Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Board of Education will have two regular board meetings this summer :
July 16 2018 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Education Center, 49 Cottage Place
August 27 2018 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Education Center, 49 Cottage Place
Ridgewood Board of Education Candidate Information:
Monday, July 30, 2018 at 4:00 PM is the deadline to file a nominating petition. The petition must be filed with the Bergen County Clerk’s Office, One Bergen County Plaza, Room 130,
Hackensack, NJ.
The candidate petition is for Ridgewood Board of Education Trustee ( School Board member) for the November election. Candidates must obtain at least 10 signatures on a petition to be nominated, one of which may be the candidate. Petition signatures must be registered to vote in Ridgewood. ***It is recommended to collect about 15 signatures. New Jersey School Boards Association has created a Candidate Kit with additional information and instructions for those interested in running for open seats. For more information and candidate kit: https://www.njsba.org/…/membership-…/school-board-candidacy/
Ridgewood NJ, to celebrate National Ice Cream Day, Ice Cream by Mike will be offering a Buy One, Get One Half Off special, on Sunday, July 15, 2018,
Purchase any size cone, cup or shake at the regular price and get another for half price (of equal of lesser value). This special cannot be combined with any other offer, is limited to one per customer, and available while supplies last.
Ice Cream by Mike
(201) 343-4514
305 East Ridgewood Avenue
Ridgewood, NJ 07451
People it will never be over they are so embarrassed one of the biggest factors in village and Street right under their own nose is. So much for the surveillance and police department. Others know about it they just kept real quiet didn’t day. Think about it how do you steal $1 million and you don’t do a day in jail. In this case it came down to all the skeletons in the closet. And they did not want them to come out.
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Public Library is pleased to announce that hoopla now supports Amazon Alexa devices. Ridgewood Library cardholders can play borrowed audiobooks and music albums directly on their Amazon Echo, Dot, Spot, and Show devices. Check out this quick video that shows Alexa and hoopla in action and contact us with any questions.
Trenton NJ, Taking significant steps to begin the process of fully and fairly funding New Jersey school districts, the Murphy Administration today released new school funding distribution totals based on increased appropriations and modernizations made to the school funding formula. In total, almost $8.5 billion will be disbursed to the state’s 577 school districts, including an additional $68 million to bring aid in balance for underfunded districts.
“A stronger, fairer New Jersey means making sure that New Jersey’s schools are receiving the funds they need to advance academic excellence for our students,” said Governor Phil Murphy. “After years of neglect, we are turning the page to bring a balanced approach to school aid by removing the growth cap on funding increases and finally beginning the process of fully implementing the state’s school funding formula established in 2008. ”
Nearly every district in the state will receive at least 58 percent of the full uncapped aid as calculated according to the School Funding Reform Act (SFRA). Compared to FY 2018, an additional $351 million in K-12 school aid will be allocated to 391 districts. Another $32 million will be redistributed from 172 districts receiving more than their uncapped aid amounts to those districts that are underfunded.
“By providing additional resources to districts that have been significantly underfunded, this budget starts a path toward the Governor’s goal of a stronger and fairer school funding structure,” said Education Commissioner Lamont O. Repollet.
The Governor’s FY 2019 budget also includes the largest increase in preschool funding in more than a decade, totaling $688 million, $32.6 million over FY 2018 to support existing preschool programs. In addition, Governor Murphy’s commitment to expanding access to preschool includes a total of $50 million to fund high quality new preschool seats in districts ready to grow their programs.
Other education initiatives in the FY 2019 budget include:
$195 million in extraordinary special education aid that is provided through an application process to reimburse districts for eligible high-cost special education services;
$5.4 million for the nonpublic technology initiative, an increase of $2.4 million;
$2 million in funding for a new Secondary School Computer Science Education Initiative, which will be used to support approved applications for the expansion and support of advanced computer science course offerings;
$400,000 for STEM Dual Enrollment and Early College High Schools; and
$750,000 for a new High Poverty School District Minority Teacher Recruitment Program.
Dist District 2017-18 Total K-12 Aid : Ridgewood Village 2,453,765 2018-19 Governor’s Budget Message (GBM) Total K-12 Aid 2,586,693 2018-19 Approp. Act Revised Total K-12 Aid 3,477,429
Transportation Aid 620,535 Special Education Categorical Aid 2,409,152 Security Aid 447,742
2018-19 Approp. Act Revised Total K12 Aid2 3,477,429 One Year K-12 Aid Difference 1,023,664 Aid Percent Difference 41.72%
Wyckoff NJ , the National Weather service has issued a coastal hazard message ,saying there is a high risk of “rip currents” . Rip currents are powerful channels of water flowing quickly away
from shore, which occur most often at low spots or breaks in sandbars and near structures such as groins, jetties, and piers.
Talk to lifeguards and beach officials to learn about any surf hazards and heed their advice. Pay attention to flags and posted signs and swim in life guarded areas.
Swim near a lifeguard. If caught in a rip current, relax and float, and do not swim against the current. If able, swim in a direction following the shoreline. If unable to escape, face the shore and call or wave for help.
from the desk of Assemblyman Kevin J. Rooney:
TIP: What to do if You Get Pulled into a Riptide
When you’re at the beach, you need to be aware of the dangers of the sun and surf, even as you enjoy the beautiful weather, so that your beach day is as safe and perfect as possible! That’s why it’s important to protect your health and life by being aware of one of the big hidden risks of the ocean: unexpected riptides that come up out of nowhere.
So what exactly is a riptide? The name itself is a bit deceptive, because it’s not a tide at all, it’s a strong current. According to the United States Lifesaving Association: “Rip currents are powerful, channeled currents of water flowing away from shore. They typically extend from the shoreline, through the surf zone, and past the line of breaking waves.” These kinds of currents can occur in a large body of water with waves that break, even large lakes.
Here are some tips on how to avoid, escape, and survive if you are stuck in a riptide:
Watch the waves: Your best assurance of staying safe from riptides is simply knowing that the risk is out there. That way, you can stay aware of dangerous conditions, and know when the possibility of a riptide is highest. Naturally, you need to keep an eye out for storms coming in, but it’s also important, even during nice weather, to notice if waves are breaking hard in one spot and gently in another: the perfect conditions for a riptide to develop.
Don’t go out over your head: In general, one of the best ways to stay safe in a large body of water is to keep from going out over your head. You should make sure that you can always put both feet on the ocean floor and still breathe with your nose and mouth above water. That way, you have a bit of an assurance that, even if you are caught in a current, you’ll be able to anchor yourself in place.
Keep your feet down: If you do find yourself caught in a strong current that feels like a riptide, make sure to keep your feet firmly grounded. Having this point of connection to the ground helps to stabilize your body and keeps the waves from yanking your feet out from under you. If your feet do get swept away, do your best to reconnect to the ground as quickly as possible and dig your feet in.
Call attention to yourself: Even if you’re a strong swimmer, a riptide can conquer you immediately if you’re taken unaware. That’s why it’s important that you call out for help as soon as you feel that you’ve lost control. Get the attention of a lifeguard or another beachgoer by shouting, “Help!” rather than screaming, which might go unnoticed at a busy, noisy beach.
SWIM PARALLEL TO THE SHORE: If you can swim, try to break free of the current by swimming in a line parallel to the shore. Don’t try to turn around and swim straight back to shore, because then you’ll be struggling straight against the current. Swimming parallel can help you break free from the flow of the current, which tends to be quite narrow.
Don’t fight it: By the same token, you shouldn’t fight against the flow of the water. The water is immeasurably larger and stronger than you are, and trying to fight the current directly will simply exhaust you. If you can’t swim sideways to break free, simply allow yourself to be pulled in the hopes that you’ll swing free in the process.
Keep calm: This one is tricky, but extremely important to remember: if you’re stuck in a riptide, you need to stay calm. Stay mellow, float along, and try to breathe deeply and normal. If you panic, your breathing will pick up and you may exhaust yourself, pass out, or even inhale water by mistake.
Float on your back: If all else fails, roll yourself onto your back and push your hips up to create a pocket of air at the small of your back. This is the easiest way to survive in the ocean, especially if you aren’t a strong swimmer, and your best bet if you find yourself caught far out at sea, away from shore. By floating, you stop expending the energy of struggling and swimming, and give yourself the necessary rest to break free of the current or grab onto something when it gets weaker or you have an opportunity. That way, you have a much better chance of getting yourself free from a scary situation!
Ridgewood NJ, Proposed Parking Lot Reconfiguration – Train Station Expansion
Proposed parking lot reconfiguration details are:
One bench, center of island, to be provided by others.
11 decorative streetlights, matching pattern used in the Village
An increase of 38 parking spaces
15 trees are to be removed. All were examined by the Village Arborist for health, most were in poor health.
14 trees are to be planted, 11 of which will be red oaks
44 of the reconfigured spaces will be for compact cars, with a stall size of 9-wide by 16-feet deep.
One way counter-clockwise circulation in the parking lot.
22-foot wide circulation lane.
Center island is to be 14-feet wide.(It is currently approx. 33 feet wide, at the widest section)
Sidewalk in the center island to be 5-feet in width.
Standard 9-foot by 18-foot parking stalls surrounding the center island
Center island sidewalk to be tinted a dark color (as per SHPO).
Existing lot has 107 parking spaces. Reconfigured lot will have 145 parking spaces.
Face it, folks. The village council and Board of Ed are treating the residents of Ridgewood poorly. We are open checkbooks for them. They need to treat our money like they treat their own household budgets, very carefully. I do not spend money that I do not have, why are they paying for things that will never make sense, like a huge parking garage that they already know will lose money. On top of that, buying property so someone else doesn’t buy it and develop it? This is bad. How about creating zoning ordinances that help maintain Ridgewood’s character to made large development unattractive and too difficult that developers will be scared away. I grew up in a NJ town where they have never let in franchises and fast food. No DD, no Starbucks. It is a thriving town where they have kept development reasonable and well thought out. Why can’t we do that here?
It is imperative that I a Ridgewood resident for the past 40 years have the opportunity to CONTINUE to vote on the school budget. The cost of the election is insignificant compared to the millions of dollars the Ridgewood council spends on non NECESSITIES. . Voting on the school budget is a right and a necessity. I don’t care what other communities do. I don’t care what other individuals do. I do what is right, what is my right as a citizen of this country. It is my right to have a voice in deciding the school budget which makes up a majority of my property taxes and and and above all, determines HOW MONEY is spent for the education of children.
It’s great in theory, voting on the budget, but in practice it does nothing.
Learn from history, the few times the budget did not pass the law says it goes to the village council for a vote.
Each time the village council passed the vote, under pressure from parents AND because the state mandates a budget must be passed by a certain date……. a date that is impossible to meet if 5 people who have lots of other responsibilities are now going to begin the budget process over all over again.
In other words — your vote is meaningless, that is why several years ago the vote was taken away from the citizens so that at least we could salvage the $$$$ spent on the meaningless vote.
The pressure from the teachers and the parents will be even stronger on the village council in this age or facebook rants and threats.
I caution newcomers….. nothing is as simple as it sounds, the state, the feds and all of the unions have all of the local boards and councils in NJ tied up so that they can achieve very little meaningful change……. if they wanted to.
Keep that in mind the next time you vote for a big government, free wheeling spending politician.
Hold on to your wallet. —- there’s a lot more coming with Murphy
Ridgewood NJ, after Wednesday council meeting and the confusion over the actual cost of renovations to the Elks Club ,it reminds old time residents of the “golden toilet fiasco of 2009 , and the Village Hall renovation fiasco of 1999.
The garage is being built solely for the apartments who will then get a quantity discount that is lower than the actual cost to Ridgewood. Have you noticed the builders offering to pay part of the construction? Restaurants and stores much beyond Walnut will not get one bit of additional business from the garage but even those few won’t commit a cent to the construction. As many said, before you build a garage, see what will happen if Ridgewood starts enforcing repeat parking, marking the tires in such a way that they can’t be rubbed off or just rolling the car a little bit. Easily done with 2 marks on each outside tire at different locations so one would always be showing. Also these business complainers who blame everyone but their employees should enforce the parking rule as well. The lot where they wish to build the garage could be repaved and restriped with diagonal parking at each end and restriping of all the center lanes would provide much more parking than the garage is going to actually allow non-commuters if villagers cannot use but the ground floor. The ground floor as presently described in the garage will not even give as as much space as we currently have without the re-striping. If on the remaining downtown streets they would convert to diagonal parking on one side and parallel on the other, we would gain a lot of spaces. And lastly, take away the favored businesses extra reserved spots where their valet picks up, or where it has to be marked yellow for no parking because an illegal wall blocks parking spots. Do either of these precious to the Village properties pay the town for the parking meter charge that would be normally earned with removal of their illegal blockades? Two meters to a spot would really add up as you know they would be constantly used. Since Susan and Raymond think the Village will just curl up and die without this garage and are going to put it there regardless of objections–why don’t you two take it upon yourselves to count the total spots gained by restriping just in that one parking lot and the on the street parking? And removing the illegal obstacles! If you really wanted an accurate count of what is possible, why don’t you include as a second count all our current parking lots after repaving and restriping? I am sure you could easily come up with over a hundred. Yes, that may not help the commuters much, but who is Ridgewood really for? The commuters who park, maybe grab a coffee and a newspaper, go to work, return, unpark their car and go home? What money or convenience does Ridgewood gain from that? And again, a reduced fee for monthly parking that will not cover our costs. Or for the residents who you are expecting to pay much more in taxes to provide a convenience for the builders (do they leave any money here?). Instead you are forcing Mt Carmel members to use your garage on Sundays and other days that Church is in session (and I’m sure it won’t be free!). I’m going to insult you here but I wish you would rise up out of the poppy field in Oz, put your brains back in your head, and actually think and listen for a change. Are any of you, except Bernie, capable of doing that?
Also, many of the parishioners are handicapped or have several small children and it is a long walk from the garage even to the side door of Church.
Does anyone have a source for fake money? Maybe if we made a visual presentation on how big that amount of money is, the council could understand it better. They appear to be only able to visualize in their minds sums that do not have a large amount of zeros behind them. I was under the impression that the council members were normal people and not among the extremely wealthy in town. I guess I made the mis-assumption that ordinary people could keep track of their money when the council shows it’s only the extremely rich who can count–or even see- the zeros. An unneeded garage and an expensive building that the last I heard the “water company had enough money for the purchase.” I thought that quote was rather interesting as the dispute between towns who think they were overcharged and got court approval to collect has not even been considered as a possible loss of that extra money in repayments demanded by the court. I’m really beginning to wonder if the members of the council can even balance their own checkbooks as they certainly don’t hesitate to spend on bonds for many years in the future and don’t see how this could make it extremely impossible for Ridgewood to balance theirs.
You were elected on the premise that you would only act on things that were good for Ridgewood and reduce costs in every way possible. At this rate you all might have the dubious honor of being the council who threw away the most money in all of Ridgewood’s recorded history during your term on the council.
Ridgewood schools are already busting at the seams. Add the several hundred students who will arrive with the developments and several new schools will need to be built. Remember, the census of how many students live in the apartments was taken only at the high rise at Franklin and Maple. No count was ever taken in any of the garden apartments on Oak and on the other side of the tracks. Why wasn’t it taken in buildings that do accommodate children? One good thing could probably occur. There will be many fewer houses w/graduation and sale signs together. It would be much cheaper to rent one of our new apartments and just leave when their children graduate. That is what many of current apartment dwellers do when their last child graduates now.
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Library Film & Culture Programs presents : Frederick Wiseman’s film makes a case for the library as an urgent idea.
Master documentarian Frederick Wiseman, known for his spellbinding films about complex institutions such as the police, high school, and the Paris Opera Ballet, turns his attention to New York Public Library for his latest film, Ex Libris. In this fascinating long-form documentary, Wiseman exposes the myriad offerings and resources provided by NYPL, from our online archive of images to our author talks to our educational programs and more.
This is a compelling look at a library beyond the books. SUNDAY, JULY 15 at 1pm. With refreshments. All are welcome!
