photo by Boyd Loving
DECEMBER 11, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY MATTHEW SCHNEIDER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The Ridgewood Council on Wednesday unanimously introduced a $12.3 million bond ordinance for the construction of a proposed parking deck at the Hudson Street lot.
A public hearing on the bond ordinance is scheduled for Jan. 6.
Despite the governing body’s full support of the ordinance introduction, two council members expressed their reservations about certain aspects of the parking garage proposal, most notably the lack of a definitive plan.
Councilwoman Susan Knudsen, who was concerned that the public may not know all of the details of the potential parking garage, said that she supported the ordinance introduction “with the understanding that I’m doing a reach out and getting a lot of information and public input as to their understanding of the structure, and making sure the financials are absolutely intact.”
Councilman Michael Sedon also noted his desire for additional information to be distributed among Ridgewood residents and members of the Central Business District (CBD).
“Once a concrete plan is in place with rates and enforcement times, I’d like to go out to send a letter to the business community letting them know exactly what the plan is, so if there are any questions or blowback, we can deal with that beforehand, and not after the fact.”
He further explained his reasons, recalling a Village Council decision several years ago to increase the sewage discharge fees assessed to CBD businesses. According to Sedon, “nobody seemed to know or care about [the fee increase when it was discussed].
“Once the bills hit the mailboxes,” he added, “there were 50 or 60 angry businesses owners here.”
Sedon said he hopes to avoid a repeat occurrence of that.
https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/town-government/hearing-on-bond-scheduled-1.1472043
