Quick thinking on the part of an observant bank teller and an immediate response by Ridgewood PD Patrol Officer Paul Dinice saved a local resident from becoming a victim of the increasingly pervasive “IRS Scam.” photo by Boyd Loving
N.J. pair accused of bilking more than $150K from at least 70 people in 32 state-IRS scheme
SEPTEMBER 15, 2015, 7:59 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015, 12:12 PM
BY JIM NORMAN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
LEONIA – A man and a woman living in Middlesex County were arrested and charged with bilking at least 70 people in 32 states out of more than $150,000 by persuading them that they owed back taxes to the Internal Revenue Service and would be arrested if they did not pay up immediately, authorities said Tuesday.
Leonia Police Chief Thomas P. Rowe said a man identified as Akash Satish Patel, 32, and a woman identified as Nikita Natvarlal Patel, 25, were arrested in Union as they arrived at a CVS store to claim the proceeds of a MoneyGram sent to them by one of their victims.
Rowe said the pair were not related, although they have the same last name and they both reside at the same address in Iselin, in Middlesex County.
Ridgewood Patrol Officer Assists Stuck RV on West Glen Ave
September 17,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood PD Patrol Officer Kevin McKeon assisted a motorist whose rented RV became stuck in the gravel driveway of 210 West Glen Avenue, Ridgewood on Thursday afternoon, 09/17. The vehicle partially blocked the busy east/west roadway, which required McKeon to manually alternate the flow of motor vehicle traffic until a flatbed tow truck was able to free the RV from a stuck position. No injuries were reported, nor were there any summonses issued.
SEPTEMBER 18, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY MATTHEW SCHNEIDER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Ridgewood American Legion Post 53 was recently honored for its community service, receiving the Post Excellence Award.
The award, which is given to an American Legion post that has shown exceptional service to the community and those in need, was presented this summer at the 97th annual state convention at the Wildwood Convention Center, according to Bob Paoli, commander of the Ridgewood post.
To be considered for the award, a post must have achievements in the fields of membership, youth activities, community service and service to troops/veterans.
However, excellence in other categories is also a must, as evidenced by the fact that the Ridgewood post’s focus on “Americanism,” as Paoli puts it, was the thing that put the group over the edge.
“They praised us for American Legion principle No. 1, Americanism, for our annual Gold Star Mother’s Day event,” he said, referring to an event, hosted by the American Legion, at which mothers of fallen soldiers are honored. This year’s event is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Sept. 27 at Van Neste Square (see sibebar).
While being recognized with the award is great for the individual post, it is also useful for the organization as a whole.
“The purposes of this award are membership growth, exposure of American Legion values to the youth of the community and increased visibility of the American Legion Family through service projects,” the American Legion’s website said. “A post achieving this qualification will have had numerous post members involved in planning and achieving these goals.”
SEPTEMBER 17, 2015 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2015, 2:11 PM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The Village Council is moving ahead with a design for a parking garage at the Hudson Street lot, selecting Desman Design Management as the firm to provide architectural renderings for the governing body and the public to review.
The council voted 3-1 on Wednesday evening to award the contract for professional architectural and engineering services for the design of a multi-level traditional self-parking structure to Desman Design Management in an amount not to exceed $295,350.
A special public meeting was held last Tuesday by the governing body for the purpose of hearing presentations from four different companies as they pitched their ideas on a downtown parking garage.
The next night, during the Village Council’s regular work session, Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld said the steering committee decided to recommend either Desman Design Management or Timothy Haahs & Associates Inc.
During the ensuing discussion, three members of the council gave a similar opinion while two others stated a preference for Desman, with all five members eventually agreeing on Desman as the choice for the garage.
Councilman Michael Sedon noted that Desman had focused on the “bones” of the structure more than other presentations, broaching topics such as firewalls and keeping some space between the garage and surrounding businesses.
“They had one design that was interesting with ramps outside the building and a lot of their designs had space between the shops on Hudson Street in the rear of it,” said Sedon. “They would maintain that easement outside the garage, which was different than all the other presenters.”
SEPTEMBER 18, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2015, 12:31 AM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Officials cannot disregard laws
To the Editor:
Certain elected and appointed officials in Ridgewood increasingly disregard local ordinances. This is unacceptable.
The organizational chart was revised, creating some positions. A human resources director was hired and working for quite some time before the position even existed. The chart should have been rewritten, then a discussion should have taken place among the entire Village Council at a public meeting, followed by a vote. Then, and only then, should a person have been hired to fill any new position.
Instead, the revisions were introduced and voted in by three council members well after the fact.
Village Code indicates that new hires for civil service classified positions and employees in newly created positions should be hired at the lowest possible salary in the range. At least one new employee has been brought in at a higher salary. Now, the village manager wants to change the ordinance to allow some leeway with new salary offers. While flexibility should be allowed when hiring, this should not have happened before the law was changed.
Laws should be amended as needed, but they cannot be disregarded because an elected (or appointed) government official feels like it. A law should be modified when necessary, and then (and not a moment sooner) the new regulation can be followed.
In the same vein, the third line of a recent grant application regarding the Schedler property states that all members of the Village Council had reviewed the document. This is false. At least one elected Village Council member indicated not even seeing the application before it was submitted.
First, I do not understand why everyone on the council had not seen the document; who is it that decides to bypass the input of certain elected officials? But, since it was not distributed to all, the application should have been withdrawn until all had the opportunity to read it. On Sept. 9, the response from some on the dais about this was that this is common procedure, as long as the final resolution is accurate. I am appalled that some of our officials would willingly sign and send a grant application that starts right out with a known lie.
In a true emergency a rule might be broken. If your child is bleeding heavily, you would rush to the hospital, disregarding speed limits. But these cases have not even remotely been urgent. I am left with the impression that laws are, to certain of our elected and appointed officials, merely suggestions that they can take or leave.
Those who are not diligent disciples of our Village Code, who submit official documents that are known by them to contain inaccuracies, are not appropriate representatives of the citizenry of Ridgewood. They make a mockery of our local village government.
SEPTEMBER 18, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Last week, the Village Council discussed a possible change to an ordinance that would allow for the hiring of employees at a pay rate higher than the lowest salary possible on a case-by-case basis.
The ordinance would give the village manager discretion in hiring an employee with qualifications that suggest bringing them on at a higher salary, which officials said would allow the village to get the best employee for the position.
Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld characterized the change as an attempt to update an ordinance that has become obsolete. The amended ordinance would only apply to Civil Service classified positions that have already been budgeted.
“When you think about the police and bringing in inter-governmental transfers, we would not bring them in at step one. We would bring them in higher,” Sonenfeld said. “Or to the extent we’re bringing in somebody to the water utility that has certain licensing that has different market value than it had, those are the kinds of things I’m thinking about.”
Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli said the change would be a good one since it would give the manager “flexibility” to do whatever is necessary to get the best candidate. The ordinance, as it is currently written, could eliminate candidates who might otherwise be desirable.
Pucciarelli also referenced a situation that occurred in January 2014 when the Ridgewood Police Department had more officers hired than the ordinance allowed as an example of why this change would be beneficial.
“I think that’s consistent with good management rather than as we saw, for example, a couple of years ago in the case of the police department,” said Pucciarelli. “We had a number of police that was established and I said ‘well, maybe we’re breaking the law, but that’s not a good law. Why should the council establish the number of policemen? That’s a management function and it should be done on a case-by-case basis or in conjunction with the chief of police.'”
Documentary Explores Struggle of New Jersey’s Ramapough Tribe
By TAMMY LA GORCEAUG. 8, 2015
Corey Bobker was an accomplished 30-something adult when he took his first drive into the Ramapo Mountains in 2010. But the 12-year-old version of him still had knots in his stomach.
“When I was a kid growing up, everybody knew you don’t go up into the mountains because you’d get shot,” said Mr. Bobker, producer of the documentary “American Native.” His film explores the struggles of the Ramapough Lenape Nation, a Native American tribe with about 5,000 members, according to its chief, Dwaine C. Perry. The Ramapough live mostly across the Stag Hill region of Mahwah, Ringwood and nearby Hillburn, N.Y.
Mr. Bobker, of Los Angeles, grew up in Livingston. As a child, he attended summer camp in Stanhope, near the Ramapos in Mahwah. He had not gotten close to the mysterious mountain chain again until this anxiety-ridden car trip to visit with the tribe for the first time. “I was definitely worried,” he said. “I thought, Maybe it’s true — maybe they’re going to confront us if we say something the wrong way.”
Next CBD Forum – September 23 at 7:30PM – Village Hall
Our Central Business District Forum will resume next Wednesday, September 23, at 730 PM, in the Village Hall Courtroom. We will discuss the new garage planned for Broad and Hudson Streets. No longer just a nice idea, the garage is moving into the design phase. We have already seen some exciting design possibilities that will be offered to our residences for their consideration. The Mayor will attend the forum and he and I will bring everyone up to date as to where the process stands and where it is headed, including a look forward at the all-important referendum on November 3. Please join us and invite your friends and neighbors to attend.
Ridgewood NJ, so how many times can Mayor Aronsohn, Deputy Mayor Pucciarelli and Councilwoman Hauck, in cooperation with Village Manager Sonenfeld, disregard our local laws? Let us count the ways :
Telephonic or electronic communication between or among Councilmembers or between a Councilmember and a member of the public during public meetings is prohibited. This resolution was written by the Deputy Mayor (and former councilwoman Bernadette Walsh). When questioned publicly, Aronsohn admitted that his wife texts him, Hauck admitted that she “forgets” to turn her phone off, and Pucciarelli stated that he must be able to hear from his family at all times. So this rule is bent, disregarded, or ignored by the three of them as they see fit. Councilman Sedon and Councilwoman Knudsen stated that they do not use their phones or email during meetings.
2. A Human Resources Director (or confidential secretary, or whatever the title turned out to be) was hired before the position even existed. Once they got her up and running then they decided to create the position by rewriting the organizational chart. This was done over the objections of Sedon and Knudsen, who wanted the law to be followed. The position should have been created and then the person could be hired.
3. Local laws dictate that for certain positions, new hires must come in at the lowest end of the salary range. This has not always been happening. So now they are writing a new ordinance allowing for salary flexibility in such hirings. Once again, break the law, then rewrite the law. Once again, Sedon and Knudsen voiced objections while the other three smiled and nodded approval.
4. The most recent application for a grant for the Schedler property has a complete inaccuracy as well as some “sins of omission.” It was not shown to certain council members before it was sent (can we guess who did not see it and who did?). When this was pointed out, with a suggestion that the application be pulled and amended before being resubmitted, the reply was that “these things happen all the time,” you know, what’s a little inaccuracy among government agencies? Are we seeing a pattern here?
Our lawyer on the Council, Mr. Pucciarelli, characterized their behavior best when he stated that “Maybe we’re breaking the law, but it’s not a good law.”
By Ridgewood Water’s own definitions, our current restrictions are Stage III, not IV.
Ridgewood Water website (https://water.ridgewoodnj.net/) says:
Current Water Restrictions: STAGE IV.
Irrigation using a hand-held hose only is limited to Tuesdays and Saturdays for odd numbered addresses and Wednesdays and Sundays for even numbered addresses.
Ridgewood Water’s website also says (click on Water Restrictions, next-to-last bullet point under Resources):
Stage I (Moderate) – Mandatory restriction of irrigation to Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays for properties with odd-numbered addresses and Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays for properties with even-numbered addresses. Irrigation using a hand-held hose shall be allowed at any time. No irrigation shall be allowed on Mondays except for the use of a hand held hose.
Stage II (Severe) – Mandatory restriction of irrigation to Tuesdays and Saturdays for properties with odd-numbered addresses and Wednesdays and Sundays for properties with even-numbered addresses. No irrigation shall be allowed on Mondays, Thursdays, or Fridays except for the use of a hand held hose. Irrigation using a hand held hose shall be allowed at any time.
Stage III (Pending/Critical) – Mandatory restriction of irrigation to the use of a hand held hose on Tuesdays and Saturdays for properties with odd-numbered addresses and Wednesdays and Sundays for properties with even-numbered addresses. No irrigation of any kind shall be allowed on Mondays, Thursdays, or Fridays.
Stage IV (Critical) – Irrigation is prohibited at any time. Exceptions for irrigation using a hand held hose may be allowed under conditions prescribed by the Village Manager of the Village of Ridgewood.
Utility to replace up to 510 miles of cast iron and unprotected steel gas pipes over three years
Low gas supply prices make this the ideal time to upgrade system
September 15, 2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G), New Jersey’s largest utility, today announced a $905 million settlement in principle with the staff of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) and the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel to expedite the replacement of aging gas pipes — supporting a safe, clean and reliable gas system well into the future. The agreement detailing this three-year program will be submitted to the BPU for formal approval in the coming weeks.
In a filing with the BPU announced on March 2, PSE&G sought approval to invest $1.6 billion during five years to accelerate the replacement of 800 miles of cast iron and unprotected steel gas mains, and 55,000 unprotected steel service lines to homes and business. The settlement will enable the utility to replace up to 510 miles of gas mains and 38,000 service lines over the three-year period. This agreement culminates six months of formal discovery, review and discussions, including public hearings before the BPU.
“We thank all of the parties involved for their thoughtful participation and review in this matter,” said Ralph LaRossa, PSE&G president and COO. “Although the agreement calls for a three-year program, we will have the ability to make a similar level of annual investment. We look forward to continuing these substantial upgrades to our system.”
The mains and service lines will be replaced with strong, durable plastic piping, which is much less likely to have leaks and release methane gas. The new elevated pressure systems also enable the installation of excess flow valves that automatically shut off gas flow if a service line is damaged, and better support the use of high-efficiency appliances.
Since 2009, residential gas heating bills are down 47 percent because of the lower cost of natural gas supply. “We are pleased to be able to accelerate this work now, while gas prices remain low,” LaRossa said.
There will be no rate increase at the onset of the program. In 2017, the typical residential gas heating customer who uses 1,010 therms annually is expected to see an increase of $0.49 on their average monthly bill. At the end of the Gas System Modernization Program, the same residential customer is projected to see a total cumulative increase of $4.82 on their average monthly bill, or an increase of approximately 1.5 percent annually over four years.
“In addition to ensuring the continued safety and reliability of our gas system, the Gas System Modernization Program will enable us to create 500 direct, sustained jobs over the three-year period — providing an economic boost for New Jersey,” said LaRossa.
Under the agreement, PSE&G will earn a return on equity of 9.75 percent on $650 million of investment based on an accelerated recovery mechanism, and will seek to recover the remaining $255 million in a base rate case, to be filed no later than November 1, 2017.
The Gas System Modernization Program is a next step in a series of modernization programs, including PSE&G’s Energy Strong work that is focused on building the resiliency into its systems required to withstand the kind of severe weather that has devastated our state over the past five years. Approved last year, the $1.22 billion Energy Strong program includes raising, relocating and protecting electrical switching and substations, and replacing 250 miles of low-pressure cast iron gas mains in or near flood areas.
“PSE&G has been providing safe, reliable gas service to customers in New Jersey for more than 100 years,” said LaRossa. “Today we serve 1.8 million gas customers in the most densely populated areas of our state. This agreement means we can modernize our gas system at a faster pace — benefiting our customers and the economy of our state.”
Ridgewood NJ, Patrolman John Ward Jr. of the Ridgewood Police Department will be running the Honolulu Marathon in memory of two fallen officers.
Ridgewood PBA Local 20
On December 13, 2015, Patrolman John Ward Jr. of the Ridgewood Police Department will be running the Honolulu Marathon in memory of two fallen officers, Officer Chris Goodell of the Waldwick Police Department and Officer Chris Birch of the Midland Park Police Department. Officer Ward has started a fundraiser to raise money to be donated to The Christopher Goodell Scholarship Fund and Special Olympics New Jersey in Chris Birch’s name. Please consider making a donation and sharing this with others to spread the word about this fundraiser and the two great men it is dedicated to. Click the link below for further details on how you can help.
I want to thank everyone who has donated and spread the word over the past few days. Every dollar, share, and like helps. The response has been better than I expected so far. Even though we’re right on track, I figured I’d raise the stakes a bit. Here’s my proposition: I am pledging to match the largest donation (including groups, organizations, etc) up to $1,000. So, spread the word and thanks again for all your support!
Does anybody actually believe the Village’s upcoming senior survey will help seniors? What can the Village possibly do to “help” other than add more lunch sessions to Ms Hauck’s playlist? (She’s only doing her lunches to get votes anyway, although she would be unlikely to win if she ran again…she achieved third place by only a handful of votes in 2012. Did Aronsohn’s P.R. advisers, White Horse Strategies, come up with seniors as her ideal constituency? Please.)
I’d bet dollars to Dunkin’ that the unmentioned goal of the survey, or at least the reason the Amigos support it, is to assemble an email and address list of residents over a certain age so they can assault a targeted audience with materials on those intended new apartments, the assisted-care place, realtor ads, and who-knows-what-all. Somehow something dastardly is being planned. The people who suggested the survey probably don’t know that–I’m not necessarily faulting them.
Well, I have no intention of playing into their hands by responding in any way, and I suggest that others age 60+ do the same, or at least read all the questions before agreeing to supply any answers. And don’t let them have your email address.
Unfortunately, three-fifths of the current Village Council has behaved so selfishly and cynically in ways that will destroy the Village that it has become impossible to attribute motives to them other than egotism, greed, and self-seeking.
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Police Department patrol officers are reportedly unable to issue any summonses for unlawful parking in metered spaces because none of them have access to the ParkMobile database. Without access to the ParkMobile database, patrol officers have no way of knowing whether a vehicle is lawfully parked.
Rumor has it that only the three Ridgewood Parking Enforcement Agents are able to issue summonses in connection with metered parking offenses.
There goes a sizable revenue stream; an additional burden for taxpayers to assume in connection with the parking garage construction.
One step forward, five steps backward , well Roberta?
The three of them absolutely do not care if they broke a law. Here is a DIRECT QUOTE from Pucciarelli from last Wednesday
“Maybe we’re breaking the law, but it’s not a good law.”
This is a perfect quote, demonstrating without question that the Deputy Mayor needs to be retired from public office ASAP.
Public figures are not at liberty either to violate the law, or blithely leave the impression that they are flouting the law. If a Councilmember thinks a law is bad, they should act to bring about a change to the law, not simply break it in an act of contempt to demonstrate how bad it is!
Yes, our deputy mayor, who happens to be a LAWYER (something he loves to remind us of every other minute) has that little respect for the law. Listen to him on the U-stream. Who would believe that a lawyer would say this? Who would believe that an elected law-maker would say this?
Disgusting, despicable, disgraceful, disingenuous, dastardly, damnable. The three of them stink.
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