Author: James

I , Diane Palacios , am the writer of the original post. I bumped into Councilman Hache in the supermarket yesterday and he said the weed that is invading the pond is Japanese Knotweed and that it is sprayed away twice a year , in the spring and the fall.

I also sent an e-mail to Mayor Knudsen and Deputy Mayor Sedon. Whatever the reason, I am very saddened by the mess there. I have lived here since 1978, and have walked there over the years including last year.

This is the worst that I have seen it.

I purposely did not contact Councilwoman Walsh. She lives next door and she obviously sees it and doesn’t care. I fear she would give me an excuse that wouldn’t mean anything and that wouldn’t remedy the problem. People in power that don’t care about something have those sorts of excuses like Hache’s excuse. And his was the only sign I had in front of my house during the election. If it were up to me I would do whatever it takes to keep the pond in good condition. The pond should NEVER have been left to get in that deplorable condition. As far as I am concerned keeping that pond in beautiful natural condition is of prime importance, more important than overbuilding an already developed CBD.

Let’s face it very few people care a damn about the beauty and health of nature and the environment and if you do care you are called a Communist.

I miss the tadpoles too. I am very sad about this.

Wow Diane you are so wrong about Bernie Walsh. She’s been an advocate for Twinneys for years. I will call her and let her know about your complaint. And I agree the village needs to dredge it.

Hey Diane Palacios before you besmirch Council Walsh maybe you read this article from north jersey .com. Why don’t you try getting your hand dirty. No,you rather just bitch about thing

We have the Girls Scouts and so many members of Ridgewood Wildscape Association helping out. They help clean the park every year because so many kids come here and skate when it’s frozen,” said Bernadette Walsh, a Ridgewood council member, Girl Scout leader and Red Birch Court resident.

Walsh helped spearhead this year’s cleanup effort, and recruited her children and brought a few landscaping tools from her garage to help with the project.

Diane, here is a suggestion if you would like to learn more and get involved please contact Bergen SWAN (Save the Watershed Action Network). It is a wonderful non-profit organization based in the Pascack Valley area. It often runs seminars about invasive species, wildlife, etc. Lori Charkey is co-founder of the organization and extremely knowledgeable about nature and has been a pioneer in preserving what little wild space is left in Bergen County. I’m impressed that Ramon knew about Japanese Knotweed!

The cause: Twinney is also the location of a Ridgewood Water Pump and Filter Facility. The large facility is located directly behind the pond (now you know where Ridgewood Water gets “their” water). Since the facility’s construction; systematic pumping from under the kettle pond has destroyed the original ecology (no fish any longer and many new invasive plants). The facility typically runs the pond full dry several times each year. Interviews of local long time residents indicate the pond “had” a bubbling spring and a sand bottom. A local school boy from the 1800’s described it as an oasis and historically the pond served the local native population for millenia. All of that goodness is now hidden under 40 years of black silt caused by running the pond dry.

Councilwoman Bernadette Walsh lives two doors from Twinney. She has been active with Girl Scouts in an annual cleanup there. Perhaps the post writer would wish to contact her directly [email protected] and ask what’s up. A cc: to the Ridgewood Wildscape Association at [email protected] could be useful.

It was horrible when the town sold the land surrounding that tiny park to a developer. We’re just giving it away and we will never get it back. NO NEW HOMES. MORE NATURE.