>Field Lights : neighbors “felt bullied” by the BOE
Ridgewood school board grilled on lights Friday, October 22, 2010
BY KELLY EBBELS
The Ridgewood News
STAFF WRITER
https://www.northjersey.com/news/105505023_Board_grilled_on_lights.html
The Ridgewood Board of Education (BOE) was questioned Monday night by neighbors critical of what they said was an underhanded approach to installing lights at Ridgewood High School (RHS) fields, which began two weeks ago and should be fully connected shortly.
Two residents who live near the school spoke at length at the BOE meeting about what they called an inadequate public consultation process to install permanent flood lights at RHS Stadium Field and Stevens Field.
The award of the bid for the field lighting installation was made at a July 19 BOE meeting; the bid was originally listed as a point of discussion, but trustee Charles Reilly moved to approve the field lighting lease purchase financing to Musco Lighting and the installation to Quality Electric.
Accusing Superintendent Daniel Fishbein of misleading the public into thinking that field lights were only a narrow possibility, resident Jim Morgan, who lives near the field, said that the BOE “played down the lights issue” and sought to “silence opposition to the lights” during conversations about the installation of field turf at meetings for the Ridgewood school district’s bond referendum project.
“There was no attempt to contact neighbors until a Sept. 16 letter was sent to neighbors, after the decisions were made,” Morgan said. “We [neighbors] are very disappointed right now.”
Tom Kossoff, a resident of Heermance Place, said that he and other neighbors “felt bullied” by the BOE.
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