How about that folks? Useable/rentable space for Healthbarn USA may more than double with no capital investment or rent increase on their part. Wow!
Insanity seemingly reigns on the dais.
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Unbelievable.
Do the terms of Healthbarn USA’s current lease entitle her to the exclusive, free use of any Village facility, even those not even constructed? If so, she’s got a damn good lawyer, or, Matt Rogers sucks.
Rent should be increased and Healthbarn year end financial statements should be audited to understand the amount of revenue being generated and then there should be a sliding scale for rent paid to the village based on the revenue being generated, that seems fair. Also, the lease should be reviewed to ensure that all of Healthbarn activities on the property and in the house are legitimate based on funding.
Yes and yes. Maybe if the got market value rent we can buy more garbage trucks that work. Instead we give give give to business over and over
Sadly it’s Nancy Bigios who is in charge and she allows healthbarn owner to have whatever she wants. If someone wants to really see what their tax dollars have paid for for the businesses benefit they should!!!
Probably both. Matt Rogers is in place to ensure that the mayor and council get what they want, and they love Healthbarn. Paul participated in the “Feed the frontlines” and benefitted financially as his restaurant participated, as people always say, follow the money. Apparently there was $4 million and little transparency over where it all went.
The park hosting the most number of games should have gotten first dibs. Citizen’s is the likely first choice.
Yes that would be an obvious choice. This is NOT being done for your kids or mine. It’s being done for a business!
Interesting. Wasn’t the mayor’s restaurant a recipient of funds from several Healthbarn USA Foundation administered Feed the Frontlines grants? Hmm. Payback?
Yes. A lot of money!!!
100 percent he was in every photo. Where did all the money go?
I guess the village is planning on a big tax increase again. And who’s going to maintain all this, while many of the village departments are short, staffed employees. And if they’re going to hire more employees, where is that money coming from more taxes.
You can be sure $340,000 is just the down payment.
They spend money on capital items like a kid in a candy store.
It was Nan’s idea to save the reclaimed wood from the barn. Perhaps she is planning to build this new construction using that wood, you know, to save the village a few dollars!!!
The infested wood????
They are relentless…
The owner of Healthbarn participated in the scheme which gives Paul Vagianos and his buddies 4M of Murphy backed tax payer money.
They are paying back.
Where did that money go. How do we start an investigation? It need to be done before this VM does the job he was hired for and that’s to destroy ridgewood
There are constant complaints from the youth coaches about commercial entrepreneurs offering clinics on our fields without paying, but yet they’re going to allow this woman to use the new pavilion for free. Makes no sense.
Follow the money…
How
Who are the commercial entrepreneurs? I have heard this too.
Why for Healthbarn. Why? Someone is making bank aside from the owner. There needs to be a full investigation. Where did the 4 million dollars go?
Ridgewood is, literally, open for business….
It would be a very nice area for all to use. It can get pretty hot in the open sun out there. Will the garden areas remain, also?
Garden is specifically for Healhbarn. I believe it is otherwise locked when a healthbarn person is not using it to teach the kiddies. So once again, another example of a business opportunity for Healthbarn with a very low cost rent being applied. Pay to play, I am guessing.
It’s locked!!!
Yes, if all can use. That is the $350 thousand dollar question. However, as we well know, residents will not get a chance to use it as it will be dominated by Healthbarn and their activities. this does not seem right as taxpaying dollars would be going to fund this structure.
The garden is locked and only for the HB business to use. Another give away!
Can they also add a big community pool ? It would be great for the summer. Out of towners and low income should be allowed to go for free. We’re inclusive and should set an example. I hope that our amazing VC can push this through.
I think this park was funded by Green acres partially. We should look into the restrictions on use of property and house. Healthbarn is running things all of the time, even outside of the posted hours. The lease spells out what they are allowed to do but they probably don’t care as they get away with whatever they like.
That’s who go to HB. Mostly out of towners and bus loads of kids from anywhere. So sure add a pool for her summer camp. Let the tax payers pay for this too
I suppose, once again, THIS kind of reckless and wasteful spending ,under the watch of our current mayor and all his buddies, will probably be included in their plans for the historical house located on Schedler’s property. Healthbarn 2 and a new pavilion???Why not? THEY are not paying for it!! Just the taxpayers will bear the brunt of ALL their self-serving agendas. Totally upsetting and disgusting….
It’s hardly surprising to find a corpse infested with maggots. The feeding frenzy continues.
This is totally being built for Healthbarn so they can increase the number of kids coming for events during the year. Now between the house & the gross garden they don’t have enough space to scream & be disrespectful to the neighbors so let’s give a for profit business more free space!!! It is crazy how the village is in bed with her she is truly an awful person profiting off innocent kids. Have you ever gone into the park during one of her camps? Because beware the owner might start yelling at you for being in the park looking at your phone.
Let’s audit the books. I am sure that is legal if it is supposed to be non profit but is actually profit. We need to get details about what is really going on. Who is paying and who is playing. So many people are upset by this nonsense but they keep getting away with it.
It’s not supposed to be non profit at all. Thats just what some want you to think. It is a private business owned by 1 person making a lot of money daily off of tax payers Look it up. Classes, camps, birthday parties, evening events, field trips all spring summer and fall . Not cheap and all FOR profit. Where did this non profit good for the community narrative come from. There is a boat load of money being made in that park at ridgewood tax payers expense
First of all she isn’t the owner of Habernickle, let’s get that straight, she is a TENANT. No yelling is acceptable and this should be reported to the village attorney as borderline harrassment of residents trying to access and utilize a PUBLIC outdoor space. This favoritism with this mayor, majority council, Nan Bigos and Richard Brooks has to stop before it spirals out of control. residents need to start taking back the village. If you pay taxes you are allowed to use a public pard. period.
Been there done that. All true. She has yelled at kids walking their dog,. Kicked groups out of the park. Shocking what actually happens.over their with that business owner
A blast from the past:
https://theridgewoodblog.net/no-golden-toilets-for-habernickel/
Kinda reminds me of the big push to allow tables in the street (oh, I mean “plaza”) and on narrow sidewalks so that restaurant owners can serve more customers at the same rent.
Mr. manager, can you get the sweepers to sweep underneath the trestle commercial streets are filthy.
Why is it called Habernickel Family Park ?
Clearly sounds like something the States Attorney General should look into.
I have heard of many people being confronted by the owner just for being in the park, kids. An old man. Neighbors. Small organized events such as scouts told to leave the park
So who owns Healthbarn USA? Do they currently and will they in the future pay fees for usage? How come the project does not stipulate that part of the cost will be defrayed by rental or fee income?