Many Factors at Play as the Council tries to remake Ridgewood

Many Factors at Play as the Council tries to remake Ridgewood
August 15,2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ , Not since the renovation of the Village Hall has the Village Council embarked on such an ambitious project .As long term resident and readers know the Village Hall renovation  or “fiasco” as it is known was marred with lengthy delays and massive cost over runs . In the end  the project failed to produce the results promised  and some observers would say made the flooding problem in the Village is worse..

While no one was prosecuted to many the Jane Reilly “Taj” Hall marked the begging on the decline of the Village of Ridgewood. So now when a new Mayor  Paul Aronsohn and his supporters pursue Paul’s “Xanadu” garage project for Ridgewood , the red flags are once again raised.

Has Ridgewood really learned anything form the Village Hall fiasco ? We are not so sure : Construction over runs are part of life , especially given the rule of giving the “lowest bidder” the job, which is immediately followed by revision after revision  in cost estimates once the project is awarded.  The recent $400,000 golden toilet episode at Vets field is a stark reminder as to the reality of the lowest bid system at work.

Next is the problem with congestion , can current Village merchants really sustain another couple of years of constant construction ? Was not the Train station project enough of a problem ? Some suggest these type of projects  contribute to so many stores staying vacant,

Then there is the wisdom of the project it self . The main promoters of this project is the Village Chamber of Commerce which seems to have a rather checkered past with promoting the Village . These are the same guys after all who came up with the idea of banning banks ifrom downtown Ridgewood , thinking it would leave room for other merchants .

And as resident on Grove street keep pointing out  ,what about the Villages seemly inability to ever finish a job,  What ever happened to the landscaping on the island on Grove Street?

Finally there is the “Ed Sullivan ‘ factoror Urbanization noting against Ed but do residents really want Ridgewood to be like Hoboken or some might suggest Irvington .