the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood resident Steve Kim has shared thoughtful suggestions to address the challenges of leaf pick-up in the Village. His proposed solution aims to tackle two key issues:
- Timing: Synchronizing when residents put leaves out with the actual pick-up schedule.
- Efficiency: Enhancing the pace and effectiveness of the leaf collection process.
The Problem: Leaves Left Too Long
Leaves left on streets for extended periods can create road safety hazards and lead to clogged drains, especially during heavy rain. Currently, Ridgewood operates with four large zones for leaf collection, covering 1.58 square miles per zone. This wide coverage often results in delays, leaving leaves on the streets longer than desired.
Proposed Solution: Smaller Zones for Faster Pick-Up
Kim suggests shifting from the current four-zone system to a ten-zone model based on Ridgewood’s voting districts. Here’s why this idea makes sense:
- Smaller Zones, Faster Turnaround: With ten zones, each would cover only 0.58 square miles, making the collection process more manageable and efficient.
- Familiarity: Many residents already know their voting zones, simplifying the transition to the new system.
- No Extra Cost: The change wouldn’t require additional funding. Residents could be educated about the new system through the Village app, email notifications, and the flyers/calendars already distributed each year.
Implementation Made Simple
Kim’s plan leverages existing resources, requiring only clear communication with residents about the new schedule. The Ridgewood Village app, along with email updates, can make the transition seamless while ensuring that everyone is on the same page.
A Safer, Cleaner Ridgewood
By adopting a more efficient leaf pick-up system, Ridgewood could enjoy cleaner streets, reduced safety hazards, and improved stormwater drainage. Steve Kim’s proposal offers a practical and cost-effective way to enhance this essential service for all residents.
What are your thoughts? Would smaller zones improve Ridgewood’s leaf collection? Share your feedback with the Village and help shape a cleaner, safer community!
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Trying for reputation rehabilitation.
Bring this suggestion to the town. The blog can’t implement anything.
nice to see the bigots up early
neither can you
Lets keep it simple
Continuous as needed pickup, just like plowing the snow.
Here we go again every few years someone’s looking to make a change, let the crew just keep on going don’t stop. Take advantage of the warm weather. Everything looks good on paper but when mother nature takes control all rules out the window. We’re in mid November we could’ve had snow already sleet nor Easter rain storms. This year the lease are about 2 to 3 weeks earlier because of the drought probably 90% of leases are down. The problem always occurs when there’s no overtime other towns work every weekend right from the beginning they have the money let’s stop the bullshit.
anything to make it better for village residents
Leaves are now sitting in the street for 10 days after the deadline.
Still there
What incompetence
How about we just have Steve Kim drive around and shovel all the leaves? That kills two birds with one stone: Fixes the leaf problem and keeps Steve busy.
“Leaf” it up to the residents. Everyone should mulch, put into paper bags or bring it to recycling including landscapers with a permit. Stop leaf collection and save tax dollars. Other towns in Bergen county have adopted this approach already. It’s good for the environment.
you must live in the lawns with no trees
In theory, this is the way to go. In practice, your neighbors are selfish, entitled, amateur little Caesars whose hands blister at the mere thought. So …
Is it possible to include long range forecasts to better predict when the colder weather will come before publishing a schedule? Some years it gets cold early. This year seems to be later…. Smaller zones may make it easier to manage the workload.
Just offer private landscapers a fee for bringing leaves to the facility. They are driving around with equipment anyway.
Oh, for Christ sakes lay off of Steve Kim. What a bunch of bigots. You’re either going after Steve or you’re going after Boyd Loving. Notice similarity here? Two of the smartest men in the room, but oh they’re skin’s not white.
being a DUMB BIGOT in Ridgewood has been legitimized by the current council
And the majority of US voters . . . It’s okay to hate now.
I though Kamala lost
so Hitleresqe hate is over
No idiots are idiots no matter their skin color. Pointing that out is ignorant. Thankfully their time is over…
On the contrary, our time is just beginning. You just wait and see.
I am prepared to name names here and begin posting videos on Facebook taken by my concealed body cam of things people say and do to me because of my skin color. Beware Ridgewood bigots; your biased behavior may be audio and video recorded at any time.
And screenshots of bigoted Facebook posts that the authors delete when they sober up. I’ve got plenty of those from Ridgewood Moms and Dads.
the problem is prior councils have cut back the number of employees in almost every department . less employees means it takes more time to get the leaves…..
Perhaps it’s time to use more sophisticated equipment.
Ridgewood Moms and Dads Facebook group is anther all bigot all the time
And they do not ever try to hide it!
Steve Kim for leaf catcher.
This town is very poorly managed. Did you guys see what they did around Hillcrest park area. They never picked up the leaves and then had a shovel truck come and dump the leaves back onto the residents own property after these same residents put them in the street according to the town schedule. The whole street. Cannot make this shit up. The powers that be who actually suck at management scheduled paving without picking up the leaves. We really need people that have basic skills. It’s not rocket science to prioritize the streets that need to be cleared for a future job like paving a street. Hard to believe this actually happened. Those poor residents. I hope the town cleans it all up for them.
The leaves fall every year, and every year we have complainers and armchair operations managers.
I enjoy the piles of leaves, sooner or later they will be gone.
Back in the 90’s when I was a kid, it was no tv on Sunday till my brothers and I did 2 hours of leaves by hand with a rake and a tarp. When it snowed, we’d wake up early and knock on doors and do sometimes 5-10 driveways. Do kids do this around here, or are those days long gone?
Cause it seems like the immigrants (legal or illegal) are doing 99% of the work round here. If each of y’all did the work yourself or hire someone to do it by hand, it would be better for the environment and a good hard days of work
sorry that your dad was too cheap to buy an efficient gas powered leaf blower. We don’t need rakes, dial phones, or 8 track tapes.
CORRECT!
We are entitled RICH A$$h0le$
They should be working on Sunday’s to get them up.
How about taking the foreman out of the Explorer that he rides around in and put him in a pick up truck with a rake to clean off the curb line or Work behind the vacuum and help the crew instead of just sitting around and staring and eating this is ridiculous, as a resident paying big taxes for service and I’m watching this. I’m shaking my head how we waste money where is the village manager and the mayor and council on this come on? I could see the director of the Dpw riding around making sure everything is getting done. This has to stop immediately.
Remember about 10 years ago when that old manager tried to push for begging the leaves. That was the best that went nowhere. All we can say is can you imagine if it snowed 2 feet right now that would be great. I would love to see a nice big mess in a town Then you will see big changes.
I have 15 large oaks here on the west side.
I’m not bagging the leaves.
Since I pay more in school taxes than you do, send your lazy kids to come bag the leaves… d-bag
Fifteen oaks, fifteen accidents waiting to happen, d-bag.
hey d-bag im not paying 500 each for a permit to remove. I expect a thank you note with my 38k tax bill for subsidizing your east side kids in schools
Would you consider running for mayor? You’re clearly Ridgewood’s bestest citizen. You have the mostest trees and the biggest tax burden.
Enough not for nothing why do we have a foreman riding around in a Ford Explorer, all other foreman ride around in pick up trucks, the foreman would be limited on what he or she can do in that utility SUV versus a pickup truck. If the foreman are in a pick up trucks, they can pick up leaf bags carry rakes to clean curb line areas, low line areas to avoid flooding. This is totally ridiculous. I know for a fact in the past, the foreman of the street department was always in a pick up truck with leaf brakes and tools, I’ve been following this operation for 40 years so don’t tell me different. I have pictures and video going back into the 70s so let’s stop the bullshit.
The Village manager needs to get out of his office and follow the leaf crew to see what’s going on. Read the taxpayers want that blue Ford Explorer parked in village hall, parking lot, and we want the foreman working with the leaf crew, he should be raking with a leaf vac, how can this be happening?
Driving around these days is a game of chicken–hoping no one is coming in the opposite direction and if they do, seeing who will pull over first.
The period to put leaves in the street in my “area” ended on November 9 (11 days ago) and they are still there–the ones that haven’t blown around, that is. In fact, neighbors have completely ignored the dates. Some have had leaves blown to the street twice since the deadline.
The third and final leaves-to-the-street period in my neighborhood runs from the day after Thanksgiving until the following Tuesday. If you consider Thanksgiving a four-day holiday, when people may be away or having company and in any case would rather have a chance to relax than to operate or listen to leaf blowers, which are not allowed on Saturday after 1 PM or any time on Sunday anyway per village ordinance, that leaves a total of two days for landscapers or home owners to get all remaining leaves to the street, rain or shine, wet or dry, and then that’s it for the year. There is no way this is going to work.
Mis management from the top all the way down. If you don’t have an intelligent manager of each department then you can’t possibly have intelligent workers. Clean house. Plenty of people out there looking for jobs that can manage leaf collection
we need more time to put leaves out
Surrounding towns vacuum them up which I believe helps grind them up a bit, making composting easier and faster. Perhaps the Village should consider this option rather than front loaders and dump trucks. Might this be faster? Cheaper? Don’t know.
Who the hell is that supervisor of leaf collection? This is just amazing. What the hell is going on? Obviously, this individual has no experience. We never had these problems like we’re seeing today. Years ago. I pay taxes. My family has been in town for 40 years. We are on multiple dwellings throughout the village, This is the worst. It’s time for a change where the hell is the village manager because we cannot trust the director look what he has done.
It a disaster of a mess.
Where were the towns “leaf blowers at 1/2 power’ to blow off the strip of leaves between curb and sidewalk??? NEVER DID it.. Left a mess. Leaves blew over from big old trees across street, the owner never blows or rakes , just lets them blow away off to everyone else’s yards.
I have a landscaper I have to pay to remove leaves, and in between, I use electric blower and rake to street and am an elderly woman.
No consideration from “newer” owners”, and definitely no consideration from the towns Poor management.
The only time I’ve seen Ridgewood use the leaf vacuum, was at the schools, Somerville, & Hawes. Otherwise the vacuum leaf blower truck SITS at the towns recycle center.
I’ll tell you one thing I’m glad the village manager came with no hair, because if he came with a full head of hair, he would’ve lost it by now, with all the bullshit that’s going on in the village is out of control. He must be shaking his head. It starts with director and goes right into supervision. They just don’t have experience. It shows unfortunately we have a big problem in town. We didn’t have these problems a few years back what happened?
Let it Snow let it Snow let it Snow on top of all the leaves. Let it Snow.
Our area has been swept clean twice already this year, on schedule.. only issue is leaves put out a week or so prior to when allowed, picked up late last week and on Monday landscape crew loading up street again, this also happened after the first pickup.
☠️
There’s a lot of catch basins full of leaves
Its Dec. 3, there are STILL BIG HUGE PILEs of leaves for weeks, on main road Grove St. never picked up.
Its freezing with possible snow, sleet, rain coming. The entire area has more piles left in streets not picked up. Why is that? Why the late road construction, digging, filling half side of Grove St. to Prospect, So. Irving and not paved over. What a mess that will be in snowstorm.
It’s seriously like one of the seven plagues of Egypt. I feel like we’re being collectively punished for some reason.
Third world town services. Contaminated water with no end in sight. Disgraceful.