Yes, Ridgewood Water was mismanaged for many years. After the new director took over, the problems are being addressed. Thanks to the current council, the village is currently undergoing a $42 million capital investment to address the various infrastructure issues. Selling to a private supplier isn’t a good idea. The wáter will still come from the same source, might actually taste worse, and it will be much more expensive. Have you tasted the wáter supplied by Suez?? Eeewwww
I have absolutely no idea why you people don’t understand what goes on around here…connotating that just because their residents and they sit on the board this gives them the option of refusal is a joke. You really don’t get it do you? You can step up to the mic and blather all you like and petition for redress but we all know at the end of the day the decisions were made long ago and you were not and never will be a part of that process. Your job is pay the patently absurd taxes that we scam you with under the pretext of wonderful schools, over paid municipal workers ( Et Al) and to not complain. It’s how it’s done around here. We’ve been doing it for years. And getting away with it. SO DONT ROCK THE BOAT
“Facts are important.” Indeed. So where are the facts to support the allegations of mismanagement in this post? All we get are rainfall data which suggest a fundamental lack of appreciation for the difference between groundwater and surface water supplies. Yes, drought conditions impact an aquifer, but up to a point, excess rainfall simply runs off. The problems Ridgewood faces are not unique and have been decades in the making. In a nutshell: too much lawn irrigation (especially automated lawn sprinkling that has proliferated in the last 20 years) and increase in impervious surfacing which increases runoff and diminishes aquifer replenishment.
The fix is a little more complicated other than the obvious idea of preventing people from over-watering their lawns. More tank capacity would help but not solve the problem. You also will face enormous NIMBY resistance to locating such tanks where they are needed in residential areas. Partnering with a surface water supplier? Expensive, but an option if we want to underwrite the lavish lawn irrigation that we seem addicted to. Selling to a private supplier? A nightmare option of increased rates and unresponsive profit-motivated management.
Is RW management perfect? Or even good? Maybe not, but the infrastructure issues here come down to over-development and over-sprinkling of lawns. I see the water restrictions as inevitable and entirely reasonable. Get used to them.
file photo by Boyd Loving
May 18,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood Police report that on May 12, a business located on Chestnut Street reported a theft of services. The restaurant reported two males ordered and consumed about $60 worth of food and then left without making payment. The Ridgewood Detective bureau is investigating the incident.
file photo Ridgewood Police
ief is at it again May 18,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood Police report the sign thief is at it again . On May 13, Ptl. Jack Knudsen responded to the Travel Elementary School located on a report of criminal mischief. Upon arrival a school staff member reported signs affixed to the fencing of the school property were removed between 5/12/17 and 5/13/17. The signs were apparently maliciously cut and removed from the fencing. If anyone has any information about this incident, please contact the Ridgewood Police Detective Bureau at 201-251-4535.
As an RHS student- these numbers are completely false. This survey was given on a volunteer-only basis, and to participate, your parent needed to sign a consent form. I didn’t take this survey, and I have never met a single student who did. I believe it was also administered in the RHS campus center with teachers all around. This year, the student editors of the RHS High Times gave their own version of the survey that had much more accurate results (these were only published in print and are not on the website). Every student in RHS and many teachers make fun of the social norms survey and the attempts by the school to push all of the drug/alcohol problems under the rug.
Facts are important. This problem is wholly and entirely a mismanagement issue by the village and RW Water. Rainfall and water supplies are not impacting this issue. This is a poor infrastructure, lack of planning, and foolish government decisions. Real leaders would solve the issues. From the US site
Heavy rainfall caused widespread flooding: Record precipitation was observed in parts of the Northwest, Northeast, Southern Plains and Mid-Atlantic. North Carolina had its wettest April on record. Rains caused widespread flooding in the Mid-Mississippi River Valley and contributed to numerous landslides in the West.
Drought shrunk to lowest extent since 2000: On May 2, 5 percent of the contiguous U.S. was in drought. This was the smallest drought footprint since the Drought Monitor began in 2000. Despite improvement in many areas, drought worsened in the Southwest and across parts of the Southeast where several large wildfires burned in Florida and southern Georgia.
You’ve all fallen for the spin put out by Ridgewood Water!
We are not in a drought!
Ridgewood Water can’t pump the water fast enough, this has nothing to do with supply but with transmission!
And, please don’t tell me that I need to replant a tree for every dead tree I take down on my property.
I’m not investing my money in a tree that I may or may not be “allowed” to water.
As someone who conducts many surveys as part of my job in communications, a survey like this is questionable. To start with the people most likely to respond to a survey, take the time out to thoughtfully and honestly do so, are the ones most likely to report positive behaviors. I dont have data on it, but my experience says that those students who are engaging in the less than optimal behaviors arent going to wast their time on a survey or answering honestly. I didnt notice, did it say what % of students responded? Would have been interesting to have also had them gather additional data such as which Elementary school they went to (neighborhood data) and if possible average GPA. If this data was true, we wouldnt be seeing and hearing about it so much. Very concerning. I’d like to figure out how we can actively address this!
May 18,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood Police report that once again Old Paramus Reformed Church became a target for criminal mischief. On May 11, Ptl. Kyle Scarpa responded to the Old Paramus Reformed Church to investigate criminal mischief to a concrete fence on the property. Upon arrival Church staff members reported two historic fence pillars were smashed a part and the iron bars removed in the past. The Ridgewood Detective bureau is investigating the incident.
photos courtesy of Boyd Lovings Facebook
May 18,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, On Wednesday afternoon, 05/17, Ridgewood PD, FD, and EMS responded to a three (3) vehicle chain reaction crash that took place on Franklin Avenue under the NJ Transit railroad tracks. EMS and FD EMTs evaluated a toddler who had been properly secured in a child restraint device of a vehicle involved. The victim’s parent declined ambulance transport to a hospital. FD personnel attended to a crash related fluid spill while police collected data for a crash report and controlled heavy traffic in the area. One (1) of the three (3) vehicles involved was towed from the scene by a hydraulic wheel lift tow truck.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The Board of Education and Superintendent Dr. Daniel Fishbein will host residents for coffee and casual conversation on Wednesday, May 17. The casual meeting will take place from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place, Ridgewood. All residents are invited to drop in to share their thoughts, questions, suggestions and concerns.
Location: Ridgewood Business District, E. Ridgewood Ave., and side streets
Shop and dine all day, sales galore,
great deals while strolling through Ridgewood.
for more details check on the Chamber’s website calendar May 18th, for the names of the stores participating.
info: [email protected]
201-445-2600
see you in Ridgewood
file photo by Boyd Loving
Updated May 16, 2017
Posted May 16, 2017
By Ted Sherman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Education is not cheap. There are teacher salaries and benefits, classroom support, books and supplies, administrative salaries and building construction and maintenance.
New Jersey school districts last year spent on average $20,385 per student to educate their students. Statewide, per-pupil costs ranged from a high of $60,129 in one small district, to $10,181 for a Jersey City charter school with 310 students.
In some of the state’s regional vocational schools, per pupil spending last year was as high as $35,568. New Jersey’s 21 vocational-technical districts are county-run districts with schools teaching traditional vocational subjects, including auto repair and cosmetology. Many of the vo-tech districts, including Bergen, Union and Middlesex, also include specialized high schools that require entrance exams for admission and are designed for the county’s highest-achieving students.
Not to mention the impact this thoughtless regulation has had on area businesses and employment. I heard Rohslers and others have complained to Ridgewood that the restrictions are impacting their business because people don’t want to invest in plants, etc. I’m considering cutting back my weekly landscaping service to twice a month. There is an economic ripple effect to this decision which I don’t think this council considered. If it was in response to an emergency I could understand it, but considering the amount of rain this season it seems nothing short of ridiculous. We should be able to water more than twice a week for 2 or 3 months of the year and maintain our properties that we all invest in dearly. Every other day watering seems reasonable unless of emergency drought conditions, and I want to see the rest of our service area comply with this rule otherwise it’s discriminating against Ridgewood
