RIDGEWOOD — The Village Council voted unanimously Wednesday night to introduce an ordinance allowing Ridgewood to bond for a new municipal parking garage on its own, despite recent assurances from Bergen County that it would provide the financing.
The ordinance, up for a second hearing and vote of adoption on March 23, would authorize the issuing of $11.5 million in municipal bonds to fund construction of a four-story parking deck on the corner of Hudson and South Broad streets.
Councilwoman Susan Knudsen, who’d voted against a similar $12.3-million ordinance in early January, said she was voting in favor of local bonding with the understanding the council was “going to look at some redesign options” for the proposed 325-vehicle garage, which some residents have called too large for the proposed site.
By Ted S. McGregor Jr.
Analysis by Ted S. McGregor, Jr.
“I think the council really has exercised honest and forthright due diligence. ” That’s how, in January, 1997, then-Mayor Jack Geraghty described the events that led up to the city’s decision to participate as a partner in the River Park Square project. Now, three years after that controversial decision and just seven months after the new mall opened, the degree and quality of that due diligence is being reexamined as a way to understand why the parking garage – the city’s portion of the deal – is failing to meet expectations.
As the specter of having to tap the city’s parking meter fund to help the garage stay afloat has emerged as a real possibility, the scramble for solutions has begun. A few want to refinance the entire deal; others flirt with the idea of somehow reneging on the pledge of the parking meter money; and some want to stay the course, waiting for the second phase of the mall to open and the additional parkers it could bring. But even after just seven months, the garage’s performance is so far below expectations that some are saying holding course isn’t really an option.
How could so many people be so surprised by the garage’s performance? Weren’t the best consultants in the country hired to test the feasibility of the entire project, specifically the garage? That Walker Parking Study, most agree, is where the garage’s problems begin. How a document that appears to be so deeply flawed came to be relied on so heavily for this project raises new questions about that study and the city’s self-described due diligence.
Ridgewood NJ, Get up to speed on the latest details released from the Village on the proposed parking garage on Hudson Street.
DESMAN HUDSON STREET DECK DRAWINGS – 1/29/2016
These drawings represent the site plan, floor plan & building sections for the revised design of the Deck at Hudson Street. This Deck design was first considered in October 2015. There will be 325 parking spots. The height to the roof is approx. 43′ and 46′ 8″ to the parapet. Click Here for Drawings
This document produced by BCIA Professionals contrasts BCIA County Guaranteed Financing with Village of Ridgewood Stand Alone Financing for debt associated with the Parking Deck Project. Please note that the estimated differential between the two scenarios has changed since last week, due to changes in BCIA issuance costs amended by the BCIA on Friday, January 29, 2016. Now, there is an estimated differential of $22,248 which averages less than $900 per year. Click Here for the document.
New math rule: 40+ feet is about 80% of 30 feet. Here is the proof:
Reader say rendering is out of scale
Print the attached image and then measure the two red arrows. The building which is supposed to be 40+ feet high has an arrow which is 80% in length of the street width’s red arrow. Hence Proved (that 40+ is shorter than 30)!!.
RIDGEWOOD — The Village Council may introduce a bond ordinance Wednesday to fund a proposed municipal parking garage without using county money, despite recent approvals from the county.
The move is a sharp departure for the council, the majority of which agreed in January to ask the Bergen County Improvement Authority to bond for the garage’s approximate $12.3 million cost. That vote came after the governing body could not get the required four-vote super-majority necessary to authorize the municipality to bond for the project on its own.
But the idea of locally bonding the costs of the proposed Hudson Street deck was put forward again on Feb. 21 by Mayor Paul Aronsohn in an email to some community members. It’s seen as an attempt to assuage the unsatisfied council minority — as well as residents who’ve started a petition drive to force the funding issue into a public referendum.
“Although I still believe that a partnership with the BCIA would be a good thing for Ridgewood, I want to give my council colleagues another chance to make this happen,” Aronsohn said in the email.
The reintroduced ordinance will be for $11.5 million, a smaller number that reflects the garage’s newly reduced size — instead of 405 spaces, the garage would accommodate 325.
Some on the council initially favored the larger structure, but officials scaled back plans last month after vocal public opposition. Many residents said the building would be too large, protruding into Hudson Street and constricting local traffic.
All — On page 3 of the Ridgewood News, there was an article to try to pressure Mike Sedon and Susan Knudsen to vote for bonding the garage through Ridgewood. If you are skeptical of the viability of the proposed garage, please send Mike and Susan an email to let them know to stay firm on their vote and allow the referendum on the BCIA to go forward. Here’s what I sent to them:
With regards to the full page ad in the Ridgewood News today, I urge you to maintain your position on the bonding of the proposed garage.
I do not believe that a garage in that location will cover its costs and the taxpayers are going to wind up funding it. There is simply not enough demand for parking at the proposed location. There are usually many spots open right across the street. I’d support a smaller structure located more centrally and I know a lot of my fellow residents would too.
Please stay the course and know that most of the residents who voted in support of a garage did not know any specific information at that time therefore there is NO MANDATE to build anything at this time.
Feel free to contact me via email or at 201-445-8222.
Ridgewood Nj, The fact is a BCIA garage is a county owned and operated parking garage , that is paid for by Village of Ridgewood taxpayers .The Village gives up all control of the garage and Village residents have no priority.
From the Bergen Record October 13th, 2014 , “The village has been in talks with the Bergen County Improvement Authority (BCIA) for more than a year about a partnership that would ideally result in the county building a 450-space parking garage at the site of the Hudson Street lot, where there are currently only a couple dozen 12-hour metered parking spots.
The county would own and operate the garage, which the village would pay for over the course of 20-30 years from the revenue from the garage.
Last night a few of us went to the Freeholders meeting in Hackensack because the introduction of their ordinance to OK the BCIA funding our garage was on the agenda. We were welcomed and greeted warmly. Several came over to us before the meeting, introduced themselves, offered great support and adulation for our grass roots effort with the petition, explained the process, etc.
When one of us was speaking the timer went off, and instead of shutting the speaker down, they asked him politely to wrap it up and let him finish. It was unbelievable. Then I realized it was not unbelievable, it was simply not something that we are accustomed to after being beaten and bashed by the Council majority.
While our mayor calls the petitioners outright liars who are fueled by misinformation, these elected officials applauded our interest and passion. Mayor Aronsohn could take a huge lesson in civility by watching these truly fine individuals in action. Well it won’t be long until the three of them are gone and we will have peace, civility and decency once again.
The freeholders had already met with Aronsohn, of course, and they told us that Aronsohn assured them yesterday afternoon that it was going to be funded by Ridgewood and that he expected to have a vote on this by next week. At that point, we were told, the entire involvement of the BCIA and freeholders would go “poof.” (their word). In the meantime, they told us that they would be voting unanimously last night to approve the funding by the BCIA because they are not involved with design, height, location, or any of that. Their only job is to say yea or nay to the BCIA request, and they had no reason to say nay.
Two takeaways –
1. Aronsohn told them that it is definitely going to be funded in town. Interesting, because last night at the VC he refused to take the BCIA ordinance off the books and he continued to sing the praises of the BCIA.
2. Aronsohn will be taking full credit if it gets funded in town, when in fact the efforts of the petition drive is the sole reason that he got backed into this corner. Power to the people.
As you may be aware, many Ridgewood residents are opposed to bonding a parking garage in our Central Business District through the county.
A petition has been circulating widely around town to make this issue a referendum on the ballot of the May 10, 2016, election.
A large number of signatures has been obtained. These will be counted and validated shortly–but not bytomorrow.
We urge the Freeholders to refrain from acting on this matter until the referendum issue has been determined. We wish to handle our own project with internal funding.
Should a judge allow the referendum, any decision that you might make tomorrow would be nullified, and you would have wasted your time.
As a Ridgewood resident for 44 years and counting, I want only the best for my town. Self-funding of the parking garage would be far preferable to bringing in the county. I am also concerned about possible ramifications in the future.
Please consider removing from tomorrow’s meeting agenda the item regarding Ridgewood parking garage bond funding.
WHAT: Illustrator Leah Tinari and author Harlan Coben will read and sign “The Magical Fantastical Fridge.”
WHERE: Bookends bookstore, 211 E. Ridgewood Ave., Ridgewood.
WHEN: 4 p.m. Tuesday.
DETAILS: Event is free but attendees must purchase the book, $17.99. To reserve books in advance of the signing or order a signed copy, go to book-ends.com.
Artist Leah Tinari is known for her colorful, contemporary paintings. She can now add children’s book illustrator to her résumé, with the newly released “The Magical Fantastical Fridge,” a picture book for children ages 4 to 8. And Tinari, who grew up in Ho-Ho-Kus, has her North Jersey roots to thank for that.
The project came about due to a bold mural Tinari painted in her mother’s restaurant, Janice a Bistro in Ho-Ho-Kus (now called Just Janice). The piece caught the eye of best-selling author Harlan Coben, a Ridgewood resident and a regular at the popular bistro. “One night, my wife, Anne, suggested that Leah’s artwork would work great in a kid picture book,” says Coben, who wrote the story. “That’s how it all started.”
Tinari agrees the book’s back story itself makes for “a very cool Jersey story.”
Coben and Tinari collaborated for almost two years to create the colorful adventure that is “The Magical Fantastical Fridge,” a story about a little boy named Walden who, while boycotting his chores, gets pulled into the photos, mementos and knickknacks on his family refrigerator, which have all come to life.
Reader says I do not trust the 3 Amigos (the council majority) or the Village Manager. I just wonder that when these fine people who have put so many hours get resident to sign the garage petitions hand them in will there be an independent representative present to over see the validity of the the signatures? With all of whats been going on surrounding this garage and the Council majority along with the Village Manager . Will they exert pressure on whomever will be checking. Will the Village Manager or any Council Members be the ones also counting? Residents beware. We have all seen posts on this blog on how our Mayor has brought Hudson County politics to Ridgewood.
In response to your email circulating Sunday afternoon; I was not on the list of recipients, but a friend forwarded it to me. You sent it to a selected list of “friends/neighbors,” yet you did so by blind cc. Therefore no one who received it knows who else got it. How strange.
Why would you send such an announcement to a selected, secret group of residents? Isn’t your suggestion of reintroducing the bond ordinance one that should be shared with ALL residents, not just a few? And more importantly, why wouldn’t this be suggested at an Open Public Meeting, with all five of our elected officials present, rather than in an email of this sort? I am baffled by your choices here.
I am one of the petitioners, as you are well aware. In fact, this morning I waved to you, called out and invited you to cross the street when you were watching us from the corner of Prospect and Hudson, but you opted to ignore my invitation and walk away without even waving back. As one of the petitioners, I am shocked to be characterized by you as participating in an initiative that is “fueled, in part, by misinformation and outright lies.” Why didn’t you cross the street and talk to us, or for that matter why didn’t you cross Maple Avenue yesterday when you were in the King’s parking lot watching us in the Elks Club? Indeed, in the interest of the civil discourse that you espouse so frequently, an actual conversation with us would have gone a long way. You would have learned, first-hand, that we are not fueled by misinformation and outright lies. We are being scrupulously accurate and honest in our endeavor.
Your suggestion that “The people of Ridgewood deserve better” is completely insulting. We ARE the people of Ridgewood; do you envision that all of us are somehow invaders from another town? As you have surely witnessed from your various observation posts in the last two days, we are not only the people of Ridgewood, but we are a large number or the people of Ridgewood. We are exercising our rights under the law, doing so pleasantly, appropriately, respectfully, and with accurate information. We are putting in long hours, in freezing temperatures and in the rain, and all for one common reason – because we care about Ridgewood.
How disappointing that such an unprofessional and potentially slanderous letter was sent by you in your official capacity.
Italia Di Gusto, 44 E. Ridgewood Ave, Ridgewood, NJ
Event Description
Italia di Gusto invites you to a series of Culinary trip diners through various regions of Italy starting with presentation of traditional foods of Valle D’Aosta cuisine.
Chef Claudia Rovegno has prepared a menu that represents some of the traditional dishes of the Valle D’Aosta region:
-Focaccia with bresaola with arugula, topped with shaved Parmigiano Reggiano.
-Homemade gnocchi with Organic Valle d’Aosta Fontina.
-Carbonade with polenta (a stew of salt-cured beef, red wine and spices)
file photo by Boyd Loving , Council majority ie the 3 Amigos
Good morning-
Here is the Letter to the Editor Jim wrote that wasn’t printed this past wknd.
February 17, 2016
Letter to the Editor
What is really going on?
The Town Council voted 3-2 on February 10th to fund the Hudson Street Garage with the Bergen County Improvement Authority. Councilmembers Aronsohn, Pucciarelli and Hauck voted to turn the project over to the county.
Some questions to ponder:
If the goal is a functional, non-partisan government, WHY has our Mayor been off “forming a partnership” with the BCIA for 3 years?
If financial stewardship is important, WHY are we paying more to finance through the BCIA versus funding it ourselves?
If we are going to incur an obligation to the county of more than $10 million, WHY isn’t there a payment plan in place to pay off this obligation?
If we truly care about the look and feel of our historic downtown, WHY haven’t designs/renderings been shown to the taxpayers of Ridgewood?
If all 5 members of our Town Council are independent thinking stewards of our village, WHY haven’t Councilmembers Sedon and Knudsen been privy to all discussions and reports in a timely fashion?
If we want real informed input from our fellow residents, WHY was the Maser study, which showed the 12 feet encroachment into Hudson St., thereby narrowing Hudson to 18 feet, not made public until after the November referendum, when the Village Manager had it on her desk in October?
If the upcoming election isn’t a factor, WHY are Councilmembers Aronsohn, Pucciarelli and Hauck in such a rush to fund this with Bergen County?
Too many unanswered questions.
Lets make sure we have answers before it’s too late.
In accordance with the provisions of the “Open Public Meetings Act,” please be advised that the Planning Board will hold a special meeting for the purpose of conducting an executive session at 7:00 p.m. in the 5thfloor conference room of Village Hall, 131 North Maple Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss ongoing litigation.
With the exception of executive sessions, all meetings of the Ridgewood Planning Board (i.e., official public meetings, work session meetings and special meetings) are public meetings which are always open to members of the general public.
