Aronsohn and Company pushes vote on ADA compliant cement ramp at Graydon Pool

Aronsohn and Company pushes vote on ADA compliant cement ramp at Graydon Pool
December 4,2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, After almost two years, the Village Council will ignore the obvious benefits of the mobi-chair and pick a final design for an ADA-compliant cement ramp for Graydon Pool. The vote is scheduled for December 5th .

There are two noncompeting concepts for Council members to choose between that were presented by the Ridgewood engineering department. The designs have been the topics at several council sessions and special meetings, and the most recently an informal assembly hosted by Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli earlier this week.

The Ridgewood News is reporting that the “Dream Team” seems to be in favor of the first Option because it is the least expensive, least obtrusive and uses the smallest amount of cement.

Councilwoman Bernadette Walsh remained concerned over this option because it leads into one of the pool’s spillways ,causing concern because the spillway area is where debris, such as tree branches and sticks, collects before it is eventually flushed from the pool.

Councilman Tom Riche told the Ridgewood News that he agreed with Walsh about the spillway, and pressed the point that the ramp would be “a slippery hazard,” Richie remained not in favor of the ramp at all and added that the proposed out-of-pocket cost to the village, which excludes Bergen County grant money, is estimated to exceed $40,000.

Critics remain concerned that the ramp like the ‘elevators to nowhere ” at the train station will be an added obstruction and safety hazard as well as not be user friendly to those who need access . Others wonder if the cement ramp will damage the historic nature and land mark status of the pool an issue that seems to have been all but ignored by the council. Others see the ramp as dangerous and wonder what will be the Villages liability if an accident happens on an ADA complaint ramp?

Graydon Pool – ADA Compliant Ramp

At this point a ramp allowing direct access into the pool is in the design phase. Below are two plans that the Council plans to review at its November 28th Meeting.

Click Here for Plans for Option 1. https://mods.ridgewoodnj.net/pdf/manager/2012OpNo11026.pdf

Click Here for Plans for Option 3.https://mods.ridgewoodnj.net/pdf/manager/2012OpNo31026.pdf

Following the selection of a design the Village Engineer will develop detailed plans to enable bidding the work and construction will begin in late Spring 2013.