Ridgewood News has usual lets paper over the complainers and get on to our glorious futures..complete Puff piece on how everybody was really supporting the 4 studies all along including our recalcitrant mayor chiming in on how bright the future looks after Jan 6 meeting then traffic school housing etc studies are all done..Oh joy Paul says it will all be alright despite the small community of objectors to the Village Council GRAND plans for thee parking and rental housing megaplex coming soon to your rear view mirrors as the moving trucks are packing up your hard earned equity in this town gone off the Rails.
Well first Paul Aronsohn had Chris Harris now he has Steve JANOSK from the Record He has the new reporter from the Ridgewood News and the Daily Voice is doing a pretty good job of keeping his smiling face and the parking garage on the front page these last couple of week.
Steve Janoski also needs to be schooled. He writes with a tone of finality. What he is really writing is what the mayor tells him to write. So much of hard hitting objective reporting. But then it is The Record.
Why all of a sudden all these crazy irresponsible planning boondoggles..
This is a serious management issue in the Town of Ridgewood.All these oversized non conforming parking decks and MIS sited ball fields / With Light Incursions into an existing neighborhood have a common theme..
Our Town is out of control with some pushing own Agendas and telling homeowners to just move over and suck it up. Despite serious impact to property Rights and values as well as dangerous mis planning. Who will pay the lawsuits for injuries fatalities for misplaced expansion accidents.
boon·dog·gle ˈbo͞onˌdäɡəl,-ˌdôɡəl/
NORTH AMERICAN
informal noun
1. work or activity that is wasteful or pointless but gives the appearance of having value. “writing off the cold fusion phenomenon as a boondoggle best buried in literature”
verb
1. waste money or time on unnecessary or questionable projects.
Albert switches side because he is trying to redeem himself with voters. He is starting to make his bid for re election next year. Notice how low key he has been hoping that voters will forget what he has done. He probably has a running mate already pick out. It is no surprise that he wants to be Mayor. The funny thing is that the same voters that voted for the 3 amigos will vote for Big Al and his new coalition. Right now his buddies Paul is taking all the heat and Al is good with that distraction from him. Don’t be fooled. Al is worse the Paul could ever be. He is a Narcissist and vindictive. So if you don’t want the next four years the same as the last four year then vote and get your family and friends to vote. We must get rid of these three. They are a cancer.
Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Police Department has been getting numerous inquiries from residents who were issued summonses for violating the Village leaf ordinance. The summonses were not issued by the Ridgewood Police Department they were issued by the Building Department’s Code Enforcement Officer. There are instructions on the back of the summons on how to contact the Municipal Court if you wish to plead not guilty. The direct number for the court is 201-670-5500 Ext 501.
“The most vocal comment heard from residents last year was on properties who did not comply with the schedule. Therefore enforcement will be vital to the Village’s success to improve this service. An enforcement agent will issue a summons to those that violate these guidelines”
DECEMBER 18, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY MATTHEW SCHNEIDER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The Village Council agreed last week to conduct four impact studies related to proposed multifamily housing projects in Ridgewood.
“It is our intention, per previous conversations, to go forward with four impact studies to look at issues like financial impact, school impact, (municipal) infrastructure as well as traffic,” Mayor Paul Aronsohn said.
These studies, which many residents have been calling for, will be performed by various consultants, according to Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld.
“We’re looking at those four things,” she said, “and we’re telling the consultants that it’s based upon realistic build-out analysis for the four sites under current vs. proposed zoning.”
“We developed some of our own input and we went out to eight potential providers of this kind of information,” Sonenfeld said.
“The current status is that we have one provider who’s provided a very preliminary proposal that includes all four areas and includes some reliance on previously obtained data, and that’s BFJ/Urbanomics,” she said.
Sonenfeld said that other companies submitted proposals for separate areas of study.
“We reached out to Ross Haber in education; we reached out to Heyer Gruel Associates for fiscal impact and education; we reached out to Maser Consulting for traffic and we are in the process of reaching out to the RBA Group for traffic as well,” she said.
She explained that if all goes according to plan, the consultants will come before the council during a special public work session and make presentations before the next council meeting on Jan. 6th.
Does any of our readers know, there is a place to dispose of old tattered or worn U.S. flags at the train station? There is a box located to the left of the main entrance to the inside of the station house.
Ridgewood NJ, Old flags that are no longer suitable for display are usually burned. There’s no law requiring that all flags be disposed of by burning, but the U.S. Code states that burning is preferable. Snopes.com says this is to prevent the remnants of the flag from ending up in places like garbage heaps. Flag disposal ceremonies are regularly held by organizations such as the American Legion, the Boy Scouts and Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Ridgewood NJ, readers responded with sarcastic wit at the possibility of using the ParkWise parking space locator App to quickly find down town parking availability. Some laughed ,” Not much of an advantage for Ridgewoodites. There will be plenty of open spots in the new parking structure.”
Other’s said “This idea makes great sense. Which is why, of course, the council and Roberta will not have anything to do with it.”
Many have learned over the years that with the Village of Ridgewood the MOST EXPENSIVE SOLUTION is always the best. Whether this is building and over priced ramp at Graydon Pool that nobody uses instead of the far better but cheaper alternative of the “mobi chair” .
Why should taxpayers spend nothing when we could spend millions needlessly? Thank you Paul, Albert, and Gwenn. is the question that rolls of readers tongue ?
Some still not really seeing the parking issue and said , “or they could drive around the block twice and find a spot.”
Other’s offered us a glimpse into the criminal mind as demonstrated in the past when Parking Meter improvement suggestion were being made, the suggestions were always attacked . Since then we have all learned that certain employees had a vested interest in carting out the lose change , ” That’s Boston…This is Ridgewood. Get over yourself’s Boston you are NOT.what a complete waste of time and effort.”
Regardless of where you stand on development in Ridgewood, one thing we can all agree on is that our Village Council must be held to the highest of standards when it comes to their voting practices and in their commitment to fulfilling their votes.
With this reasoning, on January 6th, our council must table any vote on the parking garage until the comprehensive traffic study is completed.
Let me explain:
On September 30th, the Village Council voted (4-1) in favor of doing 4 comprehensive studies regarding the high density housing issue.
Clerk Mailander’s vote call: “Amended version that we just read: multiple studies, traffic and infrastructure study, financial study, and a school impact study. It’s a comprehensive traffic study as outlined by Councilwoman Knudsen, CBD, surrounding neighborhoods, entire village. OK.”
Regarding what Councilwoman Knudsen specifically “outlined”:
“There has never been a comprehensive traffic study done of the CBD proper or the adjacent communities as a whole. It becomes incredibly relevant when we consider that there are four large parcels being considered for high density development with the north walnut redevelopment zone assisted living facility …… and coupled with the fact that we are engaging in ….a parking garage that would add over 300 vehicles to an already narrow, difficult, congested intersection of Broad Street and Hudson. When you take all of these collectively it really becomes imperative that we do our due diligence and ….get this right….so I think to that question, “What traffic studies have been done?” I think “not enough.”
Seeking clarification on December 9th, I asked Councilwoman Knudsen if it was her “intent” on September 30th that the parking garage be included in this traffic study before the parking garage was to be built.
Her response:
“My intention was that it was under the assumption that it had not been built…I was clear with that intention..Each of these very large projects combined had the potential impact and needed to be studied before we moved forward.”
Based on Councilwoman Knudsen’s original outline of the traffic part of the vote from September 30th and substantiated by the above statement on December 9th, the Village Council has no further recourse but to table any voting or other steps toward choosing a parking garage size, applying for a bond, etc, until the traffic study is first completed.
Having a few extra months of study with regard to the parking garage will only improve the traffic/parking situation and pave the way for perhaps even smarter solutions. For example, resident Rick Boesch observed that the parking app could be GPS enabled to show the available parking spaces at any given moment,thereby helping the situation immensely.
It is only of benefit to Ridgewood that our Village Council follows through with their vote on September 30thin regards to the proposed parking garage, so as to ensure that development in our CBD is handled in a smarter, less expensive and less piecemeal fashion.
December 18,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog and Readers
Editors note this article was complied with both staff and reader input
Ridgewood NJ, well Paul, how is this working out for you? Can you say BACKFIRE? You have FECES all over your face with this pitiful attempt to discredit the upstanding Councilwoman. I would suggest that you go to hell, but hell is too good for you.
Yet again our Council majority reaches new depths of hypocrisy. For any of them to talk about conflicts of interest is just laughable. They continue to hold others to standards that they have not come close to reaching themselves.
This story in the Ridgewood News attacking Susan Kundsan is pathetic. Another shining example of pathetic vindictiveness.
Just remember posters Paul Aronsohn could not do this or any thing without the help and votes from Big Al and The Valley Girl. So just remember next year when you vote all three must go. They are all Complicit in these acts. Don’t be fooled by the big words from Al or the cookies the Gwen bakes.
Aronsohn thinks he is playing with the big political boys by playing big-time political tricks, but he is the small-time type and also quite stupid. He forced his “reelection” as mayor by making Ms Hauck vote remotely from her family safari to impress dumb people such as Record reporters. He knows how to act sincere but he stares without listening and is probably the most pigheaded individual ever to sit on our dais. Once he decides something, he will move heaven and earth to make it happen. He is a classic opportunist without a single sincere bone in his carpetbagger’s body. His long series of efforts to defame sitting council members who refuse to kowtow to his every whim is an embarrassment to himself and his position and has tarnished the council for years. I would gladly throw him under a commuter train.
Unfair hit piece on Susan.From what I remember, the vote was to change the residency requirement for positions other than Police & Fire.
If the vote was to change the residency requirement for Police & Fire, then she may have a conflict.Do you wonder why people are hesitant to participate in local government? (https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-wrestles-over-whether-councilwoman-s-employee-residency-vote-was-a-conflict-of-interest-1.1474652)
However Aronsohn did attempt to delay former Mayor Keith Killion’s son from being appointed to the police department now his pulling the same nonsence with Susan Knudsen’s sons.
“Well first Paul Aronsohn had Chris Harris now he has Steve JANOSK from the Record He has the new reporter from the Ridgewood News and the Daily Voice is doing a pretty good job of keeping his smiling face and the parking garage on the front page these last couple of week.
DECEMBER 17, 2015 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2015, 1:44 PM
BY BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
As the winter solstice approaches, village trees are now nearly barren and another leaf collection season will draw to a conclusion.
The village is winding down its annual No Leaf Left Behind initiative in which leaves are collected from in front of residences by workers raking them into a pile and hauling them away.
It had been a particularly heavy leaf season during the past couple of months with 31,544 cubic yards of leaves already collected through Dec. 1. At that time last year, only 20,567 cubic yards had been collected, an increase of approximately 50 percent. The final round of leaf collection has begun with the final week occurring in Area D on Dec. 18 through Dec. 23.
Ridgewood has been described as a “very leafy town” with an annual collection of 32,000 to 35,000 yards of leaves on 95 miles of road.
This year’s biggest challenge was the amount of leaves that fell after a particularly heavy rainstorm in mid-November. Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld said it caused a shift in the schedule.
“I remember walking out of my house and thinking ‘I can’t believe all of the leaves that are out here,'” said Sonenfeld.
In an e-notice sent out to residents, Sonenfeld did note the unusually heavy fall of leaves early in the season. A significant amount of leaves fell in that two- to three-day period after the storm causing some delays, but also made for an easier time of collecting leaves toward the end of the season.
You get the Government you vote for. So all you posters that voted for the 3 Amigos and now posting negative about them let me remind you what your vote did and how it screwed the rest of us. Yes Westside hows your leaf pick up coming along and the high density housing ?Yes Preserve Graydon Group hows the new ramp looking? Yes Shedler hows the house coming along and enjoy the 90X60 baseball field. We are all looking forward to the 5 story parking garage and increase in parking rates and hours. Let not forget the 0% tax increase for two years. Money taken from the emergency fund and the down grade of municipal services . Thank for that. Oh and I almost forgot. Thanks for the increase in the debt service which we will be paying for long after you 3 are gone.
CANCELLED: DECEMBER 22, 2015 and December 29, 2015
In accordance with the provisions of the “Open Public Meetings Act,” please be advised that the BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT public meetings for TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2015 and TUESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2015, in the VILLAGE HALL COURT ROOM, 4th Floor, 131 NORTH MAPLE AVENUE, RIDGEWOOD, NJ beginning at 7:30 p.m. have been cancelled.
The next regular meeting will be held on January 12, 2016 at 7:30 p.m. in the Village Hall Courtroom, 4th Floor, 131 North Maple Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ.
All meetings of the Ridgewood Board of Adjustment (i.e., official public meetings, work session meetings, pre-meeting assemblies and special meetings) are public meetings which are always open to members of the general public
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood, New Jersey’s premiere authentic Neapolitan trattoria A Mano, has proudly introduced a pizza program to benefit local charities. In the “Pizza in Sospeso” (so-SPEY-zo) initiative, customers can purchase a full size Margherita pizza at half price for $6, to be donated to help feed the less fortunate. Each time twenty five pizzas are purchased, A Mano will deliver the Pizzas in Sospeso to a diferent regional charity.
The pizza-giving drive was inspired by a long-standing tradition of cofee donating in the cafes of Naples, Italy. A café sospeso, Italian for “suspended cofee”, is a cup of cofee paid for in advance as an anonymous act of charity. A patron who experienced good luck would order a sospeso, paying for two cofees but only consuming one. A needy person would then be served a complimentary café sospeso.Said head Pizzaiolo Michele D’Amelio, “At A Mano we are all about the traditions of Naples. Bringing the idea of sospeso to pizza is a great way to give back to the community and help the needy. No one should have to worry about where their next meal is going to come from. We’re trying to do our part to lessen that pressure and bring smiles to people’s faces during the holiday season.”
The pizza-providing program which debuted on December 9th, has already surpassed A Mano’s expectations. Added D’Amelio, “In one day our customers purchased the first twenty-five pizzas.
We keep a tally on a board in the restaurant so everyone can see how many pizzas need to be bought to reach the next goal of twenty-five. It’s exciting and a such a gratifying feeling to know we can help care for people in need.”
The initial group of charitable pizza recipients include: Youth Consultation Service in Hackensack, Eva’s Village in Paterson, Center for Food Action in Mahwah and Family Promise of Bergen County.
The drive is slated to run though the first week of the new year, however, if the program’s success continues, the end date will be extended indefinitely.
A Mano is located at 24 Franklin Avenue (at Chestnut Street), Ridgewood, NJ. Hours of operation are: Monday through Thursday, 11:30AM–10:00PM, Friday and Saturday 11:30AM-11:00PM and Sunday
Ridgewood NJ, The folks who live on the other side of town really need your help. Please watch this video and see what I learned from going over there.
Let’s do what neighbors do: stand up for one another in times of crisis. In this case, it means:
a) sharing this video
b) joining the Friends of Schedler FB grouphttps://www.facebook.com/groups/185935935083937/
c) writing to our Village Council
Charlie Nowinski at Ridgewood Village Hall – December 9, 2015
After watching this video, if you agree that having our tax money spent on converting the Schedler property to a baseball field is a dumb idea, please let our Village Council know by email:
DECEMBER 16, 2015, 5:43 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2015, 6:49 PM
BY STEVE JANOSKI
STAFF WRITER |
RIDGEWOOD — A question about whether a village councilwoman with sons on a police-hiring waiting list should vote on police matters has left village officials wrestling with a gray area of state law regarding conflicts of interest by municipal officials.
The issue first arose after a 2014 Village Council review of its residency requirement ordinance related to hiring municipal employees. The council voted to broaden residency requirements for civilian hires, but maintain hometown residency for public safety titles, specifically, police and firefighters.
Councilwoman Susan Knudsen has three sons ranked highly on the waiting list of Police Department candidates. In the August 2014 council action, the vote by Knudsen and her colleagues maintained hometown residency requirements for public safety officers — without Knudsen telling the rest of the council or the public about her sons, all village residents.
And that has raised concerns that she may have voted despite a personal conflict of interest, said Mayor Paul Aronsohn. Aronsohn said the Village Council and administration learned about Knudsen’s sons only when she told them in a February closed-session meeting. But the public, he said, “had a right to know the details of the situation” before the vote. “None of us were made aware that any such conflict may have existed,” he said in an email.
State law is clear on conflicts of interest: No government officer or employee, it says, “shall act in his official capacity in any matter where he, a member of his immediate family, or a business organization in which he has an interest, has a direct or indirect financial or personal involvement that might reasonably be expected to impair his objectivity or independence of judgment.”
