Category: Northvale

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>Reopen hospital, Christie declares

>Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Last updated: Tuesday August 18, 2009, 8:02 AM
BY SCOTT FALLON
The Record
STAFF WRITER

https://www.northjersey.com/news/health/hospitals/Reopen_hospital_Christie_declares.html

WESTWOOD – Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie said he wants Pascack Valley Hospital to reopen — adding another political voice to the ongoing battle between Bergen County’s hospitals.

At a news conference in front of the Westwood hospital Monday, Christie said area residents “deserve and need” Pascack to reopen.

Hackensack University Medical Center has applied for state permission to open a 128-bed, for-profit community hospital in Westwood. Hackensack, which bought the property after Pascack Valley closed two years ago, currently operates an emergency department at the Westwood site.

Hackensack’s effort is opposed by The Valley Hospital and Englewood Hospital Medical Center, who say they already meet the health care needs of the area and that reopening Pascack would harm the remaining hospitals.

“At the end of the day, adding a new hospital to a county with an oversupply of hospital beds would weaken the area’s existing hospitals,” a statement released by both hospitals Monday said. “This is not a partisan issue. This is not about any political party or any candidate for office — it is about the long-term health of Bergen County’s hospitals.”

A spokesman for Governor Corzine’s campaign called Christie’s announcement “political grandstanding” and refused to comment further beyond saying it is up to the state health officials to decide whether Pascack will reopen.

Corzine’s running mate, state Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck, has opposed reopening Pascack calling it “irrational health policy.” Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, D-Englewood, and Sen. Bob Gordon, D-Fair Lawn, have also opposed the plan.

Hackensack recently took its application off the state Health Planning Board’s agenda. Hospital officials wanted time to strengthen their case after learning that health officials were preparing a recommendation against the reopening.

Christie’s appearance at the hospital lasted only 20 minutes. Standing with about 40 supporters in a sweltering parking lot, the former U.S. attorney made a point to criticize Weinberg for her stance.

“I would ask Loretta Weinberg today to get into a private room with Jon Corzine and tell him that it’s time for him to get his Department of Health &hellip to make sure a certificate is granted so we can start serving patients from Pascack Valley once again,” he said.

The issue has sparked an intense debate among local and state officials. A public meeting in June drew 700 people, most of whom supported the reopening.

Supporters include Bergen County Executive Dennis McNerney and the Democratic Freeholder Board, who called over the weekend for all hospital leaders to meet and hammer out an agreement.

Sen. Gerald Cardinale, R-Demarest, Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk, R-Westwood, and Assemblyman John Rooney, R-Northvale, also support the reopening and stood with Christie at the news conference.

Sen. Paul Sarlo, D-Wood Ridge, also wants Pascack to reopen, but criticized Christie for his statements Monday.

“I feel that this process should be done with all the stakeholders at the table, with no political grandstanding,” he said.

E-mail: fallon@northjersey.com

https://www.northjersey.com/news/health/hospitals/Reopen_hospital_Christie_declares.html

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>Could this happen in Ridgewood?

>Budget ax landing on public employee

THE RECORD

Monday, January 12, 2009

BY MERRY FIRSCHEIN AND DEENA YELLIN

Many North Jersey municipalities are considering drastic cost-cutting measures as they face skyrocketing expenses amid shrinking revenues and a faltering economy.

Among the areas to be targeted, according to local officials, are municipal personnel, capital improvement projects and non-essential services. As a result, residents may find some local roads unpaved, higher fees at borough hall and fewer municipal employees.

“These are not popular decisions,” Paramus Borough Administrator Anthony Iacono said. “But we all have to bear down and make them.”

Fort Lee will continue a hiring freeze instituted last year, “except those new hires needed to operate government in an efficient manner,” Mayor Mark Sokolich said. The borough has not created any new positions, and some municipal positions were eliminated, such as the attorney for economic development.

Hillsdale staff will be reviewed for possible layoffs and a recently retired DPW foreman will not be replaced, said Borough Administrator Harold Karns, who is retiring from his position. A replacement for Karns has not yet been named.

Jobs currently performed by full-time employees, such as janitorial services and garbage services, may be outsourced, which would yield a significant savings, Karns said.

In Paramus Borough Hall, offices may empty out.

“As people leave positions through retirement or resignations, prior to [those positions] being filled, we are making efforts to reevaluate the position,” said Iacono. “Some will clearly and definitely not be replaced.”

And although layoffs of municipal employees have not yet been discussed in Norwood, the borough will replace a full-time Board of Heath secretary with a part-time employee.

“There’s a lot of belt-tightening,” Westwood Mayor Joe Birkner said. “Our pencils will be very sharp as we go through our budgets line by line to see where we can make cuts.” Westwood has opted not to replace some employees who left or retired, asking other employees to assume their duties.

Westwood also is saving money by renegotiating contracts at lower rates and canceling a contract with a pesticide company, said Borough Administrator Robert Hoffmann.

In some towns, the financial woes are extending into employee pockets and wallets.

Fort Lee’s mayor, council members, borough planner, engineer, auditor, accountants and other professionals will take a 5 percent pay cut this year, Sokolich said.

Garfield’s professionals will not receive any raises this year, the same as in 2008, said City Manager Thomas Duch. The mayor and council members have not received an increase in at least five years, Duch said.

In Paramus, the mayor and council will make contributions to their health benefits, Iacono said. Teamsters union members will now have a health insurance co-payment, he said.

Hillsdale has finalized contracts with the police, Teamsters and office associations requiring contributions from employees towards health insurance for the first time: Police will contribute $780 per year, Teamsters $520, and office staff $260 annually.

“We will be looking for contributions to medical benefits and we will be looking to a lower percentage in their yearly salary increase than the previous year’s 3 percent,” Borough Administrator Lorraine McMackin said.

Some communities, such as Paramus and Midland Park, are considering price hikes on various local fees such as animal licenses and permits.

Midland Park is looking at existing fees “with the sense of not to jump it up, but to examine what we charge and change it to what is fair for the market for the service,” Borough Administrator Michelle Dugan said.

Hillsdale officials will raise construction fees and other municipal charges are being reviewed for possible increases, Karns said. In Garfield, officials will look at increasing revenue through raising penalties on what Duch termed “quality of life” ordinances.

Other towns are delaying capital improvement projects until their financial outlook appears brighter.

Hillsdale will not embark on any projects, except for small essential jobs, such as repaving a damaged street and replacing leaking roofs.

Several capital improvement projects in Northvale have been delayed and some road resurfacing projects are likely to be put off as well.

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>Assembly approves big changes in schools, orders cost-cutting

>Assembly approves big changes in schools, orders cost-cutting
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Last updated: Tuesday May 20, 2008, EDT 9:29
AMBY ELISE YOUNGTRENTON BUREAU

New Jersey schools would see major changes — including a mandatory 10 percent cut in administrative costs for scores of districts — under legislation approved in the Assembly on Monday.

But whether any of the legislation will become law is uncertain. None of the three bills has been scheduled for a vote in the Senate.

The Assembly also voted to move the date of school-board elections to November from April. In the same bill, lawmakers eliminated the voters’ right to approve multimillion-dollar budgets.

“The fragmentation of our voting calendar has resulted in voting fatigue,” said Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts, D-Camden, seeking to explain New Jersey’s typical school-elections turnout of 15 percent.

He rejected critics’ arguments that a move to November — when voters are at the polls for general elections — would inject party politics into non-partisan school races. And he said that voters’ input on the annual spending plans was “part of a charade,” because municipal governments have the power to override their decision.

“In some cases, every single cent that [voters] cut can be reinstated,” Roberts said.

He pointed out that voters still would have to approve spending above a limit, and that decision could not be appealed.

Assemblyman Richard A. Merkt, R-Randolph, said he agreed with the change to November, but he argued unsuccessfully against taking away voters’ power.

“It’s fundamentally undemocratic,” Merkt said.

Senate President Richard J. Codey on Monday did not indicate when the measures might arrive in the Senate.

“These are important issues, particularly the matter of participation in school-board elections,” Codey said. “We’ll be giving these bills a thorough review when they come over to our house for consideration.”

The bills were designed to address New Jersey’s runaway property taxes, the highest in the country.

About 55 percent of homeowners’ local tax payments are channeled to school districts. In North Jersey, where the 2006 median tax bill was $7,169, that means $3,943 went to education.

Some lawmakers said some of the measures could harm smaller districts.

Assemblyman John E. Rooney, R-Northvale, said many in Bergen County could not afford a 10 percent reduction in administrative costs, because state law mandates a superintendent for each district and a principal for each building. Northvale alone would have to do without $80,000, he said.

“When you have a small school district of 500 [students] or less, the ratio of administrators to pupils is extremely high. It doesn’t make sense to do this ratio nonsense,” he said.”

The 10 percent reduction would be based on a complicated formula involving regional comparisons, per-pupil administrative expenses and a cost-of-living increase. By the 2011-12 school year, affected districts could spend no more than 90 percent of their 2008-09 administrative figure.

The third bill would eliminate the state Board of Education from hearing appeals in cases decided by the state education commissioner. Those appeals would go directly to the Appellate Division of state Superior Court.

Other areas of state government also are trying to reduce school costs.

Within weeks, the state Department of Education is set to approve a 205-page rulebook on how districts must design their budgets. The rules would empower executive county superintendents to override local budget expenditures they deem excessive; increase public review of proposed budgets; set policies on nepotism and pay-to-play; and encourage consolidation and shared services.

E-mail: younge@northjersey.com

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>Meeting Highlights – Village Council Special Public Meeting/Work Session, 4/25/2007

>Susan F. Witkowski was sworn in as the new Deputy Village Clerk. Ms. Witkowski previously served as Deputy Borough Clerk of Northvale. She replaces Laura J. Graham, who left Ridgewood to become the Borough Clerk in Oradell

A community task force on underage drinking, chaired by BOE member Shelia Brogan, asked Council members to consider adoption of a municipal ordinance that would prohibit underage drinking on PRIVATE property (existing laws already prohibit such activity on public property). Councilwoman Kim Ringler-Shagin voiced her strong opposition to introduction of such an ordinance. All other Council members seemed to be okay with it.

Plans to construct a permanent concession stand/restroom facility at Vets Field were officially scrubbed. The estimated construction price of $600K was too much for the Council to stomach. Tom Thurston, representing the Jon C. Vandevander Foundation, indicated that he would now be pursuing purchase of a prefabricated concession stand that could be placed on wheels and moved. An alternate restroom facility plan is still under development.

It was revealed that $27K has been spent to date in 2007 for the repair of 2 sanitation truck transmissions.

Fees associated with police related towing will increase significantly. The minimum tow charge will jump from under $50 to $125.

Village department heads/directors will be getting 4% salary increases this year. Councilman Jacques Harlow suggested that it was time to prevent directors from carry over and unlimited number of sick days, and also appropriate to now start asking the directors to contribute to health care premiums. Further discussion on these topics will be held in closed session.

New signage will be installed along the driveways of Village Hall. Several residents have previously noted that the police department is difficult to find.