Concerned Residents of Ridgewood begins to introduce testimony in Valley expansion hearing
Monday August 26, 2013, 2:27 PM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News
The Valley Hospital raised several objections to documents that the Concerned Residents of Ridgewood (CRR) organization intends to use during its presentation to the Planning Board.
At a hearing last Tuesday night, attorney Jonathan Drill contended that CRR’s use of the hospital’s lawsuit and accompanying arguments to stop the reopening of the former Pascack Valley Hospital by Hackensack University Medical Center and an investment group is irrelevant to Valley’s current application.
Drill also claimed that the grassroots group’s retention of new legal counsel so late in the process was a “strategic decision” by CRR’s leaders, and he took exception to the organization’s submission of a recommended version of a master plan amendment.
Shame on Valley for trying to silence Ridgewood residents.
Thank God for CCR since the elected officials are doing nothing to protect the residents.
Anyone in town who has not made a donation to the legal fund of Concerned Residents of Ridgewood, the ONLY group in town advocating for ALL residents’ rights, or in fact anyone who has done so but not recently, please send one immediately, whether $50, $500, or $5,000.
http://www.stopvalley.com
This means you and your neighbors! Please do not assume that other people will handle it all. And guess what? Many or most residents who can write a check for thousands of dollars without thinking twice are more interested in their social life through Valley than in recognizing the significance of this decision to the future of the Village. (To rich people who do “get it,” apologies.)
The families living near the hospital must not be allowed to shoulder the financial burden alone. Spending 10 million hours on research etc. over 7 years is more than enough of a “donation.”
While you’re on the stopvalley.com site, after sending some money, keep reading. You’ll learn a lot. It is not too late to make a difference yet, but it will be soon!
The statement by Pete McKenna relevant to what the PB should be reviewing is 100 per cent correct. The more information they have the better. They just had to sit through a bunch of testimony by Valley”experts” that was, more often than not, more opinion than fact.
Won’t it be refreshing to have the process reversed ? No wonder Mr. Drill complained, his client can only look far worse than it already has.
The question does need to be asked: why didn’t Valley buy Pascack Valley when it had the chance? It would have been the answer to so many problems without dividing our town. It is tragic that Valley passed on the opportunity.
Valley’s attorney has been trying to dictate who can speak , what they can say and when they can say it since the latest round of hearings began and has been successful more times than not.
Let’s hope that residents understand how critical a time this is. If the Planning Board allows Valley to have its way, a rubber stamp awaits with Councilwoman (and former Valley VP) Hauck for the next step. She has no intention of recusing herself and it looks as though Councilman (and former Valley attorney) Pucciarelli may “unrecuse” himself to see that the dump trucks roll as quickly as possible.
Let’s hope that the CRR caught a break when the late August meeting was postponed until September 30 when more people are in town. Plan to show up at that meeting and be heard.
It would be all too easy for the Planning Board to attempt to justify a “yes” vote by saying that residents were indifferent or pro expansion. The more people who show up and state otherwise, the better.
The attendance at the last meeting said a lot. Hopefully, an even bigger turnout at the next meeting will say even more !