village of ridgewood - Page 877 of 888

Posted on March 15, 2015June 27, 2021 by James — 13 Comments

Taxpayers on hook to fund portion of signs for CBD businesses

all photos by Boyd Loving

Taxpayers on hook to fund portion of signs for CBD businesses
March 14,2015
Boyd Loving

Ridgewood NJ, As a result of Village Council approval of Resolution 15-90, Village taxpayers are now on the hook to pay a portion of the expenses associated with installing new “Wayfinding” signs in the Village’s Central Business District (CBD). The “Wayfinding signs are intended to direct pedestrians to businesses located on side streets off of East Ridgewood Avenue in the CBD.

Estimated construction expenses to be paid by taxpayers for additional poles to hold the signs are between $6K – $9K.

Village of Ridgewood employees will also be responsible for the installation of each new sign. Taxpayers will be reimbursed $25 per installed sign by the Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce (including reimbursement for previously installed signs). The Chamber collects an annual “maintenance fee” from each sign owner, as well as a fee for the signs themselves. 36 signs have been sold to date, this according to the Chamber’s president, Paul Vagianos.

No explanation was offered to the public as to why taxpayers needed to provide funding if installation and annual maintenance fees are being collected by the Chamber. Nor was any explanation offered as to why a private contractor could not be hired to install the signs (as is done in Montclair).

Additionally, no review of the sign project was undertaken by the Historic Preservation Commission nor the Planning Board, and questions regarding ownership of the signs as it pertains to liability insurance coverage in the event of an injury caused by a sign defect were left unanswered (during the Council meeting at which the resolution was passed).

Here’s the full text of Resolution 15-90:

Res. No. 15-90

RESOLUTION NO. 15-90

WHEREAS, the Village of Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce continues to strive to enhance the public’s knowledge of the various stores on the side streets in the Central Business District by means of the installation of”wayfinding” signs at various intersections; and

WHEREAS, each proposed wayfinding sign, identifing the various businesses, would be a plaque no larger than approximately 6 to 8 inches tall and no more than 24 inches in length affixed to a pole at the approved intersection locations, with no more than 8 plaques per designated pole or no more than 4 plaques per PSE&G decorative streetlight pole location, while maintaining a vertical clearance of 84 inches from the sidewalk; and

WHEREAS, the Chamber is seeking approval for additional locations for designated poles for wayfinding signs, in accordance with the location sketch presented to the Village Council.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Village Council of the Village of Ridgewood that it approves the installation of wayfinding signs at the various locations along East Ridgewood Avenue, in the Central Business District, to direct patrons to the various businesses on the listed side streets; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Village Council agrees to install the concrete bases for the new designated poles for no more than 4 locations, have the Village Traffic and Signal Division install the designated poles on the new bases for no more than 4 locations; have the Traffic and Signal Division install new sign plates for a $25.00 per plaque fee paid by the Chamber of Commerce; have the Traffic and Signal Division perform an annual sign plaque maintenance which would remove any invalid sign plaques for a $25.00 per plaque fee to be paid for by the Chamber of Commerce; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce agrees that they will purchase the designated poles in the color black, without a globe, matching the existing PSE&G decorative streetlight poles for the wayfinding signs; agrees to have installed no more than 8 sign plaques on designated poles, and no more than 4 sign plaques on PSE&G decorative streetlight poles; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the Village Council of the Village of Ridgewood agrees to authorize the Village Manager to approve any subsequent locations for wayfinding signs in the Central Business District, upon review and approval by the Village’s Engineering Division and Public Safety Departments.

Posted on March 13, 2015June 27, 2021 by James — 14 Comments

Reader says legally-imposed hiring preference for qualified local residents was NEVER ON THE AGENDA.

Ridgewood_-Village_Hall_theridgewoodblog

Reader says legally-imposed hiring preference for qualified local residents was NEVER ON THE AGENDA.

Unfortunately for you, you’ve just highlighted perhaps the best reason why Councilwoman Knudsen need never have concerned herself with any potential conflict-of-interest: Potentially eliminating the RPD’s and the RFD’s legally-imposed hiring preference for qualified local residents was NEVER ON THE AGENDA.

Other items relating to village hiring practices for other municipal jobs may have been up for discussion, but never the local hiring practices relating to police or firemen. (And certainly nothing on the agenda necessitated closing the session.)

This is also why it is so clearly a red herring for anyone to bring up her relationship to the test-takers. They are not even candidates for any of the positions or categories of positions being looked at by the VC for potential changes in the law relating to hiring practices!

What do we care about what relationship the test-takers have or don’t have with Councilwoman Knudsen? What’s the relevance?

Posted on March 13, 2015June 27, 2021 by James — 5 Comments

Reader says Nobody cares whether RPD or RFD test-takers have any relationship with a current member of the Village Council or not.

Reader says Nobody cares whether RPD or RFD test-takers have any relationship with a current member of the Village Council or not.

Nobody cares whether RPD or RFD test-takers have any relationship with a current member of the Village Council or not. Yet you won’t stop talking about it. It has no relevance to the topic at hand. Your continued harping on it seems to show that you are trying to sow general confusion or to deflect attention from the topic immediately at hand (namely: non-police and non-firefighter municipal hiring practices in Ridgewood). Is this not the textbook definition of a red herring? If so, can we please be forgiven for ignoring it?

A municipality that flouts or ignores the law in question for 25 years MUST BE consistently failing deliberately to give priority to qualified candidates who actually live within its borders. Thus, its hiring practices are literally out of control and must be amended immediately.

Most qualified potential candidates who are also local residents are likely to be unaware of the law operating in their favor because the management of the municipality has itself forgotten about its requirements. That’s a heck of a lot of ignorance, institutional and otherwise. The likelihood of such collective ignorance and lack of management control producing many, many violations of the law in question over a twenty-five year period is objectively high.

More particularly, the municipality in question will be extremely lucky if one or more such violations did not occur within the one, two, three, six-year period (whatever it happens to be) specified by the statute of limitations (i.e., the recent past) such that the hiring decision(s) is either currently subject to being ‘undone’ as a result of a well-pled lawsuit, or will be held to have triggered liability for money damages awardable to the plaintiff behind the suit.

You are asking someone to simply name for you any and all Ridgewood residents in the past twenty-five years who were qualified and applied for a position with the village and were improperly turned down in favor of respective out-of-town applicants.

With all due respect, and at least in this forum, this is a preposterous demand. If you are curious about the potential scope of the village’s liability for current and past violations of the hiring practices law in question, you should conduct your own investigation. Pounding your fists at the insufficiency of a collection of comments on a local blog accomplishes nothing and, frankly, makes you look like a fish out of water (or worse).

OTOH, Nobody here ultimately wishes anyone ill. The issues and good governance are what count, and your time was not wasted if you would just try to broaden your perspective to include more than just the political, or the tactical.

Posted on March 12, 2015July 10, 2016 by James — 2 Comments

Ridgewood settles resident’s sewage ‘blowback’ case for almost $22,000

Ridgewood settles resident’s sewage ‘blowback’ case for almost $22,000

MARCH 11, 2015, 9:59 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2015, 10:04 PM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

RIDGEWOOD NJ— The village has agreed to pay $21,920 to settle a resident’s claim for repairs to her finished basement that flooded when the municipality cleared its sewer lines last September.

The settlement was approved Wednesday night by Mayor and Council.

Resident Jill Feeney said she reached out to village officials soon after discovering the carpet in her basement was soggy and stank.

“It literally smelled like the men’s room at Penn Station on a hot day,” Feeney said Wednesday, noting one foot of sewage-contaminated water was forced up through the drain in her basement’s sink by the village’s work.

As village crews worked to unclog a sewer line next to her Stevens Avenue home in September, Feeney said a pocket of pressurized air formed within a nearby sewer line — the pipe leading to her basement’s sink. The air escaped through the sink, and the contaminated water followed, tainting everything it touched.

Plumbers refer to this rare phenomenon as “blowback.”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-settles-resident-s-sewage-blowback-case-for-almost-22-000-1.1286808

Posted on March 12, 2015June 27, 2021 by James — 1 Comment

Village of Ridgewood Police Promotions

photos by Boyd Loving

Village of Ridgewood Police Promotions

March , 11, 2015
Boyd A. LovingVILLAGE OF RIDGEWOOD

VILLAGE COUNCIL

REGULAR PUBLIC MEETING

MARCH 11, 2015 8:00 P.M.

8. Swearing-in of Police Sergeant Kyle Finch9. Swearing-in of Police Sergeant Michael Lembo

10. Swearing-in of Police Lieutenant Heath James

11. Swearing-in of Police Captain Forest Lyons

Posted on March 12, 2015March 12, 2015 by James — 3 Comments

N.J. has no policy on officials’ use of personal emails nearly a year after call for a ban

file photo by Boyd Loving

N.J. has no policy on officials’ use of personal emails nearly a year after call for a ban

MARCH 11, 2015, 11:32 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2015, 11:45 PM
BY MELISSA HAYES
STATE HO– USE BUREAU |
THE RECORD

Nearly a year before revelations that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used her personal email account for official business, the Christie administration was chastised because members of its own staff communicated through private emails. And that criticism came not from Governor Christie’s political foes, but from lawyers hired by his team to investigate the burgeoning George Washington Bridge lane-closing scandal.

The lawyers called for the administration to impose an immediate ban on the practice. After all, the most notorious email to emerge from the GWB scandal — the “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee” message that a deputy chief of staff sent to a Port Authority official — was written on her private email account.

Yet just shy of 12 months after the lawyers’ recommendation, which was contained in the so-called Mastro report on the lane closings, the state has yet to change its written policies on the use of such email accounts. In fact, the current policy on “electronic mail/messages” is silent when it comes to public workers doing state business on private email.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/n-j-has-no-policy-on-officials-use-of-personal-emails-nearly-a-year-after-call-for-a-ban-1.1286854

Posted on March 12, 2015March 11, 2015 by James — 34 Comments

Ridgewood under fire for closed session

file photo by Boyd Loving

Ridgewood under fire for closed session

MARCH 11, 2015, 11:59 AM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2015, 12:10 PM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

RIDGEWOOD – A councilwoman with three sons in line for village police jobs claims several officials broke the law last month by meeting behind closed doors to discuss changes to Ridgewood’s residency requirement.

“This belonged in open session,” Councilwoman Susan Knudsen insisted at a recent council meeting, noting no specific village employee’s position was discussed during the closed-door meeting, but rather a policy relating to Ridgewood’s hiring practices.

“We did not follow the law,” Knudsen said. “That’s not an allegation, it’s a fact.”

But Village Attorney Matthew Rogers maintains officials acted appropriately, saying “the topic under discussion” by the council that evening “fit into the exceptions” outlined in the Open Public Meetings Act.

The village’s labor attorney also concluded the council did not violate the law.

“Generally, at the time the decision was made, it is my understanding there was reason to believe such discussions could impact upon the terms and conditions of employment of specific prospective employees or employee groups,” said Beth Hinsdale-Piller.

Knudsen opposes any change to the requirement.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-under-fire-for-closed-session-1.1286592

Posted on March 11, 2015June 27, 2021 by James — 11 Comments

Readers voice concern over weakening of residency requirements

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Readers voice concern over weakening of residency requirements

I think they are looking to hire more Hudson county partisan people to work in Ridgewood by ditching the residency rules.

The previous Village Manager is referred to as a “carpet bagger,” but yet this VC plans to do away with the residency requirement for all employees except police & fire? Do as we say and not as we do.

While other readers insist , ” We should be hiring for police & fire from the surrounding communities Paramus, Glen Rock, Midland Park, Waldwick and Ho-Ho-Kus, as well as Ridgewood. This would give the Village access to a wider pool of applicants and might stop us from hiring a majority of legacy candidates.”

The Mayor wrote in a PolitickerNJ Editorial on 03/04/11 , “my Party has largely stood on the sidelines as union workers were vilified and scapegoated. Silent and passive, many Democrats did nothing as others attacked the very people at the center of our Party. No defense. No counteroffensive. No nothing. During the past year’s great debate over worker’s rights and responsibilities, the Democrats – by and large – refused to show up.”

The Mayor received massive campaign contributions from unions :

Paul Aronsohn (D)Political Action Committee Total ContributedTeamsters Union $10,000.00
Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers $10,000.00
United Auto Workers $6,500.00
Carpenters & Joiners Union $5,000.00
American Fedn of St/Cnty/Munic Employees $5,000.00
National Air Traffic Controllers Assn $5,000.00
Sheet Metal Workers Union $5,000.00
Laborers Union $3,500.00
AFL-CIO $2,661.00
American Federation of Teachers $2,500.00
Operating Engineers Local 825 $2,500.00
Plumbers/Pipefitters Union Local 475 $1,000.00
Service Employees International Union $1,000.00
Plumbers/Pipefitters Union Local 274 $1,000.00
Plumbers/Pipefitters Union Local 9 $500.00

Operating Engineers Local 542 $250.00

Posted on March 6, 2015March 6, 2015 by James — 7 Comments

Ridgewood begins municipal budget discussions

file photo Boyd Loving

Ridgewood begins municipal budget discussions

March 5, 2015 Last updated: Thursday, March 5, 2015, 3:01 PM
By Mark Krulish
Staff Writer |
The Ridgewood News

Ridgewood officials gathered at Village Hall last Saturday morning for a discussion between department heads and the governing body about some details of the municipal budget, including the needs of various departments and anticipated spending.

The seven-hour roundtable meeting was a departure in style from previous years and talks centered on the Department of Public Works, the Building Department, Health Department, Parks and Recreation, Fire Department, Police Department, Engineering and Human Resources, along with a closing discussion on the capital budgets.

Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld said one of the goals for the meeting was to present the best numbers possible, but there would not be any indication of the final figures or tax impact to residents until closer to budget introduction.

Sonenfeld noted that some increases in spending were attributed to the need for repairs to an aging infrastructure and upgrading the village’s technology.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/ridgewood-begins-municipal-budget-discussions-1.1283442

Posted on March 4, 2015June 27, 2021 by James — 7 Comments

Village Council Special Public Meeting Tonight

file photo Boyd Loving

Village Council Special Public Meeting Tonight

03/04/15 7:30PM Village Council Special Public Meeting

1. Call to Order – Mayor

2. Statement of Compliance with the Open Public Meeting Act

MAYOR: “Adequate notice of this meeting has been provided

by a posting on the bulletin board in Village Hall,

by mail to the Ridgewood News, The Record, and by submission to all persons entitled to same as provided by law of a schedule including the date and time of this meeting.”

3. Roll Call

4. INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCES

a. 3466 – Amend Chapter 265 – Vehicles and Traffic – Parking Meters, Time Limit Parking, One-day Resident Commuter ParkingPass and Additional Misc. Amendments for Cottage Place Parking Lot – Establishes all 3-hour parking meters in the Cottage Place parking lot as 8-hour parking meters; allows for use of cellular communication devices to pay for the parking meters in Cottage Place; establishes a one-day Ridgewood resident commuter parking permit; and other minor amendments, as required

b. 3467 – Amend Chapter 145 – Fees – Parking Meter Fees for Cottage Place Parking Lot and Fee for One-day Resident Commuter Parking Permit – Establishes a parking meter fee in the Cottage Place parking lot at 75 cents/hour and the fee for a one-day Ridgewood resident commuter parking permit at $7 for the day

5. Adjournment

Forum No. 5 – CBD Panel Discussions – March 18, 2015 at 7:30PM

Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli has scheduled another CBD Panel Discussion for March 18, 2015 from 7:30PM to 9PM. It will be held at Christ Episcopal. The two topics for discussion will be – CBD Parking and Blue Laws.

Village Council and Village Board Meetings

03/10/157:30PMBoard of Adjustment Public Meeting
03/11/158:00PMVillage Council Public Meeting
03/17/157:30PMPlanning Board Public Meeting
03/24/157:30PMBoard of Adjustment Work Session
03/25/157:30PMVillage Council Public Work Session
03/31/157:30PMBoard of Adjustment Public Meeting

MAYOR’S OFFICE HOURS FOR RESIDENTS -Saturday, March 7 from 9 AM to Noon

Mayor Paul Aronsohn holds office hours for Ridgewood residents the first Saturday of every month. Mayor Aronsohn will meet with residents on Saturday, March 7 from 9AM to Noon in the Council Chambers (Sydney V. Stoldt, Jr. Court Room) on the fourth floor of Ridgewood Village Hall.

For an appointment to meet with the Mayor, please call the Village Clerk’s Office at 201-670-5500 ext. 206. You may come to the Mayor’s office hours without an appointment, but those with appointments will be given priority.

Posted on February 26, 2015February 26, 2015 by James — 9 Comments

Five Ridgewood residents from same neighborhood serve in the military

Five Ridgewood residents from same neighborhood serve in the military

FEBRUARY 25, 2015 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2015, 6:25 PM
BY LAURA HERZOG
FOR THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

When Sam Combs, Pat Kiernan, Ryan Mansbach and Ben Rogers were small-yet-rough-and-tough neighbors growing up on South Irving Street and Arden Court, they played together a lot: riding scooters in the street, playing manhunt and street hockey, and doing bike jumps in the nearby woods.

It was a fun time, and a good time for bonding for four Ridgewood kids living on a dead end block, with each other’s houses in sight.

But years later, the four friends, plus Masbach’s older sister Melanie, have given up the kid stuff in favor of more strenuous activities – manning submarines, surveying the Pacific Ocean for mines, or piloting Army and Navy aircrafts.

Grown up and scattered around the country, the five neighbors now also have U.S. military service in common.

Melanie Mansbach, now 29, was the first on the block to express a military interest, attending West Point several years ago and becoming an officer. She was later deployed to Afghanistan.

The four neighborhood “boys” are now all either officers or soon-to-be officers in the U.S. Army or U.S. Navy.

Subtle neighborhood inspiration might have a little to do with this, but there was no consensus on that among the four young men, since they all took different paths into the military and had several influences. (Melanie, who is in training, was unavailable for an interview.)

https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/five-ridgewood-residents-from-same-neighborhood-serve-in-the-military-1.1277802

Posted on February 26, 2015February 25, 2015 by James — 12 Comments

Casting New TV Show Family Take Over, Ridgewood NJ

Casting New TV Show Family Take Over , Ridgewood NJ

Looking for families in Ridgewood,NJ that are struggling financially for new series. Fortune 500 CEO Victor Antonio will help families get back on track with a financial bootcamp.
Call Sarah Mahoney Furlong @ 323-822-7384. We are filming in March.

Posted on February 24, 2015June 27, 2021 by James — 9 Comments

Meet the Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld – Tuesday, February 24th 5:00pm to 7:30pm

Meet the Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld – Today Tuesday, February 24th 5:00pm to 7:30pm

Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld will hold office hours for Ridgewood residents and business owners on Tuesday, February 24th between the hours of 5:00pm to 7:30pm. This is an opportunity to share your thoughts and provide input to Roberta. These sessions will be scheduled at 15 minute intervals and will be held in the Council Chambers on the 4th Floor of Ridgewood Village Hall. Please contact Beth Spinato at 201-670-5500, ext. 203 to make an appointment. Walk-ins are welcome but should realize that the schedule may already be booked. We will announce the schedule for these meetings on a monthly basis.

Posted on February 22, 2015February 21, 2015 by James — Leave a comment

Christ Church 70th Annual Antiques Show & Sale

Christ Church 70th Annual Antiques Show & Sale

Fri, March 06, 2015 – Sat, March 07, 2015

Time: 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Location: Christ Church, 105 Cottage Place (Corner of Franklin Avenue), Ridgewood, NJ 07450

Event Description

Friday, March 6th/11am-8pm
Saturday, March 7th/10am-5pm

The 70th Annual Antiques Show & Sale features over 35 dealers from around the tri-state area; Christ Church Cafe offers gourmet food for lunch and dinner; Music performance by Bruce Hector, versatile jazz guitarist, on Friday evening. Free parking and shuttle service from Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 155 Linwood Ave., Ridgewood, NJ.

Posted on February 22, 2015February 21, 2015 by James — 2 Comments

Village of Ridgewood tackles decline in civility

Village of Ridgewood tackles decline in civility

Upcoming meeting will explore ways to raise the tone of public discourse

Why can’t we all just get along?

The rabbis have been asking that question for years, particularly in late summer, around the time of Tisha B’Av, when sermons inevitably wrap around the themes of baseless hatred and intolerance.

But our secular community — especially as political discourse turns ever more hostile and bullying pervades both our schools and our social media — has been asking that as well, and at least one town has decided to do something about it.

According to Ridgewood’s Mayor Paul Aronsohn, the town began its civility initiative last year. With a core group including Rabbi David Fine of the town’s Temple Israel and Jewish Community Center, Councilwoman Gwenn Hauck, the Rev. Jan Phillips of the Religious Society of Friends, and Mr. Aronsohn, the town already has held two roundtable discussions on the issue, seeking to identify the problem and locate the line between disagreement and incivility.

“It’s not only what you say, but how you say it,” Mr. Aronsohn said, noting that any discussion must include both content and attitude. “It’s good and fine to disagree, but we should be able to disagree without being disagreeable.”

https://jstandard.com/content/item/town_tackles_decline_in_civility/32564

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