file photo by Boyd Loving
September 26,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, As autumn leaves fall and residents begin the process of clearing their properties, the Village begins the start of the 2017 leaf collection program. Leaf removal will begin October 23rd.
By Kevin Glass / October 24, 2016
Fall brings temperate weather, changing colors, falling leaves and — if the nannies in New Jersey have anything to say about it — backbreaking labor.
Neighborhood advocacy groups across the state have been working to prohibit the use of leaf blowers, which they say are too noisy and disrupt the peace and quiet of their neighborhoods.
Earlier this year, Maplewood, New Jersey, banned leaf blowers used by commercial businesses for the summer, largely because residents objected to the loud noises. Now, activists in Princeton are working to ban leaf blowers for the same reason.
Quiet Princeton, an organization of local Princeton residents opposed to anything breaking the peace of the New Jersey town, has pushed for a reduction in leaf-blower noise. There are existing regulations on the books about leaf-blower noise, but that’s not enough for Quiet Princeton.
“Back in the ’90s an effort was made in Princeton to ban leaf blowers outright, but it failed,” Tony Lunn, a Quiet Princeton activist, told Mercer Space, a publication of Community News Service..
Princeton’s current ordinance calls for landscapers to be as quiet as possible, but its subjectivity has the activists upset. “No one would think this reasonable,” Lunn said. Some have attempted to get a 65-decibel limit written in as the legal regulation.
In Maplewood, the city is holding hearings to expand the summer leaf-blower ban. An Oct. 18 Township Committee meeting had many residents voicing their hatred for leaf blowers.
“Why should they be able to disrupt my quality of life as a taxpayer so my neighbor can have a few blades of grass blown around?” one resident said, according to NJ.com.
A prohibition limited to commercial leaf blowers means the burden falls disproportionately on landscaping companies, rather than, say, neighbors doing their own landscaping work. Other than driving up the cost for landscaping work, this is a burden for the manual laborers as well — many of whom are unlikely to be able to afford to live in a posh suburb like Maplewood, where the median household income is over $100,000 per year.
https://watchdog.org/279609/nanny-state-week-new-jerseys-great-leaf-blowing-war/
Ridgewoood NJ, Leaf summon issue resolved for now , while it does seem troubling as to the percentage of homes who were issued summonses. Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld reported that 404 out of 414 leaf summons were paid , 3 were heard by a judge , others were dismissed for various reasons.
https://www.tubechop.com/watch/7730477 courtesy of Saurabh Dani
“The most vocal comment heard from residents last year was on properties who did not comply with the schedule. Therefore enforcement will be vital to the Village’s success to improve this service. An enforcement agent will issue a summons to those that violate these guidelines”
Leaf Collection Update
Updated Information on Leaves from Ridgewood DPW:
• Collection: We are still running three to four days behind. With the recent damage to the pusher catching up is going to be unachievable.
• Schedule: We are recommending a shift in the leaf schedule based on the following new dates:
o Area A: Dec. 4 to Dec. 10
o Area B: No change
o Area C: Dec. 11 to Dec. 17
o Area D: Dec. 18 to Dec. 23
For further information: 201/670-5585
E Notice – December 4th – Leaves Update
Dear Neighbor,
As mentioned in a previous E-Notice, we had an early heavy leaf drop this year. Through December 1 we have collected 31,544 cubic yards of leaves – this compares with 20, 567 last year at the same time – a 50% increase! The total leaves collected last year were 35,257 cubic yards so this upcoming round is really like our final clean up. As a result we are taking longer in each of our Areas (an extra three to four days)and are updating our collection schedule as follows:
Area A: December 4 to December 10
Area B: Remains the same
Area C: December 11 to December 17
Area D: December 18 – December 23
This has also been posted on our website – which I would encourage you to monitor: www.ridgewoodnj.net
As I have also mentioned, we will do a post mortem on the season and have been benchmarking with like communities around us to share ideas and best practices. I would like to include some residents in our post mortem process as I know through my correspondences with you there are residents that have a passion about this issue and have many ideas as well. If you would be interested in attending a meeting at Village Hall (probably in January) to discuss your thoughts, please let me know. And also let me know your preference for timing, e.g. daytime, evening, etc.
Best wishes for a safe, happy and healthy holiday season, Roberta
Best regards,
Roberta Sonenfeld
Village Manager
file photo by Boyd Loving
Dear Resident,
I am writing to speak with you about our early experiences this leaf season.
As you know last year we introduced the “No Leaf Left Behind” initiative and introduced changes to the leaf pick-up process. This year, we held our second leaf summit with all of our staff engaged in the leaf process to review post-mortem results from last year as well as to think through new enhancements to the processing of leaves. For example, we are introducing a new piece of equipment to our tool box, a claw, that we think will add value. If we see a significant improvement we will buy another claw for next year. We also rebid the leaf removal process for Section B – we have a new contractor this year based on lowest bid requirements.
Importantly, we heard you last year about the need for strict enforcement of the leaf schedule, particularly the issue that some residents and/or their contractors were placing their leaves in the street right after a collection cycle thereby causing many leaves left on the streets for weeks. In our recent letter that was mailed to all residents with the leaf schedule, we also indicated that we would strictly enforce the leaf schedule and that summonses would be issued. Unfortunately I can report to you that we did compliance monitoring on various streets within Area A after leaf pick up was concluded on October 22nd and we had a very large number of violators. Over two days, we had over 40 summonses to be written – this was also a limited review…. we could have documented many more and this is not acceptable for our community.
I want to explain to you why I decided not to issue summonses in these cases – instead we are issuing warnings. It turns out that violating the leaf ordinance, even the first time, requires a court appearance by the resident; fines begin at $50. It was this court appearance that resulted in the decision that warnings would be issued for the first week of leaf collection in each Leaf Area. Summonses will begin the second week in each Area. Please remember that the homeowner is responsible for his/her landscaper. We have been in contact with registered landscapers and shared the schedule with them as part of our communications strategy.
A couple of other points to share with you. First, we did get a bit of an early start in Area A this year which caused some confusion for residents. Our intent was always to loop back to those streets that we started early but I apologize for any confusion that this may have caused. Secondly, as we did last year we will add collection dates to the schedule if they are needed. Since the leaves seem to be falling slowly this year, I anticipate that this will be the case. Please check our website (www.ridgewoodnj.net) for updates, and I will send E-Notices when needed.
Our staff is reminding all residents to not place recycling barrels or basketball hoops in the roadway during leaf collection as these objects cause a safety issue and unnecessary maneuvering of our vehicles. Additionally, leaf piles in the street cause potentially dangerous conditions by narrowing the street for vehicles, so residents should avoid parking close to leaf piles or driving over them.
Effective collection of leaves is an effort that requires the Village and its residents to be collaborative and mutually supportive. As a result, I would like to request again that you let us know how we can perform better and be more sensitive to your requirements. We are breaking in a new contractor as well as new equipment and we will closely monitor this but you are our eyes and ears and therefore we are reliant on you to help make this process more effective.
Today the leaves are not quite brown but the skies are grey – Ridgewood dreamin’ on such a Autumn’s day……
Best,
Roberta Sonenfeld
Village Manager
201-670-5500, ext. 203
