Category: Uncategorized

>True Cost of Fannie, Freddie Bailouts: $317 Billion, CBO Says
Monday, June 06, 2011
By Matt Cover

Fannie Mae. (AP Photo)
(CNSNews.com) – The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says the real cost of the federal government guaranteeing the business of failed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is $317 billion — not the $130 billion normally claimed by the Obama administration.

https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/true-cost-fannie-freddie-bailouts-317-bi

>Meals on Wheels Fundraiser June 7th 

The following restaurants will donate a percentage of their day’s receipts to Community Meals on Wheels. A Mano – Ridgewood Allendale Bar & Grill – Allendale Andreas Ristorante Italiano – Waldwick Arturo’s Restaurant – Midland Park Francesca Pizza – Glen Rock Glen Rock Inn – Glen Rock Ho-Ho-Kus Inn – Ho-Ho-Kus Janice a Bistro – Ho-Ho-Kus Legend’s Steakhouse – Midland Park Savini Restaurant – Allendale Sicilian Sun Ristorante – Ho-Ho-Kus Smith Brothers Steak & Chophouse – Ridgewood Information: Community Meals 201/445-8295

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Graydon Pool Opens Saturday June 4th – Residents FREE for Opening Weekend!

Graydon Pool will open on Saturday, June 4th with a festive weekend planned (free to Village residents). Come enjoy live entertainment, organized games and gifts for the children.

Anyone can join! Seasonal memberships are now available to all and may be purchased conveniently online. Visit www.ridgewoodnj.net/graydon for all details.

New this year we introduce “The Wibit”, an aqua track which is sure to enhance waterplay fun while providing additional fitness.

Additional activities include volleyball, basketball, bocce courts, ping-pong tables, shuffleboard, four-squares, hop-scotch, and a backgammon table. Additional amenities include a shaded playground, water features, shade kites, Adirondack chairs, picnic area, sheltered pavilion, charcoal grills, and The Water’s Edge Café.

Come see what you have been missing!

Please call the Recreation Office at 201-670-5560 with questions or if special accommodations are needed.

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May 18, 2011
Summer’s coming…and the clock is ticking

Only 3 more days to take advantage of Early Bird prices for season badges

As Saturday rolls into Sunday, badge prices for Ridgewood residents will increase.

What’s the Early Bird?
$5 off new prices for age 62+; $10 off for other adults and kids (under age 2: free)

Last time for discount in person: This Saturday, May 21, 10 AM to noon, Graydon Badge Office

How to get to the Graydon badge office: Park at Graydon North lot, northwest corner of Linwood Avenue and Northern Parkway. Walk over bridge to Graydon grounds. First building on the right.
Take an umbrella—the line forms outside. Look for the 1936 cornerstone in the lower right corner of the building.

Online, 24/7: The transaction takes a few minutes; start well before 11:59 PM Saturday or you’ll miss the boat!

https://ridgewoodnj.net/communitypass
Parks & Rec Graydon information:
http://ridgewoodnj.net/graydon

Till soon,
Marcia Ringel and Alan Seiden
Co-Chairs, The Preserve Graydon Coalition, Inc., a nonprofit corporation
“It’s clear—we love Graydon!”
info@PreserveGraydon.org www.PreserveGraydon.org

>NOTICE – West Bergen Mental Healthcare

To All Interested Persons,

This notice is being sent to advise you that there will be a brief presentation by West Bergen Mental Healthcare at the Ridgewood Village Council’s May 25, 2011 meeting. The purpose of the presentation is to update the Council and the general public concerning the status of a planned community residence at 234 South Broad Street in the Village. As a member of this neighborhood and the general public, you are welcome to attend this meeting if you are interested. Please note that community residence is an approved project and that this is not a public hearing. The Council will not be taking any action on this matter; the presentation is only for informational purposes.

The Council’s meeting will begin at 8:00 p.m. in the Sydney V. Stoldt Court Room on the fourth floor of Village Hall, 131 North Maple Avenue, Ridgewood, New Jersey.

Sincerely,

Heather A. Mailander, RMC/CMC/MMC

Village Clerk

>Bergen County History Day :Proceeds Benefit 8 History Sites

Saturday, May 21 from 10AM to 3PM Eight Historical Homes and Museums will be open. Visitors will explore the rich 18th and 19th century history of Northwest Bergen County as they stop at the following: Schoolhouse Museum, Ridgewood; John Fell House, Allendale; Old Stone House, Ramsey; Van Allen House, Oakland; Hermitage, Ho-Ho-Kus; Hopper-Goetschius House, Upper Saddle River; Mahwah Museum, Mahwah; Zabriskie House, Wyckoff. Tickets: $10/person…Children 12 and under Free Tickets available: Schoolhouse Museum on Thurdays/Saturdays 1- 3pm, Sundays 2-4; Alma’s Farm Market, Wyckoff, Monday – Saturday 8AM to 5:30PM; Ho-Ho-Kus Inn or call 201/652-7354 or info@ridgewoodhistoricalsociety.org

>RHS CELEBRATION OF THE ARTS GALA IS THURSDAY, MAY 19

*The Ridgewood High School ARTS Department has decided to make this event free for all to attend and enjoy to truly celebrate the students involved. Donations are truly appreciated and can be made online using the donation link above or at the door on the day of the event. Money raised will help cover the cost of the event and any additional funds will be given to senior scholarships. Thank you in advance for joining us for this celebration and we appreciate your support of our students and their hardwork.”

Starting at 6:45 p.m., guests will enjoy the beautiful and creative pieces of art in the Campus Center while sampling appetizers and non-alcoholic beverages prepared by Market Basket. At 7:15 p.m. a series of small musical groups will perform and dessert, prepared by the Culinary Arts Club and Culinary Arts classes at RHS, will be served with coffee and tea. Upon conclusion of the smaller musical performances, guests will be invited to visit nearby classrooms where RHS students will be performing live demonstrations. Among the demonstrations will be ceramics and portrait exhibits. Promptly at 8:15 p.m. a traditional concert event by larger music groups will begin in the Little Theater. To learn more about the event or to purchase tickets ($35), please visit: https://rhscelebration2011.eventbrite.com/.

>Both parties seek changes to costly New Jersey sick time system, differ on solution

If every county and municipal employee in Gloucester County were to retire tomorrow, the taxpayers would be on the hook for more than $19.2 million Ð money owed to those workers for unused sick days they’ve been saving up for years. (Beym, Gloucester County Times)

https://www.nj.com/gloucester/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1305447905285402.xml&coll=8

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Crowds come out for the Ridgewood Sidewalk sale  and the Earth Day celebration

the Staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ -Overcast sky’s did not keep the crowds away from the Spring Ridgewood Sidewalk sale  and the Earth Day celebration in Van Neste Square . Parking was scarce for the first time in ages whiles shoppers lined the streets looking for deals . Shoppers spilled over  from East. Ridgewood Ave. and Oak Street to most of the central business district or downtown Ridgewood .

Some new stores and resaturates look to be making a go at it while some old favorites remain steadfast. It does seem the Village is about to be over run by Sushi places with empty stores boasting to become  next home of a Sushi this or Sushi that.

The Ridgewood Police Department keep a careful eye on pedestrian crossing and most drives seemed to be taking time and laying off their cell phones and lipstick. Dare we say the revival of the down town shopping district maybe well on its way of coarse only time will tell whether the crowds were buyers or lookers .

>Village Pensions and Healthcare are the key drivers of the budget problems

I find it interesting that pensions and healthcare are the key drivers of the budget problems. Why is it that we still let Ridgewood policemen reitre in their 40s and pay very little towards their healthcare? 55 is a more reasonable retirement age.

Why did the council just let them lock these benefits in to a new contract without fighting for the taxpayers that elected them? Wellinghorst, Walsh, and Riche – we elected you to look out for the best interests of the taxpayers. SO far, I am unimpressed by your performance

>New Jersey an unlikely leader in solar energy

By Ronda Kaysen
MONTCLAIR, New Jersey | Fri May 13, 2011 12:03pm EDT
(Reuters) – New Jersey, home to more industrial waste clean-up sites than any other state, is poised to become an exemplar of solar power usage — though not everyone is happy about it.

Yet the combination of a strict state mandate and a generous carbon offset program has made New Jersey — where only three in eight days are sunny — the second-largest U.S. producer of solar power, after California, where more than half the days are sunny.

https://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/13/us-solar-newjersey-idUSTRE74C3TY20110513?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews

>PSE&G Helps UMDNJ Cut Its Energy Bill

Hospital expects to reduce utility bill by about $1.3 million annually through utility’s Energy Efficiency Program

(May 12, 2011 – Newark, NJ) – Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) today joined with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) for the installation of a 2,700-ton chiller as part of their $11.4 million effort to bring energy efficiency improvements to University Hospital and four buildings on its Newark campus.

These improvements will help reduce UMDNJ’s energy consumption. The improvements are made possible through PSE&G’s $79 million Hospital Efficiency Program, which will benefit 19 hospitals across the utility’s service territory. In total, the utility is investing $240 million through 11 initiatives that help fund energy efficiency investments targeted at populations and entities with the greatest need and also stimulate economic activity.
“New Jersey hospitals are really struggling financially and nearly a third are operating in the red,” said Al Matos, vice president-renewables and energy solutions, PSE&G. “They find it nearly impossible to budget for infrastructure upgrades, no matter how much they’re needed. This accelerated efficiency program for hospitals has been extremely successful because it meets the needs of a severely stressed business sector. It provides money upfront and permits savings benefits to be realized quickly so that medical centers can focus on their mission-critical function of saving lives.”

Through the Hospital Efficiency Program, PSE&G will provide the $11.4 million investment, with UMDNJ repaying $2.7 million over three years, interest free. The Hospital Efficiency Program covers the $8.7 million investment difference. These investments are expected to reduce UMDNJ’s annual utility bill by about $1.3 million.

“It is a wonderful opportunity for UMDNJ, and we are pleased to be able to participate in PSE&G’s program,” says Christopher Kosseff, senior vice president for administration at UMDNJ. “The economics make sense, and we embrace this opportunity both to improve the efficiency of our operations and make a strong contribution to improving the environment.”

Following an extensive, investment-grade audit, improvements at UMDNJ will focus on improved cooling capabilities and include installation of a sophisticated control system and two new energy-efficient chillers. The control system will regulate the chilled water distribution pressure to each building and each air handler within, using monitoring sensors to adjust flow rates instantly to maximize efficiency. This automated system will replace the manually operated system that currently exists. The automatic monitoring will reduce the chilled water demands, thereby reducing the energy needed to produce the chilled water and the energy needed to pump the chilled water throughout the system. The project is expected to be complete by the end of 2011.

Of 52 eligible hospital facilities in PSE&G’s service territory, 40 applied to participate in the program. The PSE&G Hospital Efficiency Program has funded 19 of the applications and work is in various stages at each of them. The remaining applications remain pending available funding.
“The program has limited funding, but its success so far should prove a catalyst for additional investment for those eligible hospitals that currently are not to participate in the program,” Matos said.

The PSE&G Hospital Efficiency Program is a $79 million initiative that will fund the installation of energy conservation measures at 19 hospitals in the utility’s service territory. Through the program, PSE&G provides an investment-grade audit at no cost to the customer, then proposes various cost-effective energy conservation measures that make a substantial impact on the hospital’s energy efficiency and meet other program criteria such as having a simple payback of less than 15 years. The program greatly reduces the financial burden on a hospital by providing up-front funding for the total cost of a project. The hospital then pays back a portion of the total project cost after the project is complete on the PSE&G utility bill at zero percent interest over 36 months.

>ORCHARD SCHOOL GARAGE SALE IS SATURDAY, MAY 14

The public is invited to Orchard School’s Community Garage Sale on Saturday, May 14, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Rain or shine. Cash only.

>Migraine Sufferes – Complimentary Consultations.
Wed, May 11, 2011
Time: 12:00 AM
Location: Richard Iacobelli , D.C. – Wilsey Square Wellness, 20 Wilsey Square
Event Description

Richard Iacobelli, D.C. will be performing complimentary consultations/examinations for migraine sufferers on May 11th and May 13th
between 1:00pm-5:00pm.

20 Wilsey Square
Ridgewood
201-444-4474
Info@wilseysquarewellness.com
www.wilseysquarewellness.com

>Ridgewood : Do away with down town parking meters

Parking meters here in Ridgewood are failing because in a down economy, no one wants to get fined if they shop too long. Yeah, that’s the ‘ticket’! Less business in our CBD!

Do away with the meters, do away with the meter guy, reassign the parking police to where traffic safety is lacking and maybe we might save money instead of losing it because the village can’t run it correctly.