James - THE RIDGEWOOD BLOG. - Page 2708 of 3748

Posted on January 26, 2016January 26, 2016 by James — 11 Comments

Outline of Proposed Terms for the Development of the Schedler Property in Ridgewood

Save Our Schedler Members & Friends at the Schedler House

file photo by Boyd Loving

The attached terms posted are a proposal by the residents living in the vicinity of the Schedler property. These terms are a result of many meetings and discussions among the Schedler neighbors over the last 6 weeks. We have worked hard as a group to prepare this document which we believe considers the needs not just of the Schedler neighbors, but of the entire Ridgewood community. The terms demonstrate a park that we envision will significantly reduce the amount of trees to be removed, decrease the cost of the development and maintenance required of the proposed larger field and draw our fellow Ridgewood residents to visit and enjoy the east side of the Village. Charlie Nowinski

Outline of Proposed Terms for the Development of the Schedler Property

In order to provide the Village with much needed passive park and recreational space, the field shall be no larger than 60’.

Any design will include a sound wall to block out the sound of the highway for the entire length of the property. In addition, to a sound wall near the highway, the park will include a berm on West Saddle River Road to block off the sound and view of the park. The berm shall include several rows of regularly maintained evergreens in order to provide the neighborhood with a “green shield”.

All demolition, including removal of trees (downed, diseased or otherwise) will not occur until completion of a development plan and budget approved by the Village Council. Demolition shall occur in conjunction with the overall project in order to avoid a gap between demolition and construction.

The plan and design of the park will be developed by an independent civil engineer and landscape architect specializing in park design with input from representatives of the neighborhood and the Village.

The development plan and budget will be based off of independent, comprehensive studies which would include:

Addressing the issues already identified by environmental and wildlife impact studies

The noise study to be conducted on the property and the surrounding area

A third party traffic and safety study on West Saddle River Road and the surrounding side streets as recommended by the council committee. The traffic and safety study will include a determination of an adequate parking lot, as well as a review of potential ingress and egress into the parking lot from Rt. 17. In addition, the traffic and safety study will include a determination of appropriate parking restrictions on West Saddle River Road and, if practical, the surrounding streets off West Saddle River Road

Prohibition on the inclusion of (1) lights, both permanent and portable as required by the conservation easement, (2) a public address announcement system and (3) a concession stand.

The hours of the park will be from dawn to dusk.

Installation of police monitoring system to monitor any criminal activity.

Preserve the Schedler house by moving forward with registering the house with the historical society. The house will be used to benefit the entire community by, for example, providing meeting space for different community groups and providing restrooms for the park participants.

Posted on January 26, 2016January 26, 2016 by James — 25 Comments

Please Reschedule the Dangerously Rushed Garage Bonding (BCIA) Vote/Discussions & Give Schedler Discussion Earlier Agenda Placement at Later Date

file photo by Boyd Loving

Dear Roberta and Council members,

Thank you for rescheduling Schedler as the agenda is so jam packed that we were all looking at another marathon meeting. I may not be an expert on anything but I do recognize when town issues have reached a critical mass level of concern. With hundreds of people speaking out on multiple issues and the vast majority offering well thought out solutions, it is time to go back to the drawing board. Had it not been for concerned residents speaking out on the garage we wouldn’t have known about the encroachment of all three options onto Hudson Street. This revelation has altered the integrity of the present plans so dramatically that the entire project is open for reevaluation on design and financing.

Regarding Schedler, I urge you to refrain from the removal of structures or cleaning up of the woods until a fully vetted plan is in place with feasibility studies and financials that can be presented to the public for consideration. I became aware recently that a private citizen paid for the tarp on the Zabriskie/ Schedler House and that no town monies are available for needed repairs on said tarp. I was under the impression that the town had paid for the original tarp and I feel that I and others were misled.

I can only say that having been involved with saving the Stable and getting a community center for the town, it is very shortsighted to disregard the value and the potential use of this historic house and property. I can’t begin to tell you how important it is to save the woods, for humans as well as the bald eagles that are in the area. We can have it all plus a smaller ball field. Numbers show that more children are enrolled in RBSA programs than young adults . The smaller field will get much use. We might look at leasing/ renting field space in local towns.

Years ago, my kids played at Ramapo College fields, the Armory in Teaneck and the indoor arena in the Meadowlands. Not to leave out housing density changes in the CBD, Valley Hospital and the reported 600 leaf summonses that were given out and the large numbers who showed up at court in protest. Change is sometimes about doing less but more effectively. If ever there was a time to take a step back and examine the unintended consequences of massive change, it is now.

Sincerely,

Linda McNamara

Posted on January 26, 2016January 25, 2016 by James — 5 Comments

New Jersey Ranks Near the Bottom (#46) in States to Retire In

file photo by Boyd Loving

2016’s Best and Worst States to Retire

by Richie Bernardo

Retirement might be the end of the line, but it doesn’t have to be the end of financial security or life satisfaction. For many of us, our primary concern with retirement is timing, which often coincides with the age at which we become eligible to receive Social Security or pension benefits. Hopefully the choice will be ours and not dictated by our circumstances — the unfortunate case for nearly a third of nonretirees who haven’t put away a single penny for retirement, though not necessarily through any fault of their own.

But in addition to when you want to retire, you might want to ask yourself where. That can be an awfully difficult question to answer if you haven’t adequately planned — or been able to plan — for the rest of your life. Even in the most affordable areas of the U.S., retirees often cannot rely on their Social Security or pension checks alone to cover all of their living expenses. Social Security benefitsincrease progressively with local inflation, but they replace only about 40 percent of the amount you earned if you were an average worker, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

https://wallethub.com/edu/best-and-worst-states-to-retire/18592/

Posted on January 25, 2016January 25, 2016 by James — 2 Comments

Committee to look at rules for public access to NJ beaches

JANUARY 25, 2016, 1:10 PM LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 2016, 1:12 PM
ASSOCIATED PRESS

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Environmentalists and business leaders will try to agree on what New Jersey’s beach access regulations should look like.

State Sen. Bob Smith, a Middlesex County Democrat, appointed a committee Monday to study the state’s coastal access rules and recommend ways to make them better.

The issue has been fought over for years. Some shore towns use the lack of parking and restrooms to discourage outsiders from using their beaches.

“It’s always been a gnarly problem,” Smith said.

The right to access river shorelines in heavily developed urban areas is also part of the discussion.

The group will include representatives of the American Littoral Society, NY/NJ Baykeeper, the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce, and the state Business and Industry Association. The recommendations will be presented to the Legislature by April 25.

The committee arises from longstanding complaints from environmental and beach access groups that the state’s regulations do not do enough to protect the public’s right to reach New Jersey’s waterfronts. They favor previous rules generated by the administration of former Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine that imposed uniform access requirements along the shoreline, including access points every quarter-mile.

When Republican Chris Christie succeeded Corzine, the DEP rewrote the rules to give communities more latitude in granting beach access, letting each community decide for itself what level is appropriate.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/committee-to-look-at-rules-for-public-access-to-nj-beaches-1.1498825

Posted on January 25, 2016January 25, 2016 by James — 2 Comments

Many shore safeguards fared well during blizzard, experts encouraged

photo by ArtChick

January 24, 2016, 6:53 PM LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 2016, 7:15 AM
BY MATTHEW MCGRATH AND KIM LUEDDEKE
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD

The blizzard of 2016 was the most powerful storm to sock New Jersey since Superstorm Sandy destroyed swaths of the shoreline and knocked out power to tens of thousands for weeks on end. And like Sandy, this storm also caused floods and knocked out power, but the strength of the storm was exponentially less, though flooding along Jersey’s southern shores was worse.

What the blizzard did — most experts, activists and officials agreed — was highlight the effectiveness of resiliency projects built since Superstorm Sandy — and draw attention to where weaknesses still exist.

Since Sandy, beaches in some coastal municipalities have been widened, barriers have been built and municipal officials say they have more and better resources to deal with storm impacts.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/many-shore-safeguards-fared-well-during-blizzard-experts-encouraged-1.1498408

Posted on January 25, 2016January 20, 2019 by James — 1 Comment

Body found in snow-covered car outside Hackensack Burger King

By Anthony G. Attrino | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on January 25, 2016 at 9:51 AM, updated January 25, 2016 at 12:31 PM

HACKENSACK – Police on Monday were at the scene of a Burger King parking lot amid reports that a dead body had been found.

The body was found inside car parked at the fast food restaurant.

The car is a gold-colored Cadillac with New York plates. The rear passenger window was down and a police officer was seen looking inside the vehicle.

The car had been covered in snow early this morning as two Burger King employees arrived to work, according to one witness.

https://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2016/01/body_found_in_parked_car_outside_hackensack_burger.html?ath=9c46bfc08d76232bb5a5e00eeaf0bfa2#cmpid=nsltr_stryheadline

Posted on January 25, 2016January 25, 2016 by James — 2 Comments

We are witnessing the end of the House of Clinton

By Former Rep. John LeBoutillier (R-N.Y.), contributor

State of the 2016 Race
A column for The Hill analyzing the current state of the 2016 presidential race.

It is the beginning of the end of the House of Clinton:

1. There is the stench of political death around Hillary, Bill, Chelsea and the entire House of Clinton.

2. You could feel it when Republican front-runner Donald Trump hit back — hard — over the “penchant for sexism” charge by basically calling Hillary Clinton an enabler in the former president’s sexual shenanigans.

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3. When have we ever seen the Clintons back off? But they did.

4. Then came further reports about an expanded FBI probe of her handling of secure information; the nexus of State Department favors for donors to the Clinton Foundation; and the story that Hillary Clinton or her staff might have lied to FBI agents in this probe.

5. All of this has raised the speculation, yet again: Will President Obama stop the Department of Justice (DOJ) from indicting her if the eight-person DOJ team working with over 100 FBI agents recommends criminal charges?

6. The president will be in an odd situation: He ran against the Clintons. He is known to loathe Bill Clinton. He apparently does not want the Clintons back in charge of the Democratic Party (thus removing the thousands of Obama acolytes with cushy patronage jobs).

7. So: If the DOJ recommends an indictment and he K.O.’s it, he will have his own legacy smeared with a permanent taint of having covered up for the Clintons.

8. If he allows an indictment to move ahead, that will be the end of Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Period. She may think she can march on despite charges, but that would be self-delusional. Her campaign will be finished the day charges are filed by Obama’s Justice Department.

9. She can’t claim “politics as usual” or that old “right-wing conspiracy” nonsense as this will beObama’s Justice Department — not a Republican-controlled entity — bringing these charges.

10. Now, even without an indictment, Hillary Clinton’s fortunes are rapidly sinking.

11. As of today, she is on track to lose both the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary — to an unelectable 72-year-old Vermont socialist!

12. That tells us how politically weak and out of it the Clinton machine has become.

13. It is no coincidence that Vice President Joe Biden has suddenly resurfaced — first in a Hartford, Conn. TV interview stating that he regrets not running “every day,” and then by softly criticizing Hillary Clinton for not leading on the anti-1 percent front.

14. Biden may very well be warming up in the bullpen for a possible emergency entry into the Democratic field once Clinton is charged and has to withdraw.

15. In the meantime, we see a frantic, panic-stricken Clinton family out on the stump hitting Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on healthcare and guns. But they’re hitting him from the center on healthcare — not the left, where the votes are.

16. They are running national TV ads on guns on MSNBC; there are ads every few minutes. If Team Clinton members think they can turn around her negative trajectory over guns, they are sorely mistaken.

https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/presidential-campaign/266863-we-are-witnessing-the-end-of-the-house-of-clinton

Posted on January 25, 2016January 25, 2016 by James — 2 Comments

Transformer blows near Travell School Residents Report No Loss of Power

January 24,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, At 1 pm this afternoon on Fairfield Ave, near the Travell school, a transformer on a pole started sparking.Residents called PSE&G. who sent a truck . Ridgewood police and fire also showed with 5 Ridgewood vehicles. PSE&G as of 4 pm. had 7 trucks here.

Residents said , “We thought there were fireworks originally hearing the loud noises.”

Posted on January 25, 2016January 26, 2016 by James — 1 Comment

Ridgewood Park And Ride was mostly neglected again

file photo

January 25,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Yes, town workers did a pretty decent job in town.As usual, the business district always gets taken care of.

What about the park and ride on route 17?? again this year, the Ridgewood Park And Ride was mostly neglected. The main section was o.k. for those using the meters. The section for the yearly commuters is a disaster. Only 20% done. Maybe the town prefers clearing the meter area only.

The section for the commuters with a yearly pass, was horrible this morning at 7:30 AM, maybe 20% done.

Worse yet Shortline resumed bus service first thing Sunday morning .

So, town is certainly making sure we can put money in the meters.Last year, same situation but much worse.

Our town manager made a comment last year after I complained, she would get in plowed by the following day and actually was.
So why wasn’t the whole lot plowed??

Posted on January 25, 2016January 25, 2016 by James — 4 Comments

OPRA requests are now not affordable in Ridgewood :There cannot be smoke without fire

January 25,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood Nj, OPRA requests are now not affordable in the town. They have now (since last 2-3 months) started charging hundreds of dollars for each OPRA request because they don’t want residents to questions all these things happening at the same time with unprecedented push, without satisfactory answers from the council and administration. The Mayor uses his personal email account for most emails and some of them use their cell phones (text) to communicate, even when they are sitting at the public meetings.

There cannot be smoke without fire. If so many residents are going to these council meetings and they are frequently going to 1-2AM with residents speaking for 6-7 hours, there must be something wrong going on. Hopefully this new prosecutor will look at this and get to the bottom of this, which we the normal residents can’t do without access to all the data.

There are state laws limiting the amount of fees that can be charged for filling OPRA requests (Open Public Records Act ). Anyone being charge excessive amounts should check that out and file a complaint.

How much were you charged?

https://www.nj.gov/grc/public/complaints/fees.html

What is a special service charge?

A special service charge is essentially a labor fee that may be charged when a request is voluminous, requiring extensive time and effort, or when the request required extensive use of technology. Special services charges must be reasonable and based on actual direct cost of fulfilling the request. Actual direct cost means the hourly rate of the lowest level employee capable of fulfilling the request (no fringe benefits).

The imposition of a special service charge is extremely subjective and the determination is made on a case-by-case basis. No special service charges can be established in advance by ordinance.

The custodian must notify the requestor in advance of the special service charge. The requestor has the right to disagree with the special service charge. If the custodian and requestor cannot reach an agreement regarding the special service charge, the request is considered denied. Complainants may challenge a custodian’s special service charge by filing a Denial of Access Complaint with the Government Records Council or filing an action in the Superior Court of New Jersey.

The following is an example of a special service charge for a voluminous request:

Request: Meeting minutes from 2005 to present. There are 1,000 pages of responsive records which will take the custodian 2 ½ hours to copy. The Custodian may charge her direct hourly rate for the 2 ½ hours required to fulfill request. Custodian must estimate cost and notify requestor before fulfilling the request.

Posted on January 25, 2016January 25, 2016 by James — 3 Comments

Reader asks whats up with all the Ridgewood Development ?

file photo by Boyd Loving

I hope that since Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Grewal is a neighbor (from Glen Rock), he can see (hear about) the ‘development’ push happening in Ridgewood and try to get to bottom of it.

1. Why is the push for Hudson Street lot and going to BCIA for the money when our council is willing to bond for money for other more appropriate lots. Whats the hidden agenda with Hudson St lot, which is not large enough for self parking garage of 5 stories as per their own walker report? Why is he willing to encroach on to the street for this location? If we can pay 15 million for a garage, we can pay 1M to cleanup the north walnut site. There must be some hidden reason for the push to this location so hard. Lets hope this new prosecutor sees this.

2. Why is there so much push for the multi family housing in the town. Why are two lots that are in two different corners of CDB are being zoned in the same zone? They keep attaching it to ‘COA obligation’ in their arguments, but these are luxury apartments, not affordable units. They keep attaching it to ‘senior living’, but these are not limited to 55 and over. What’s the reason for this push, along with the push for the parking garage.

3. Why is the village administration always releasing information after the fact, i.e. maser report of Oct 15th, was released on Dec 30th, schedler grant application’s open public hearing happened after the application was already submitted with the checkbox stating ‘yes’ to the meeting, healthbarn’s lease was signed and then the public hearing happened, which was supposed to happen before the change of use, friends of schedler house were told that cannnot match the money, while it was accepted from the RBSA.Open Space funding requests were submitted saying ‘no historical property on the site’, while our own village’s HPC submitted the details to the village administration that the Schedler house is historic and must be preserved.

4. OPRA requests are now not affordable in the town. They have now (since last 2-3 months) started charging hundreds of dollars for each OPRA request because they don’t want residents to questions all these things happening at the same time with unprecedented push, without satisfactory answers from the council and administration. The Mayor uses his personal email account for most emails and some of them use their cell phones (text) to communicate, even when they are sitting at the public meetings.

Posted on January 25, 2016January 25, 2016 by James — 9 Comments

Village of Ridgewood Crews Work through the Weekend Getting the Village in Shape

file photo by Boyd Loving

January 25,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Village crews were worked through the night and will continue to work all through today to remove snow from the streets.

According to Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld the Village moved 250 truckloads of snow from the Central Business District to the Graydon Pool parking lot. Yesterday snow piles are particularly large and high on Dayton street and the Village started the removal operation section by section, so as each section is completed parking will be available.

Roberta when on to remind residents that ,” As has been the case in other large snowfalls, the meters are inaccessible and the mounds of snow against the curbs make it almost impossible in non-angled parking spots to get out on the passenger side of the car. So please use caution. The removal of snow from the curb area around the meters is the responsibility of individual business owners. It’s a lot of snow and we clearly do not want this snow thrown into the street today, so we will be working with the businesses community tomorrow to address this issue.”

According to Village Hall the top priority Sunday was to make the school routes safe and particularly to remove any visibility problems around the corners. While the main streets seem in good shape and that the secondaries are in decent shape. The Village asks In the event that they missed and area or a street needs more work , please email Linda Salvi at [email protected] with your street information.

Sanitation and recycling are on schedule, and all sanitation must be brought to the curb. Please help any neighbors that may need help in this regard.

Nancy Greene, the Director of the Library got the Ridgewood library open at 1:00 yesterday. There are concerns about icing in the parking lot as well as some of the paths so please check the library website for more information at www.ridgewoodlibrary.org.

Posted on January 25, 2016January 25, 2016 by James — 12 Comments

Ridgewood Vote Scheduled to the BCIA for Bonding

https://www.tubechop.com/watch/7623263

Ridgewood NJ, A vote to go to BCIA is scheduled for this coming Wednesday. Our council members have expressed interest in voting for the bond in house without going to BCIA if a reasonable design / size is proposed that fits the lot, but the council majority is willing to push ahead with BCIA vote without finalizing the design first.

https://www.ridgewoodnj.net/clerk-agendas/480-20150127-village-council-public-workshop

https://www.ridgewoodnj.net/clerk-agendas/481-20160127-village-council-special-public-meeting

Posted on January 25, 2016January 24, 2016 by James — 1 Comment

Ridgewood Superintendent Dr. Fishbein comments on multiple swatting incidents that recently occurred in Bergen County schools

Dr. Fishbein comments on multiple swatting incidents that recently occurred in Bergen County schools, and the protocols in place for future incidents.

A Letter from Dr. Fishbein
Click here to read a letter from Dr. Fishbein regarding the multiple swatting incidents that recently occurred in Bergen County schools, and the protocols in place for future incidents.

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