AUGUST 24, 2015, 4:19 PM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2015, 7:50 AM
BY JAMES M. O’NEILL
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
A new online mapping tool that covers flood-prone neighborhoods along a six-mile stretch of the Ho-Ho-Kus Brook in Bergen County was unveiled Monday, the fourth in a series of maps designed to help residents in numerous Passaic River basin communities get better information about potential flooding from oncoming storms.
The newest maps show stream flows, water depths and streets likely to be flooded during various brook cresting heights for the area from White’s Lake Dam in Waldwick, downstream through Ho-Ho-Kus to Grove Street in Ridgewood.
The interactive flood inundation maps, a collaboration between federal and state agencies, are expected to help the towns’ emergency management officials plan evacuations and road closures – and make it easier for officials to persuade people in a projected flood zone to evacuate, reducing the risks for emergency personnel who must rescue stranded residents in the middle of major flooding.
Great Duck Derby at Graydon – Join the Famiily Fun – July 11th
Third annual, Great Ridgewood Duck Derby
Ridgewood NJ, On Saturday, July 11th, Ridgewood Parks & Recreation, in cooperation with Jacobsen Landscape Contractors of Midland Park, will be hosting the Great Ridgewood Duck Derby at Graydon Pool. Come out and embrace the national “Come Alive Outside” campaign and join us for an afternoon of fun family activity. This event will feature an array of different types of entertainment. There will also be a number of different kinds of activities throughout the day such as beach games, a sand sculpture contest, duck decorating, face painting, and ultimately concluding with an exciting rubber duck race down the Ho Ho Kus Brook.
This is a catered event pre-registration is a must and the deadline for advance sales is July 10th. The cost to take part in this fun family event is $10 per person ($20 per person non-residents) which includes one rubber duck, a SACK Picnic lunch of sandwich, beverage, chips and cookie.
The “Come Alive Outside” campaign started in 2010 by Jim Paluch in hopes of combating the sedentary, indoor lifestyle that is contributing to a multitude of adverse effects in our society. Playing outside has more benefits than just the physical, outdoor play can help children develop social skills, reduce stress, and increase their self-confidence. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 60 minutes of free play outside daily is essential for a child’s development which is why it is the “Come Alive Outside” campaign’s mission to create opportunities for children to get outside for some good healthy fun. Other events that have been hosted by the “Come Alive Outside” committee have been the award winning “Fire and Ice – A Winter Festival”, Bike, Hike and Discover and the Harvest Moon Family Hoedown, and the annual Duck Derby.
To register for the Great Ridgewood Duck Derby you can either stop by the Stable, 259 N. Maple Ave and complete registration or go online at www.ridgewoodnj.net/communitypass (Graydon Pool). The rain date for this event will be on Sunday July 12th. Please call the Parks & Recreation Department at 201-670-5560 for further information.
Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving Ho Ho Kus Brook clean up in progress October 20,2012 Boyd A. Loving 6:30 PM
Ridgewood NJ, Employees of the Bergen County Mosquito Control Commission work to clear debris from underneath an old trolley bridge that spans the HoHoKus Brook near Spring Avenue, Ridgewood on Monday, 10/20/2014.
Ridgewood resident’s monitoring of brook helps village locate issue
AUGUST 14, 2014 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 2014, 3:28 PM BY JODI WEINBERGER STAFF WRITER
Doug Goodell points to a tree in his backyard where water from the Ho-Ho-Kus Brook reached during the flash flood on Aug. 1.
He walks onto a stone patio toward his Mulberry Place home, showing where it reached during Hurricane Irene in 2011.
A few big steps forward marks where the waters reached during Hurricane Floyd in 1999.
“I use this as a gauge,” Goodell said of his patio, which is marked with black lines that note the distance in feet from the top of the brook’s retaining wall.
For nearly half a century, the village resident has documented the flooding of the Ho-Ho-Kus Brook, and has earned the unofficial title of the go-to data man in the municipality.
Following Hurricane Irene, he put together a book for the village full of photos and information on the flood waters and has made himself available to field questions from village officials. He served on a flood committee for the village in the 1970s and on the Planning Board in the ’80s. A 100-page report he wrote, including drawings of the bridges in the village with flood elevations and flood predictions, is housed in the Ridgewood Library.
“I’d just as soon not have it,” Goodell said good-naturedly of his unofficial position.
Neighbors fear proposed Ho-Ho-Kus subdivision might worsen flooding
AUGUST 2, 2014 LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 2014, 1:21 AM BY CHRIS HARRIS STAFF WRITER THE RECORD
HO-HO-KUS — Residents who live near a proposed subdivision said they are worried the development will change the look of the neighborhood and might exacerbate flooding problems near their homes.
Six homeowners spoke out this week against the project, dubbed the Hollows at Ho-Ho-Kus, which proposes dividing 4 acres into 11 single-home plots.
“This is literally in my back yard,” Brandywine Road resident Anthony DiGiacomo told the Planning Board, before bemoaning a proposed 7-foot-tall retaining wall in the plan.
“You never expect that a 7-foot-high wall may be built behind your house,” said DiGiacomo, a resident since 2001, adding he fears a proposed stone trench drawn into the plans will disturb the root systems of trees on his property.
The parcel — currently the site of a large building with some accessory structures — is located at West Saddle River Road and Hollywood Avenue, extending to Van Dyke Drive.
“My initial reaction to the plans was that it appeared to be an awful lot of homes in a fairly small area,” said DiGiacomo. “This neighborhood is a beautiful area of Ho-Ho-Kus that I feel is being threatened.”
The DiGiacomos are one of the nine couples who have hired attorney Robert Inglima to oppose the subdivision on the basis that it would change the character of the neighborhood, as well as disrupt a “natural drainage” system that has been at work in the area for some 60 years.
Flash Flood Sees Ho Ho Kus Brook Breach its Banks in Ridgewood
Ridgewood NJ, The HoHoKus Brook went over its banks in Ridgewood on Friday, 08/01 causing the Village Hall/Ridgewood Public Library parking lot to flood as well as artificial turf athletic fields at Ridgewood High School, Maple Park, and Stevens Field.
Five (5) privately owned vehicles parked in the Village Hall/Ridgewood Public Library parking lot were not moved in time and heavily damaged. One vehicle reportedly belongs to a Library employee whose first day on the job was Friday.
The turf athletic fields were bubbled up and will need to be repaired.
Several streets, including Linwood Avenue, were closed due to flood waters.
No injuries were reported.
Damage to Village Hall itself was minimal; water entered at only one point, an overhead door on the north side of the building.
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