Category: village of ridgewood

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Become the Driver of Your Destiny at the Ridgewood YWCA

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Become the Driver of Your Destiny at YWCA September Women’s Empowerment Network

YWCA Bergen County is holding its September Women’s Empowerment Network (WEN) event, “Become the Driver of Your Destiny” presented by Lois Kramer-Perez on Wednesday, September 30, 2015 from 8:30 to 10:00 am at 112 Oak Street, Ridgewood.

Are you tired of struggling with relationships? Tired of feeling guilty about being happy? Wondering why you dim your light to let others shine? Learn the simple tools to clear your path, release the guilt, and create a freedom roadmap to your life and the relationships you love. You will learn which relationship in your life has the most influence, the surprising truth about letting go, the #1 way to stop guilt in its tracks forever, 3 crucial key words that will stop sending you into sabotage over and over, and how to discover what YOU truly want for yourself.

Lois Kramer-Perez, CHt puts her 10+ years of energy clearing to work for realtors, divorcees, business owners, and moms, breaking through their lives and putting them in the driver’s seat of their relationships and spaces. Lois is the creator of popular programs such as “Clearing Meditation Circle” and the “Feng Shui Jumpstart.” She is a board member of International Feng Shui Guild, and has been invited to speak for numberous organizations and companies. Lois is a faculty member at Emerson and Ridgewood Community Schools, and is a contributor to Natural Awakenings, Inner Realm and BC the Magazine. She is also Pazoo.com’s Feng Shui Expert.

Get the personal and professional growth you seek with exclusive opportunities for WEN Membership. Annual WEN Memberships are available at $100 for Professionals and $75 for Military or Students (with valid ID). Memberships include one-year basic YWCA membership, members-only discount for all WEN Intensive workshops, and a tax deductible donation ($50/$25) toward vital YWCA programming. WENPlus Memberships are also available at $250 annually and include a one-year basic YWCA membership, exclusive early bird registration and members-only discount for all WEN Intensive workshops, one non-member guest pass for the monthly program series, and discounts for other YWCA programs for women. A $200 tax-deductible donation toward YWCA is also included. Per event rates for monthly WEN programs include $25 for non-members, $10 for WEN members, and no charge for WENPlus members.

To become a WEN member, please visit https://www.ywcabergencounty.org/upcomingevents/womens-empowerment-network/ or for more information, please contact Samantha at 201-345-1895 [email protected]. To register for September’s WEN event, please visit https://ywca-sept-wen15.eventbrite.com.

Wednesday, September 30th
8:30 am to 10:00 am

YWCA Bergen County
112 Oak Street, Ridgewood, NJ

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Reader asks What year or decade will the Ridgewood Water system ever be upgraded or improved so the water quality doesn’t effect us adversely?

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Yes same story every year only this is the worst. Other water companies didn’t start any restrictions til September. I’m shocked there aren’t more Posts from others and towns it services
Got my latest water bill a joke to spend the money all season then to be forced to have it die due to this restriction.
Just had spine surgery so virtually impossible for me to be out there with a hand held hose due to this.

What year or decade will this system ever be upgraded or improved so the water quality doesn’t effect us adversely?

Let’s get changes made instead of excuses for 30 years.

Dont fix an essential service – like water supply
Do build an albatros of a parking garage
Do build another turf field.

As long as we have our priorities straight…

 

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Readers Look to Name for Village parking garage

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We’ll have a nonbinding, ignored referendum on the garage at Hudson and Broad…but perhaps unwittingly demonstrating just how real that building already feels to those in power, the Village Manager announced at Wednesday’s council meeting that they are soliciting suggested NAMES for it. Once you name a thing, they know, it becomes real.

How about Armagarageddon?

Other ideas?

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Schedler Field Ridgewood , Everything you need to know but were afraid to ask

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Schedler Park and House Grant Timeline

Click Here for the Schedler Park and House Grant Timeline – as reported by the Village Manager at the September 16, 2015 Village Council Public Meeting.

Application to Bergen County Open Space Trust Fund – 2015 Municipal Program

At the September 9, 2015 Village Council there was discussion about the grant application submitted to Bergen County Open Space Trust Fund for the Schedler Park Property – Phase 1.

Click Here Application

 

Schedler Property Resolutions – August 12 Village Council Public Meeting

Wednesday, August 12th the Village Council discussed the use of the Schedler property. They voted on the following resolutions:

Click Here for Schedler Property Resolution including House

Click Here for Resolution to apply fpr Schedler House Grant

Click Here for Conceptual Map of the park project. The existing structure (460 W. Saddle River Road) is identified by standard architecture/engineering markings. The electrical wire to the house is included. The garage is not identified on this drawing.

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Village of Ridgewood Annual Ridgewood Street Fair

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Annual Ridgewood Street Fair

Noon to 5pm – E. Ridgewood Avenue – No Fee

ANNUAL STREET FAIR, Sunday, September 20th Ridgewood Parks and Recreation will again sponsor this seasonal outdoor market on Sunday, September 20th, 12 noon to 5 pm, on East Ridgewood Avenue (rain or shine). There is no fee to attend. Vendor wares will include arts and crafts, jewelry, holiday ornaments, novelties of many sorts, home goods, and clothing and accessories. Children’s events will include pony rides, sand art, a petting zoo, inflatables and more. The food court offers a wide variety of refreshments.

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Ridgewood Water Stage 4 water restrictions are still in effect

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Stage 4 water restrictions are still in effect.
September 19,2015

Dear Ridgewood Water customers,
Your cooperation with Stage 4 restrictions has started to ease the stress that the water system experienced during this unusually dry summer. Weather forecasts predict that dry conditions will continue, so Stage 4 restrictions will remain in effect until further notice.
No irrigation of any kind is allowed on Mondays, Thursdays, or Fridays.
Irrigation using only a hand-held hose with a spray nozzle is permitted for odd numbered addresses only on Tuesdays and Saturdays and for even numbered addresses only on Wednesdays and Sundays.
Waivers for special circumstances such as irrigating newly planted lawns and shrubs, cleaning cars or houses, and filling swimming pools will be considered on a case-by-case basis. For more information on waivers please call Ridgewood Water at 201-670-5520 or email Customer Service at [email protected].
You can always find the current status of restrictions at our website,water.ridgewoodnj.net. Your patience is greatly appreciated

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Ridgewood mother, son team become autism heroes

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SEPTEMBER 18, 2015    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Children doodle; it’s a known fact.

Some pieces are individual works of art, while others are simply innocent mishmashes of various shapes and lines.

But Melissa O’Sullivan saw things unmistakably two years ago when she came across drawings of penciled space men and oddly-shaped beings. In her son’s drawings, the Ridgewood mother of three not only saw pure art, but she also saw signs of enriched expression from a child with an impaired ability to communicate.

“We were just amazed,” O’Sullivan told The Ridgewood News last week, as she shared one of several spiral-bound notebooks full of her son Jake Soper’s sketches and doodles.

Jake, 13, is a freshman enrolled in the Ridgewood Intensive Special Education (RISE) program and has high-functioning autism. Though he has difficulty articulating his thoughts, he speaks clearly and honestly.

He also has mastery over pen and paper, and that’s a skill O’Sullivan and her family have recognized.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/mother-son-emerge-as-autism-heroes-1.1412647

Autistic Hero Teeshirts is a T-shirt brand featuring infant/toddler/youth/adult clothing based on Autistic cartoonist Jake Soper’s drawings.

https://www.facebook.com/Autistichero

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Schedler plan is same as 2008 proposal

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SEPTEMBER 18, 2015    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2015, 12:31 AM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Print

Schedler plan is same as 2008 proposal

To the Editor:

As the community continues to debate the development of the Schedler property, it is important to recall the discussions that led to the village’s acquisition of the property.

In September 2008, former Councilman Pat Mancuso convened an ad hoc “Schedler Committee” of interested citizens, including residents of the adjacent West Saddle River Road neighborhood, which met on a weekly basis to discuss the urgency of preserving the property as open recreational space, potential sources of funding and the conceptual plan for the development of the property.

I was asked to present the Schedler Committee’s recommendations to the Village Council at the Council’s Oct. 22, 2008 meeting. In addition to recommending that the Village purchase the property as promptly as possible, I made the following statement:

“Although the members of the Schedler Committee believe that the primary objective at this time is the preservation of the property as open space, they have also discussed in detail and approved the conceptual plan for the improvement of the property that includes a baseball diamond, an overlay multi-purpose field, an ADA-compliant walking trail, a wooded area and a parking lot, and the potential sources of funding for those improvements. . . . Significantly, the representatives of the West Saddle River Road neighborhood association on the Schedler Committee have assured us that the neighbors support the conceptual plan, including the eventual installation of permanent lighting for the athletic fields, and will not ‘disappear down a manhole cover’ . . . as soon as the property is acquired.”

The conceptual plan discussed and approved by the Schedler Committee was substantially the same plan recently endorsed by the Village Council.

It is also worth noting that the intention at the time was to raze the Schedler house. In fact, as part of its grant application presentation, the village told the advisory committee of the Bergen County Open Space Trust Fund that the village intended to tear the house down, and the committee’s only request was that the house be documented (i.e., photographed) before demolition.

Given this history, complaints of “east side” unfairness seem like a smokescreen to impede progress.

The plan for the development of the Schedler property has remained consistent since 2008. I believe it is in the best interests of the village to realize that plan now.

It is also in the interest of the Schedler neighborhood. In 2008, the neighbors’ primary concern was to save the property from high density residential or commercial development. Instead of that, the neighborhood will have a beautiful park with a playing field surrounded by trees and a walking path.

Ralph Currey

Ridgewood

The writer is the Chair of the Village of Ridgewood’s Open Space Committee.

https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-letters-to-the-editor/letter-to-the-editor-schedler-plan-is-same-as-2008-proposal-1.1412703

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IRS Scammers Caught !

IRS Scam

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.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/n-j-pair-accused-of-bilking-more-than-150k-from-at-least-70-people-in-32-state-irs-scheme-1.1410485

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Ridgewood Patrol Officer Assists Stuck RV on West Glen Ave

ridgewood police stuck RV
photo courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook
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.
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Ridgewood American Legion honored for its service

bob paoli post 53 american leagion

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.”

https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/clubs-and-service-organizations/legion-honored-for-its-service-1.1412701

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Ridgewood selects firm to design downtown parking garage

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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.”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/council-picks-firm-to-design-garage-1.1412253

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Village Officials cannot disregard laws

Village Council

file photo by Boyd Loving

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.

Anne LaGrange Loving

Ridgewood

 

https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-letters-to-the-editor/letter-to-the-editor-elected-appointed-officials-must-follow-village-code-1.1412560

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Ridgewood proposal would allow higher pay rate

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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.'”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/proposal-would-allow-higher-pay-rate-1.141261

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American Native a Documentary that Explores Struggle of New Jersey’s Ramapough at TribeClearview Warner Quad Theater in Ridgewood

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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.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/09/nyregion/documentary-explores-struggle-of-new-jerseys-ramapough-tribe.html?_r=0

 

THU, SEPTEMBER 17, 2015
AT 07:30 PM Warner Quad
Ridgewood, NJ

https://gathr.us/screening/reserve/12798