September 29,2016
the staffof the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewooood NJ, Once again, much was accomplished with this new and improved council! Of course somethings never change ,Rurik Halaby came to the mic twice to insinuate that Ms. Knudsen( pronounced once correctly, second time with a hard k!) should be transparent about her raffle win and her sons becoming Ridgewood police officers. Thankfully Susan called for a point of order and Bernie Walsh made reference to Roberts Rules and that personal comments made to a council member from the floor are not allowed. It probably won’t stop future rants.
Richard Calbi from the Water Department gave a good report on the chromium 6 that has been in the news. According to Ridgewood Water Ridgewood is below the level considered dangerous even though the EPA has made no formal recommendations or issued guidelines.Currently Ridgewood Water is below the California guidelines and those issued by The World Health Organization.
Matt Rogers reported on the status of Affordable Housing, the water suit filed by Glen Rock, Midland Park and Wyckoff and the Valley Hospital appeal.
Affordable Housing: a status conference is scheduled for October, otherwise all is quiet on that front.
Ridgewood Water: a possible trial in November if a scheduled mediation in October is not successful.
Valley Hospital: Appeals Court Agrees to hear Ridgewood against Valley Hospital Expansion Case. It sounds too good to be true but after a long battle it another opportunity for the new council to make their mark. What happens next is any bodies guess.
The status of suit filed against the Planning Board was not mentioned.
A discussion about parking at the council level was very productive as they are looking at immediate remedies to improve parking before any construction is initiated.
Ramon Hache gave a Field’s Committee update and possible solutions to remediate Maple Field. One suggestion is to infuse the current field with millions of rubber pellets or replace the current field.Another idea was to build berm to protect the field better from floods . What was not mentioned is that these pellets will go into the drains, the brook and on the kids! As we all know Maple Field is in an active flood plain. Perhaps an analysis as to what would be the cost of replacing it with natural grass vs. new artificial turf and or its remediation? No easy solution for this one .
Discussion on the placement of art in the village. The Library might be making a presentation soon on their plans to build a performing arts center, approx. cost , 5 million dollars! They are seeking help from the Village to bond this amount .Not sure how that will be received. Love the library but other issues may be higher on the agenda.
