photo by Boyd Loving
March 3,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, All was calm last night no major out breaks , no assaults reported . Lorraine, Gail and others opened up the meeting with comments regarding design of the garage which would be one level lower and allow retention of street parking on Broad Street which is extremely important to the businesses in that area such as the Bamboo house( take out orders pick up),a design shop and others whose clients need to park close to the store for business purposes.
The council majority kept talking about all the compromises they have already made . It is uncertain if changes were made because the original ideas were not feasible such as the structure entering into the street by 12 feet. Clearly not compromise, it is common sense solutions that needed to be brought to their attention.
The Council Majority caved to the Chamber of Commerce demands by changing parking hours from 9 p.m. to 8 p.m. and adding free parking on Saturday night. The estimated loss in revenue $ 50,000. The Council Majority used the excuse it was for the church goers on Saturday.
The most interesting discussion was about Schedler. Mike had real issues about the whole process which he felt was not done with full transparency with regard go the grant, budget and was full of inconsistencies. Roberta said that she was holding a 100,OOO dollar check from the RBSA issued in January that had ” Strings Attached “. It was to be used with the guarantee that a 90 foot baseball diamond would be placed at the property. She also said that the village had in their coffers an additional 100,000 dollars of Open Space funds. Every one seemed quite surprised as it had not been mentioned before. Could this money be used for other projects such as Kings Pond, Schedler House, etc. ? The answer is yes. Where was this money when Friends of Schedler was applying for a matching grant to save the house and the town said they had zero money?
The “sink hole” in Midland Park which released gallons of sludge that was in the streets coming out of sewers and man hole covers. A concrete pipe had disintegrated due to hydrogen sulfide gases collecting in the pipe. The sludge was directed into the brook, wells were closed and are being monitored. A village employee said that this is a serious problem and is a prediction of things to come.
Anne Loving made a brief comment about Albert’s use of electronic devices at the dais since he mentioned he was in constant touch with his family during meetings!
Rurik Halaby praised Roberta for everything under the sun and was so glad that she had no previous municipal experience. Mr Halaby took yet another swipe at The Ridgewood Blog during Wednesday night’s Village Council meeting when, during a public comment period, he publicly announced that he’d been named “Villan of the Year” by The Ridgewood Blog.
Much about The BCIA funding and it appears that they are going forward with both funding options .
Paul Vagiones concluded the meeting with comments regarding kitchen table meetings . One was held at his kitchen table with our garage friends including Lorraine, Dana and Gail and even though they didn’t agree, it was all very pleasant.
Next meeting is to be held at Ridgewood High School March 9th at 8PM. The Housing Density Ordinances are coming up and COAH litigation and deadlines all in March. Hope this gives you a few ideas. Snow tomorrow I hear! Sincerely, Linda
