Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood police report that on February 16th, a South Broad Street resident reported criminal trespassing is occurring during the early morning hours of day frequently. The reporting party advised the actor is entering onto the property without permission and if the actor is identified she is willing to sign criminal complaints. The Ridgewood Police Patrol Division was advised and will be conducting extra patrol in the area.
Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood Police report that a Meadowbrook Avenue resident responded to Ridgewood Police headquarters on February 19th, to report a fraud and theft by deception in the past. The victim reported a U.P.S. delivery was scheduled however never received by the victim. The victim contacted U.P.S. after receiving a tag requiring signature was left at the door and U.P.S. reported a party did receive the delivery and signed for the item after producing identification. The Ridgewood Detective Bureau is investigating the incident.
USA Today reported in November that , “More than half of Americans say they know someone who’s had a package stolen from outside their home, and 30% say they’ve experienced it themselves, according to a survey by Xfinity Home, Comcast’s home security service. “
Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood police report that on February 21, a Hampshire Road resident responded to Ridgewood Police headquarters to report terroristic threats in the past. The victim reported he was contacted by a person who left a threatening message of violence on his phone. The victim provided the phone number and patrol investigated the incident. The accused was contacted and the incident was reported to be a misunderstanding. The reporting party did not wish to pursue criminal charges at this time.
This just in…..”Retail Dying”. The Wall St. Journal reports that even trendy SoHo is seeing a store closings as retail shopping continues to dip.
https://www.wsj.com/…/even-soho-cant-escape-the-retail-property-storm-1519160376
In 10 years people will wonder what possessed a Village to build a hulking garage to support a retail shopping district that went the way of the dinosaur. If we are looking to the future it should be how the CBD will be repurposed once retail shopping has evaporated. Not building a garage decades after it would have made a difference.
I think this result qualifies as at least a little evidence that residents want a garage. After all, a 2:1 vote of residents expressed explicit approval for a parking garage on exactly the site that is being planned. A much smaller group of people used a technicality on the funding of the garage to veto a particular design, but that certainly doesn’t eliminate this overwhelmingly positive result as the foundation for moving forward.
EVERY parking study done over the past 50+ years by objective professional consultants has indicated the need for a parking garage in Ridgewood. It appears the current Village Council is doing something to remedy the longstanding parking deficit. The garage will primarily serve commuters during the day and local businesses afterwards. It will be a boost to all of Ridgewood and despite the naysayers it will not destroy or diminish the character and desirability of the Village. Other higher end towns (particularly Summit and Princeton) have garages and residential property values in these towns have continued to rise. There is not one shred of evidence that the garage will negatively impact residential property values in Ridgewood. To the contrary, it will likely enhance values because prospective homeowners who commute to NY will benefit from the availability of convenient parking. This is a big benefit when you are rushing to catch your regular morning train to the city.
the ridgewood art institute’s first annual plein art show
Sun, February 11, 2018 – Fri, March 02, 2018
Time: 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Location: The Ridgewood Art Institute, 12 East Glen Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
The Ridgewood Art Institute’s First Annual Plein Art show
On View: February 11th-March 2nd, 2018 from 10am to 3pm daily
The Ridgewood Art Institute is located at:
12 East Glen Ave
Ridgewood, NJ 07450
Please contact 201-652-9615 with questions or visit their website at www.ridgewoodartinstitute.com
Ridgewood NJ, Plein Air painting is about leaving the four walls of your studio behind and experiencing painting and drawing in the landscape. The practice goes back for centuries but was truly made into an art form by the French Impressionists.
Please join us for our first art show to exclusively feature Plein Air sketches by our members. All pieces in this show will have been done while on location, with no further reworking done in studio. The results reflect a freshness and immediacy that can only be achieved by working in this manner.
Classes are offered on an open enrollment basis, and can be joined at anytime.
“I finally googled “handicapped requirements for historic properties”. It clearly states that historic properties are NOT excused from the ADA requirements. It agrees it might take a lot of work and evaluation to modify an historic property to make it accessible to all. It also states that “no building is grandfathered from the handicap regulations no matter how old and historic it actually is.” The council either has not taken this into consideration in the cost of “saving” the Schedler house, or believes that Isabella, being an architect, knew what she was talking about. So why is Ridgewood planning to restore (rebuild) a property that they will be unable to let the public use if everyone cannot enter—and go up and down at each new addition as none of the floors are actually level from room to room.”
Mayor Susan Knudsen responds ….
HI , Historic Architect Margaret Hickey included handicap accessibility in the Schedler house restoration plans. In fact, at a recent meeting there was a great deal of discussion about accessibility features and required modifications. Hope all is well.
During public comments at the end of the meeting, 2 residents reminded VC members that there are already 76 spaces on the ground there. Thus, the construction cost per space is much higher than what was presented by the developers last night. That is, you must subtract the current number of spaces from the total being built to obtain the net increase in spaces, which should then be used to calculate the cost per space.
Also, last night was the first time the public was made aware of the perpetual maintenance costs associated with the operation of precast parking structures. Several of the presenters indicated that unless the structure is properly maintained, its life expectancy decreases dramatically.
It was said that the use of ice/snow melting agents and HARD WATER are particularly problematic. And the only way to clean the ice/snow melting agents away is by using water on a regular basis. And what type of water do we have in Ridgewood? HARD WATER, of course!
This is going to be the biggest financial boondoggle ever. Way beyond the boondoggle of post Tropical Storm Floyd renovation costs at Village Hall. Way beyond. Way, way beyond.
Ridgewood NJ, There was a Special Public Meeting last night, Wednesday, February 21, from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. The Village Council interviewed the four companies that bid on the construction of the Hudson Street Parking Garage. Each company gave a full presentation. The Village Council and the public had the opportunity to listen to proposals and to see a broad range of design options. Names were drawn from a hat to determine the order of presentations as follows:
Terminal Construction Corporation Prismatic Development Corporation Epic Management Inc The Pike Company
Councilman Ramon M. Hache said that , “Overall, I was very pleased with the presentations. The presenters were very thorough and professional. The information provided by them is a crucial component of the extensive due diligence process necessary for a project like this. Generally, much of the focus has been on the dimensions, capacity and construction costs. But the analysis must also take into consideration the annual maintenance costs and the durability and quality of the materials used in its construction. We also have to consider the various approaches to construction methods as they relate to safety, as well as the logistics and timelines associated with the different phases of construction. Last night what had the opportunity to discuss those factors.”
Hache went on , “The due diligence process can be painstaking but it is the same cautious and prudent approach one would take before allocating capital to any significant investment project. Although this has been a long process, in hindsight, I am happy to not have rushed the project along given the valuable lessons learned. For one, declaring the existing Hudson Street lot to be an area in need of redevelopment has given us a tremendous amount of leverage. I think we are already seeing the benefits over the traditional design/bid/build process. Simply put, we are now in a position to negotiate better terms for the Village. We are now looking at potential construction costs that are 20%-30% lower than any previous estimates, and without having to pay for additional designs. The designs discussed last night were absolutely at no cost to the Village.
It was a long meeting but definitely worth it. I am thankful for the residents who attended and sat through the presentations to the end. We only lost a couple of people which was very impressive.”
Updated Bids:
One of the original bids was reduced by 11%. Epic Management reduced their bid after reviewing the numbers with the company that supplies their pre-cast concrete. Here are the updated bids received, listed from lowest to highest overall:
$9,464,666: Pike Company Inc
$10,100,000: Terminal Construction Corp (Version 3)
$10,900,000: Terminal Construction Corp (Version 2)
$10,983,193: Epic Management Inc (Low Version)
$11,190,627: Epic Management Inc (High Version)
$11,480,000: Terminal Construction Corp (Version 1)
$14,399,000: Prismatic Development Corp
Next Step is that the Village Council will be reviewing the results of the Walker Feasibility Study at the next Public Work Session on Wednesday, February 28. The study will provide a planning-level analysis of net operating income potential for the parking system when the new garage is complete, including rate adjustments that will help maintain a parking utility that is self-supporting. Armed with a thorough financial analysis, we can then move forward with discussing contract negotiations and final selection.
Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood blog has received multiple reports that, a candidate for Village Council, accompanied by another family member, disregarded the caution tape that was deployed around Graydon, and entered the restricted work zone shortly after the tree was felled this morning. The individual became belligerent with a Village employee and refused the leave the restricted work area when asked to do so. The employee telephoned for police assistance in removing the individual; two (2) uniformed patrol officers and a uniformed patrol supervisor were dispatched to assist. The trespasser left the property prior to the police officers’ arrival. It is unknown whether charges will be pressed.
And the campaign signs aren’t even up yet. This is going to be one hell of an election season.
Ridgewood NJ, Mark your calendars and if you have time, stop by and watch / listen to these meetings and see our local representatives asking questions and making decisions on how to spend our property taxes / where to cut the expenses-
BUDGET HEARING SCHEDULE:
March 2, 2018 – 5:30pm to 10:00pm
March 9, 2018 – 5:30pm to 10:00pm
March 16, 2018 – 5:30PM to 10:00pm
March 21st at 5:30pm – final budget overview & setting the tax rate
Tentative:
March 28, 2018 Budget Introduction
April 25, 2018 Budget Adoption
Ridgewood NJ, its done the Village of Ridgewood has cut down the iconic Graydon Sycamore AKA ,the “Money Tree” . Many long time residents think this spells doom for the Village .
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Water reports its progress on upgrading infrastructure piping at 4 Stream Crossings in the Village of Ridgewood . Three of the four stream crossings will be operational by the end of this week. Final connections are wrapping up at Linwood Avenue as we speak.
In the meantime, Deven’s Construction will mobilizing back to the fourth and final stream crossing, Spring Avenue, to finish the remaining piping, testing and connections. We anticipate approximately 3 weeks for completion of the Spring Avenue stream crossing barring any unforeseen conditions.
Fred Devens will be coordinating with the Ridgewood Police who will be directing traffic around work areas on an as needed basis. Expected work hours will be Monday through Friday, 7am – 5:00pm, weather permitting.
Ridgewood NJ , While on routine motor patrol, Ridgewood Police Patrol Officer Zachary Knudsen spotted a heavily damaged passenger vehicle matching the description of one wanted in connection with a Tuesday afternoon, 02/20, hit and run crash in Ridgewood’s Central Business District that heavily damaged two (2) parked vehicles. Officer Knudsen issued at least one (1) summons to the damaged vehicle’s adult female driver and radioed for a tow truck to remove it from the traveled roadway. A second tow truck was dispatched to remove one (1) of the parked vehicles that was struck.
