Category: Village of Ridgewood

Hearing on Valley Hospital postponed when too many people show up
Thursday, August 22, 2013    Last updated: Thursday August 22, 2013, 7:27 AM
BY  BARBARA WILLIAMS
STAFF WRITER
The Record

RIDGEWOOD — Opponents of the proposed expansion at The Valley Hospital are frustrated and angry that they have to wait another six weeks to present their case after a public hearing was abruptly canceled when village officials decided the room had become overcrowded.

After seven months of listening to experts hired by Valley testify before the Planning Board in favor of the hospital’s proposal to expand to nearly 1 million square feet, opponents were supposed to get their turn Tuesday night.

Instead, the meeting was shut down when officials said there were too many people in the room at Village Hall, violating fire codes.

“I think this was strategic — we rallied and they want us to just go away,” said Angele Ekert, a resident and one of the opponents who tried to attend the meeting.

Many previous hearings on the issue had been held in large halls at the middle and high schools. This meeting was scheduled in a room that officials said could not hold the approximately 130 who wanted to attend. Opponents pointed out that many more people had been in the same room during other events, like the village reorganization meeting, and those had not been adjourned.

Village officials said they did not realize so many people would attend the hearing. “We’ve been having hearings since April and haven’t had this issue before,” Kathryn Razin, attorney for the Planning Board, said on Wednesday. “The board had no reason to anticipate anything differently last night.”

Board Chairman Charles Nalbantian said they considered trying to use some type of technology to include people standing outside the room but felt it wouldn’t allow complete public participation.

The debacle harkened back to another mishap at a Planning Board hearing on the same issue. In June 2010, the Planning Board moved its meeting to a small auditorium at George Washington Middle School for its vote on a previous hospital expansion plan. So many people were locked out that police from three towns had to help local officers get control of the crowd.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/220619531_Valley_hearing_adjourned_when_130_people_show_up.html#sthash.pCfKGd5t.dpuf

Reader says In this economy it is all about your skills

Private colleges are too expensive. There has been A spike in applications. Students realize that having $50k in debt after college is not worth it.

In this economy it is all about your skills, not where you went to school. I am sure that the Harvard wannabees will disagree but most Americans go to college and go to work. Practical skills are in demand not esoteric degrees from $200k schools.

This is a global economy and we need to get people working not saddled with debt. I am also saying that going to a school that you cannot afford is foolish. In Ridgewood we are hung up on name brands and unless you want to pay for college for 20 years you had better get over it.

Letter: TID is a no brainer
TUESDAY AUGUST 20, 2013, 11:18 AM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

TID is a no brainer
by Gary Muzio

To The Editor:

The issue of resident’s quality of life concerns versus developer ambition might be quietly hanging in the balance, as illustrated in last week’s Ridgewood News article “Plan for TID questioned” (page A4). This may be the last, best chance we have to put a governor on how much influence developers have in shaping what Ridgewood will look like in years to come.

A TID – transportation improvement district – allows a municipality to collect money from developers to fund infrastructure projects and upgrades to offset the increased density development will bring about. In effect, the village is asking prospective builders to address compromises residents will be making in terms of traffic, congestion and quality of life, now and in the future.

John Jahr, the traffic consultant hired by the village, recommended the Planning Board consider a TID before evaluating the four housing projects before them. This would fall under the council’s purview and that process starts by commissioning a comprehensive study on present and future traffic analysis throughout the village, as well as impact on schools, commuters, residents and pedestrians. These would be unvarnished studies, as opposed to the narrowly scoped, agenda-driven reports (from Valley Hospital’s “experts,” for instance), which routinely minimize impact and offer inexpensive, Band-Aid fixes from those seeking to maximize profits.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/220357531_Letter__TID_is_a_no_brainer.html#sthash.hYx4nzjs.dpuf

The BPU confirmed this week it has received the Village Council’s petition, seeking a hearing regarding the installation of higher electrical poles in town.

The residents group I Care  has put together an  FAQ on the over sized utility poles

I-CARE – Frequently Asked Questions

Is the neighborhood mainly upset about the height and appearance of the poles?

No.

While the poles are unsightly and caught our attention, our main concerns are the legality and safety of them.

We were never notified of the impending project, which consists of running a new, high-voltage (69,000 volt) transmission line through our town, creating a veritable electricity super-highway.  And we strongly feel that PSE&G has skirted the legal process by proceeding with the project without first going to the town zoning board for a variance.  The 65-foot poles far exceed the permissible height limits for the residential zones through which they intend to run.  As such, the company should have gone before the proper boards to obtain the necessary variances.

We are appalled by the fact that PSE&G started the work (in June 2013) without first obtaining clearance from the town.  In this regard, we feel that certain officials were initially misled about the nature of the project.  The company proceeded to steamroll through without even filing the necessary paperwork.  The town engineer had to hit the company with summonses and a cease work order before they actually did so.  And it wasn’t until after we alerted the town to our concerns (on or about July 10, 2013) that PSE&G even bothered to pay for the “minor work” permits that had already been issued.  The check arrived in the mail on July 17, 2013.

We are also concerned about high-voltage wires running too close to our homes on poles that are much taller than almost all of them.  For more information on the topic of our safety concerns, see below.

Won’t this project help keep my power on in the event of another storm?

Unfortunately, no.

In the event of downed lines resulting from adverse weather conditions, we all need (1) more tree crews, (2) better communication centers, and (3) utility workers that are properly versed in the re-installation of various types of power lines.  Not a new transmission line.

The proposed 69,000 volt transmission line bears no relation to the distribution lines running to our houses.  They are part of an infrastructure upgrade that will not directly assist our town in the event of a storm.

While PSE&G framed this project to town officials as a response to Hurricane Sandy (2012), it is actually part of an earlier plan that was mandated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in 2007.

What information was the town given?

Nearly none.

Our understanding is that the Village Council was told of an impending “restringing of the lines” in March 2013, but given no substantive information on the nature of the project.

After already starting work, PSE&G presented the town engineer with a site plan showing the intended route of the new transmission line and, more specifically, the exact pole locations (78) along the route.  The route begins on S. Maple Ave. in Glen Rock; proceeds north into Ridgewood; hangs a right (heads east) on Spring Ave., then left (north) on Hope St.; before turning right (continuing east) onto E. Ridgewood Ave. into Paramus.

The site plan does not indicate the size of the poles – 65 feet – required by the upgrade.   This information is reflected only in the brand marks on the individual poles.

In addition, neither the Board of Public Utilities (state regulatory authority) nor the town zoning board (local regulatory authority) were notified.

Why didn’t PSE&G use their own right-of-way along the old trolley line for the new high-voltage transmission line?

Good question.  We don’t specifically know why.  It is a question we would like to have addressed by the company.

This right-of-way consists of a wide swath of land running from Fair Lawn through Glen Rock and Ridgewood, where PSE&G already possesses an easement for its infrastructure.  The impact to actual residences, schools and the like, would be far less if PSE&G were to run the new transmission line here instead.

In an e-mail sent to us by the Village Manager, PSE&G cited “setback/clearance requirements and major environmental issues” in their decision not to use this land.  Presumably, they would have had to have gotten permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection in order to upgrade the structures on this property, which in many parts runs adjacent to the Ho-Ho-Kus Brook.

What are your safety concerns?

Simply put, death by electrocution.

The new transmission line consists of 69,000 volts – more than 300 times the power of household electricity, i.e., 220 volts.

The reason the poles are so much higher is because of the magnified danger created by this higher voltage.  To our understanding, the existing distribution line consists of 4000 volts on Hope Street.  Because the addition of a transmission line to those distribution lines significantly ups the voltage, engineering codes kick in and dictate the new mammoth size of the poles.

According to what we know, you don’t even have to touch a 69,000 volt line to be electrocuted.  If you breach the recommended safety clearance from them, you are in serious danger of being electrocuted.  This places a number of people in immediate danger, namely, the contractors operating near the lines.  There just isn’t enough “wiggle room” for them to do their jobs safely.

There is evidence that 69,000 volt lines can arc electricity through smoke.  If a house is on fire, this creates a seriously dangerous situation, not just for the people inside, but also for the emergency personnel responding to them.

We also worry about what happens in the event of a storm.  In the past, wires have touched down in the floodwaters that envelop our streets.  There is no shortage of cases where those lines fail to “de-energize” in a timely manner.  What will happen to the people below?

The list of dangerous scenarios simply rolls on.

Are there health concerns related to high voltage wires?

Several studies have demonstrated a clear correlation between proximity to high-voltage power lines and seriously heightened incidences of childhood leukemia and brain cancer.  While the studies have been inconclusive to date, their importance has been elevated to examination by the World Health Organization.

Why did PSE&G avoid the intersection of S. Maple Ave. and E. Ridgewood Ave. in its route, detouring, instead, into the wholly residential areas of Spring Ave. and Hope St.?

Good question.  We’d certainly like to know.

Why didn’t PSE&G avoid as many residential areas as possible and simply head east on Century Road from the Fair Lawn substation then north on Route 17 to the Paramus substation?

Again, another head scratcher.

https://icareridgewood.org/faqs

Reader says Its a matter of being reasonable,

The way to do things the right way is not to change any zoning for any project. Since any project would then require many variances, it would allow ‘control’ to be maintained on size, density, and impact (on traffic, schools, etc). It would allow proposed projects to proceed within reason.

Valley needs to upgrade, but they don’t need to double their footprint while doing so. The owners of the car dealerships have the right to continue the current use of their properties with the current zoning. If they want a change of use, then they will have to do so within the current zoning, and any changes would require variances that would keep developments within limits agreed to.

Its a matter of being reasonable, by both the ‘opposition’ and the developers. We do need senior housing, so if apartments are built that are for 55+, that would have zero impact on the schools while increasing tax revenues. Many ‘empty nesters’ are still here in town, but many that I speak with are about to sell due to the increased taxes.

In Education, the Goal Posts Move
August 9, 2013 12:20PM
By Neal McCluskey

Other than in Shaquille O’Neal’s stunning vision of the future of basketball, the goals in sports don’t move. If they did, it would make the games a whole lot more random, and the outcomes unreliable indicators of who is really the better team. But in education—as we’re seeing with the hue and cry over new test results in New York—the goals do move. A lot. That’s pretty ironic considering that the top-down measures are specifically intended to establish set standards.

Earlier this week, New York released the results of its first statewide tests to gauge student mastery of the Common Core national curriculum standards. Not surprisingly, “proficiency” rates crashed, plummeting between 24 and 34 percentage points depending on the subject. But as Core supporters rightly warned, plummeting scores don’t necessarily indicate plummeting performance; they indicate that the goal posts have moved. Of course, supporters say the posts have moved higher—like basketball hoops in Shaq’s 2044—and that may be the case. But what’s more important is just that the goals are in different places—maybe they moved to the side, not up—and students haven’t been shooting in that direction.

This is far from the first time the goals have jumped, ducked, or shifted in the “standards” era. Throughout the No Child Left Behind years we saw states changing tests, standards, etc., so results often weren’t comparable from one year to the next. And New York itself revealed a few years ago that its tests had gotten easier over the years, rather than its education system getting much better.

Perhaps the most troubling consequence of all this is that these top-down standards-and-testing regimes are supposedly giving us bright-line indicators of student knowledge and ability, but that line is constantly leaping around. In other words, it’s shiny but worthless. And the line isn’t all that bright, really. Very often parents never get to see the tests their children take, especially year-after-year iterations to see how the exam has changed. And even if they could access the tests, how many have time to thoroughly vet them? I’d guess roughly zero.

Then there’s the problem of a baseline, which is going to be difficult to establish in New York with this year’s results. For one thing, it’s quite clear that the new tests were administered before the corresponding curricula were in place. The Common Core may be a higher or lower standard than what New York used to have, but again, for the tests, much of what matters is only that the Core is different. You may be a great all-around athlete, but if you’ve been training for baseball you’re not going to look so good if you suddenly have to play football. Moreover, there is decent reason to believe that some, or maybe many, types of test items will need to be changed in the next go-round because they were simply poorly constructed. If they are improved, scores will also go up—but that will be because the tests have gotten better, not the education.

From an immediate political and policy perspective, the worry about the latest goal teleportation in New York is not that people will reject the Common Core, as Core fans fear, but that when scores almost certainly rise next year Core supporters and school officials will declare the schools and Core “working.” But a score increase very likely won’t indicate improving education nearly as much as students and schools simply shooting in the direction to which the goal has moved. It may also very well reflect improvements made to test items after examining problems in this year’s assessment.

In the long term, the problem is clearly top-down goal-control to begin with. Aside from the basic problem that all children are different and need different things, the evidence is awfully clear that politicians love to reorient goal posts. Sometimes it’s because they don’t like the scores that the current goals are producing. Sometimes it’s because they are coerced into change. But as long as they keep doing it—and whenever you are trying to get votes, you will have a strong incentive to appear to “make things better”—the score of the game will be close to worthless. And that doesn’t really help anyone.

https://www.cato.org/blog/education-goal-posts-move?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_campaign=EducationReview

Readers Respond to Pro Valley Expansion “Name Calling”

What’s funny about the shrinking number of people who support this is that they resort to taking cheap shots rather than sticking to the point, primarily because they can’t. Sort of like, “I’m taking my ball and going home.” Pretty pathetic.

This uneducated boor should not be given too much attention. He rears his ugly head periodically and then goes away after being corrected.

He is probably slaving over his next screed on the schools or Democrats. I just hope that he calms down before he gets behind the wheel.

Willard construction was like building a shed compared to the valley project. Nd day taffic to willard will not increase after construction. The residents actually wanted more clasroom space.

Residents want better schools and pay with their taxes. They do not want commercial business expansion in a residential area to benefit a business. There is a difference.

Trauma centers are regulated. The hospitals have specialized equipment and highly trained staff and participate in research. Car accident and pedestrian accident victims in Ridgewood are transported to Hackensack/St Joes because they have the facilities for the best outcome.