Tag: committees

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Village Council Facing Difficulties Finding Residents Willing to Serve on Various Boards and Committees

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, the current Village Council continues to face difficulties finding residents willing to serve on various boards and committees. The Councils recent decision to terminate long time Village historians over policy disagreements has further compounded the issue .

This added to the council and their supporters appearance of bullying , harassing, perhaps blackmailing  and in some cases overtly racist behavior toward residents  and their seemingly contradictory policies on the environment and general small mindedness has lessened the appeal  to serve and contribute .

Continue reading Village Council Facing Difficulties Finding Residents Willing to Serve on Various Boards and Committees

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Reader says There are too many boards, committees, advisory councils etc.

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There are too many boards, committees, advisory councils etc. They all think they have so much power. The CRAB is a good idea, who would argue with their basic reason for being? But it has been politicized Jan Philips is a nasty woman who has grabbed “power.” It was laughable when her husband came to defend her. Was she even at the meeting? Perhaps sitting tearfully in the audience while Mr. Hans spoke about how civil and lovely she is. The CRAB should still exist, for sure, but with a defined membership that does not include anyone who is out-and-out nasty.

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Ridgewood Village Council Special Public Meeting and Work Session

Village Council

VILLAGE COUNCIL SPECIAL PUBLIC MEETING

JUNE 28, 2017

7:30 P.M.

1. Call to Order – Mayor

2. Statement of Compliance with the Open Public Meeting Act

MAYOR: “Adequate notice of this meeting has been provided

by a posting on the bulletin board in Village Hall,

by mail to the Ridgewood News, The Record, and by submission to all persons entitled to same as provided by law of a schedule including the date and time of this meeting.”

3. Roll Call

4. RESOLUTIONS

17-170 Award Contract – Infra-red Paving Restoration

17-171 Reject Bids – Central Valet Parking Services

17-172 Authorize Application to the Bergen County Historic Trust Fund – Zabriskie-Schedler House, Phase 2

17-173 Authorize Application to the Bergen County Open Space Trust Fund – Turf Field at Maple Park

17-174 Annual Renewal of Liquor Licenses

17-175 Set Public Hearing Date for Settlement Negotiation

5. Adjournment

VILLAGE COUNCIL WORK SESSION

THE RIDGEWOOD VILLAGE COUNCIL’S

PUBLIC WORKSHOP AGENDA

JUNE 28, 2017

7:30 P.M.

1. 7:30 pm – Call to Order – Mayor

2. Statement of Compliance with Open Public Meeting Act Mayor: “Adequate notice of this meeting has been provided by a posting on the bulletin board in Village Hall, by mail to the Ridgewood News, The Record, and by submission to all persons entitled to same as provided by law of a schedule including the date and time of this meeting.”

3. Roll Call – Village Clerk

4. Flag Salute/Moment of Silence

5. Public Comments (Not to Exceed 3 Minutes per Person – 40 Minutes in Total)

6. Presentation – Open Space Survey Findings

7. Discussion

a. Ridgewood Water

1.  Award of Contract – Infrared Asphalt Restoration

b. Budget

1. Bergen County Open Space Trust Fund Grant Application

c. Operations

1. Purchase of Property

d. Parking

1. Rebid Central Valet Services

8. Motion to Suspend Work Session and Convene Special Public Meeting

9. Special Public Meeting – See At tached Agenda

10. Motion to Adjourn Special Publc Meeting and Reconvene Work Session

11. Discussion (Continued)

a. Ridgewood Water (continued)

1. Lease of Property for Co-Location of Wireless Telecommunications Antennas – Glen Avenue Tank Location

2. Award Contract – Polyphosphate Pumps for Corrosion Control

3. Award Professional Services Contract – Cedar Hill Reservoir Improvements

b. Parking

1. Train Station Parking

2. Update on Parking Garage

3. Clinton Avenue Parking – Safety Concerns

c. Budget

1. Declare Fire Department Equipment Surplus

2. Award Contract Under State Contract – Tires

3. Award Contract Under State Contract – Police Handguns, Holsters, & Magazine Pouches

4. Award Contract Under State Contract – Two Police Patrol SUVs

5. Award Contract Under State Contract – Lifts and Support Stands – Fleet Services

6. Award Contract Under National Joint Powers Alliance – Front End Loaders with Snowplows

7. Award Contract Under National Joint Powers Alliance – Two Sanitation Trucks with Snowplows

b. Policy

1. Boards and Committees – Fields Committee

2. Endorse Bergen County Open Space Trust Fund Program – The James Rose Center

3. Title 59 Approval – Painting Curbs Yellow

4. Options for Glenwood Road Railroad Crossing

5. Amend Chapter 145 – Fees – Tree Protection

6. Garber Square Bike Lane

e. Operations (continued)

1. Appoint Clean Communities Coordinator and Recycling Program Coordinator

2. Municipal Complex Parking Lot Changes

12. Manager’s Report

13. Council Reports

14. Public Comments (Not to Exceed 5 Minutes per Person)

15. Resolution to go into Closed Session

16. Closed Session

A. Legal – COAH; Valley Hospital

B. Personnel –

C. Contract Negotiations –

17. Adjournment

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The Priority of Ridgewood Committee By-Laws

Jeff Voigt Ridgewood Council
file photo by Boyd Loving , Councilman Voigt
January 27,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, It is a wonderful that the Village Council is going to be reviewing all the bylaws of the Committees and Boards, and is going to have a template for all of them to follow in the future.  It seems that some of these bodies of volunteer citizens have no written bylaws at all.  Some have very skimpy bylaws.  And some have bylaws that exceed the charge that is stated for the committee.  While these committees and boards provide a huge service, and their volunteer members work hard at their tasks, it is very important that their roles are clearly defined.  They are not elected officials, and they are not employees of the Village.  They are volunteer citizens who can provide input and ideas.  Period.

Two committees in particular need to be watched.  Both are chaired by citizens who ran (unsuccessfully) for Village Council last spring, with the full support of Aronsohn-Pucciarelli-Hauck-Sonenfeld.

The Financial Advisory Committee has somehow extended its bylaws to include more responsibility than it is supposed to have.  The chairman Evan Weitz wants to be included in the contract negotiations for the police and fire departments.  Seriously.  Can you even imagine that a committee of volunteers thinks they can be included in these negotiations?  It is not even legal.  And he is being egged on by Councilman Jeff Voigt, who sent an email to Evan Weitz recently asking him to come to the January 4, 2017 meeting and asking him to defend the FAC during public comments.  Evan Weitz has also requested access to information that is not available to the public via OPRA requests.  So glad that the Village Council is going to take a close look at the bylaws of this committee and reign them in.  This committee seemed like a good idea in the beginning, it made some useful recommendations about budget planning and other financial activities, but it is probably no longer needed.  Hopefully this committee can be eliminated altogether, as we now have a CFO who is highly competent.

The Parks and Recreation Committee is chaired by Richard Brooks, who chastised the Village Council on January 25 for having the audacity to put Schedler and Graydon on the Worksession agenda.  Using language and tone of voice that was condescending and falsely authoritative, Mr. Brooks suggested that absolutely no recommendations or decisions about these two parks or any parks should be made EVER without running them by the PRC first.  Mr. Brooks needs to be reminded that his committee is advisory and has absolutely no authority.  He also made a point of announcing that the current and past Village Council liaisons to the PRC, Mr. Hache and Ms. Hauck, are lifelong residents of Ridgewood; he stated that having lifelong residents who grew up playing in the Ridgewood parks is an asset.  When is this elitism going to end?  Newer residents are often made to feel like second-class citizens, and this is dead wrong.  A new resident has just as many rights and his or her opinions are wholly as valuable as those of someone who has lived here for many years.

Although Councilman Voigt publicly characterized the proposed review of all Committee and Board bylaws as an utter and complete waste of time, the fact is that this task is both essential and urgent.  Volunteer committee members are the lifeblood of this community, but their responsibilities need to be clearly defined in order for everyone to be able to achieve the best outcomes.  And when disgruntled citizens such as Mr. Weitz and Mr. Brooks are put into positions where they can attempt to wield power that is not theirs to wield, we have a serious problem.

Mayor Knudsen stated last night that the reviews will begin in March, by which time all Council members will have provided relevant materials from the committees and boards on which they serve.  Looking forward to seeing the outcome of this major endeavor.
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Reader says This is the nature of project teams or committees–they need to justify their existence

Village Council work session

file photo by Boyd Loving

There is some truth to this observation. Many years ago I was Chair of a Village committee. We did some good work in the first couple of years, but eventually we ran out of meaningful things to do. As a result, the committee started “branching out” and dreaming up projects to tackle. As Chair, I felt I needed to support and encourage the Committee in its enthusiasm, but eventually I scheduled fewer meetings and quietly told the Mayor I felt we had outlived our mandate. This is the nature of project teams or committees–they need to justify their existence. Village committees should have a limited mandate to discourage the sort of mission creep that makes a Library Committee believe that it needs to build a community center or performing arts center.

As an old-timer, I love our Library the way it is. It’s not broken–don’t “fix it”.

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Readers not Happy with the “New and Improved” Village of Ridgewood Website

village hall meetings

This is the way upcoming meetings are listed on the “improved” village website. The current method is inept because:

Meetings of the Village Council, Planning Board, and Zoning Board of Adjustment are all mixed together. People want to know about one particular kind of meeting (not “I wonder what meetings are happening, any kind is fine”) and should not have to read through the entire list to find it. Categories (each council or board) should be listed separately, under a heading.

Nowhere does it state that those three groups are the only ones whose meetings are listed. In fact, numerous boards, committees, commissions, and councils will hold their meetings during the same period. Doing as suggested above would make it clear that those were the only ones, because the headings would say that.

Village Council meetings are not identified as such. “Public Meeting,” “Special Public Meeting,” and “Public Work Session” provide insufficient information. Everything on the list is a public meeting. Yet it’s probably council meetings that most people are interested in.

Upcoming meetings should be listed in chronological order, not in reverse chronological order just because some software does it that way automatically. It’s counter intuitive and unnecessarily hard for the user.

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Ridgewood Council appoints members to committees

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Ridgewood Council appoints members to committees

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2014
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

The Ridgewood Council unanimously appointed new members to village committees.

The Open Space Committee helps identify types of open space and makes recommendations to the Village Council on the development of existing open space properties.

Appointed to the Open Space Committee were residents Ralph Currey, William Gilsenan, Eleanor Gruber and James Bostler. Also named to the committee were Planning Board member Kevin Reilly, fields committee member Robert Lasky and Director of Parks and Recreation Tim Cronin. Each committee term will expire Dec. 31, 2014.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/247717591_Ridgewood_Council_appoints_members_to_committees.html#sthash.tYxG0zjZ.dpuf