Ridgewood NJ, Just a quick take on last night first council meeting with the new council , if tonight is any indication of things to come, so much is going to be accomplished. Ordinance 3066 is to be repealed.There was real talk about Ridgewood Water,even addressing the law suit.
The parking issues were addressed with real common sense and many new ideas as well as recognition of the immediacy of getting things done quickly. Roberta didn’t run the meeting and actually did what she is supposed to do, inform the council!
Rurik Halaby could not help himself. He had to praise the past council and once again went on and on about how there has never been anyone like Roberta. He gave Susan a mild lecture and talked about his belief that Valley is a done deal and to fight this would be the equivalent of endangering lives( lifes?)He cautioned Susan not to base her decisions on a few disgruntled neighbors and move Ridgewood forward into the future embracing change and growth. I might have made this sound better than it actually did! But she was very polite as usual.
Hopefully we go forward with a suit against Valley. maybe it would tie things up long enough for them to start developing all the other properties they have purchased and their argument that their expansion is for the greater good will not have as much impact in a court of law as it seems to have done with the current judge.
Ground Water Under Direct Influence of Surface Water (GWUDI)
July 14,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The term “GWUDI” refers to a groundwater source that is located close enough to nearby surface water (e.g., a river or lake) so as to receive some amount of direct surface water recharge. If a portion of the water source is from surface water, then the groundwater source is considered to be at risk of contamination from pathogens and viruses that are not normally found in true groundwater. Ridgewood completed a screening process of all of its wells in 1994, and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) found that none of the wells were considered to be under the direct influence of surface water.
More recently, data reviewed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suggested that five Ridgewood Water wells may be under the direct influence of surface water, and as a result, Ridgewood Water has installed advanced disinfection equipment at four of these locations, and removed the fifth well from service. Ridgewood Water will continue to study the water quality at these wells during the next year to better understand the relationship between surface water and groundwater and determine whether additional treatment steps are necessary.
In light of this information, Ridgewood Water is also performing a study of 33 additional wells in the water supply system that are located near surface water bodies to look for any evidence of surface water influence in these wells. If any evidence is found during the course of this study of such a connection, Ridgewood Water will immediately install advanced disinfection treatment at these locations. It is important to note that routine distribution system monitoring of the Ridgewood Water distribution system since 2005 has never detected any positive samples in the entire system that would indicate a surface water impact on microbiologic quality of water supplied to customers.
Ridgewood Water is beginning a year-long study of its supply well system to evaluate the vulnerability of the wells to microbiological contamination from nearby surface water bodies.
Quarterly progress updates can be found HERE.
ABOUT THE STUDY
Ridgewood will be performing the GWUDI study under a rigorous Source Water Monitoring Plan which has been approved by the EPA. The study involves the collection of water samples from up to 38 wells and three surface water locations on a weekly and biweekly basis. The samples will be analyzed in the laboratory for evidence of microbiologic activity and for other “indicator parameters” that may indicate surface water influence.
All samples will be collected and analyzed by an NJDEP-certified laboratory and will be reported on a quarterly basis to the NJDEP and EPA.
Group 1 Wells (2 locations)
For the two Group 1 wells, EPA has determined that the occasional presence of of e.coli in raw water has occurred and is requiring further assessment to determine whether there is evidence of a direct connection of these sources to surface water. Ridgewood will perform weekly raw water monitoring at the two Group 1 wells for the presence of fecal coliform, e. coli and turbidity.
Group 2 Wells– (3 locations)
For the three Group 2 wells, EPA has determined that the occasional presence of of e.coli in raw water has occurred and is requiring further assessment to determine the degree of influence of nearby surface water on each well and whether there is a need for additional treatment. Ridgewood will perform weekly raw water monitoring at the two Group 2 wells for the presence of fecal coliform, e. coli, aerobic spores, pH, temperature and turbidity. Ridgewood will also perform weekly surface water monitoring at associated surface water bodies for the same parameters. The third well has been shut down and is being reevaluated for reconstruction or permanent closure.
Group 3 Wells – (33 locations)
The 33 Group 3 wells have not exhibited any evidence of being under the influence of surface water. These wells were previously screened by NJDEP and were not found to warrant additional assessment. As such, the NJDEP issued monitoring waivers to Ridgewood for these wells. EPA has determined that a further assessment of these wells is warranted at this time. The monitoring will consist of biweekly raw water sampling and analysis for e.coli bacteria.
Ridgewood has also agreed to perform Hydrogeologic Sensitivity Assessments (HSAs) of all Group 3 wells. These are reviews of the conditions and potential sources of surface contamination at each location to assess their vulnerability to future microbiologic contamination
Ridgewood NJ, for the second year in a row residents report being harassed by the Village of Ridgewood about their sidewalks. This is less than one year the requested repairs were already made.
While some residents contend the Village is just looking for the permit fee others like Barb Ehret Crowe on the “It takes a Village of Ridgewood Facebook page ,”The thing that is crazy to me is in most cases damage is caused by trees planted and maintained by the village yet the cost for the damage they create becomes the burden of the homeowner. Makes no sense”
Amended 9-16-2015 by Ord. No. 3498
A. It shall be the duty of any owner of real property abutting any public street or sidewalk in the Village of Ridgewood, at the owner’s sole cost and expense, to install, construct, repair, alter, relay, reconstruct and maintain the sidewalks in front of or abutting such property whenever such sidewalks are required as hereinafter provided or, being already installed, shall be in such state of deterioration or disrepair as to constitute a hazard to the general public using said sidewalks unless they are repaired, altered, relaid or reconstructed. In addition to the foregoing, it shall also be the duty of the owner, at the owner’s sole cost and expense, to install, construct, repair, alter, relay, or reconstruct curbs where the deterioration or damage to the same has been caused by the actions of such owner. B. It shall be the duty of any owner of real property abutting any public street or sidewalk in the Village of Ridgewood, at the owner’s sole cost and expense, to maintain the interior of the tree wells located in/on the sidewalk in front of or abutting such property each year by weeding, removing debris and maintain the overall clean appearance of the tree wells and the interior of same.
Many residents claim to have already done the repairs .
Maggie Borkowski Neilson ,”It takes a Village of Ridgewood Facebook page,” I replaced last year were due to-their trees. Now they’re back saying they see another. No trees near it, no different than last year. Wasn’t a problem then but is now. Guess they missed it last year while marking up the rest of my sidewalks.”
She went on to say , “We are on Fairfield. Our entire street was done last year this time. I’m angry because I fixed all the ones they marked, plus an extra just to be sure, and now they’re coming back looking for more! Trying to double dip on the permit fees when they haven’t even completed the rest of the town once yet.”
Many felt a call to Village manager Roberta Sonenfeld would end up hearing 30 minutes lecture that how everything she has been doing is great with zero defect rate and ‘you’ the resident must be wrong?
Maggie Borkowski Neilson said after a visit to the engineering department claimed ,” They are blaming the fact that they used temps last year as to why they didn’t catch this one slab. Also said yes, my contractor had a blanket permit to do work but didn’t notify them that they worked at my specific address so that is why they are back at my property one year later.”
Many long time readers remember that following a citizen complaint registered with the Village, all sidewalks on South Irving Street were inspected in late 2010 or early 2011. Notices of violation were subsequently mailed to many property owners and several contractors began work on repairs in the summer of 2011.
Below are two articles, from today’s WSJ and Bergen Record, on Monday’simportant NJ Appeals Court ruling on Affordable Housing (AH) that will: (1) substantially lower the overall number of AH units required by municipalities under AH laws, and (2) may cause further delay in defining the actual obligations of municipalities under AH laws. In the Record article, even Kevin Walsh, the Fair Share Housing advocate (whose threatening of “hearsay” letter was wrongly permitted to be read into the Planning Board’s record by attorney, Gail Price – as if it represented a legal determination – scaring some Board Members and improperly influencing votes) indicated the forthcoming delays from this ruling, saying: “it requires further studies.”
In short, this ruling and these articles support what I, and other members of CBR, tried to convey to the Planning Board and Village Council during the past couple of years of overstated AH ‘threats’ proffered by Mrs. Price: that the Affordable Housing/COAH matter is, despite her puzzling advice, very unsettled and will continue to lack real clarity, potentially for years to come. It’s been that way since the 80s. No Legislature wants to fully effect the laws because they recognize their often impossible demands on NJ’s municipalities. However, conversely, no legislature, or legislator (other than Christie), has effectively sought to rework them or strike them down due to the obvious political implications.
These laws are just too flawed, resulting in the tumult and dysfunction of the past several decades. Fact is: there are no clearly defined AH numbers for Ridgewood right now. And there’s a chance there may never be. Given this, our representatives need to govern planning based on “what is right for Ridgewood now and in the future” and not “what minimizes builder’s remedy lawsuits.”
I firmly believe Mrs. Price wrongly influenced the Planning Board decision on the Multifamily Ordinances by alleging that a “Yes” vote was needed on the Master Plan changes, enabling development at the excessive levels sought by developers, to avoid potential developer lawsuits based on recent AH court rulings. As many anticipated, these rulings have now been lessened, and to some degree, called into question. Unfortunately, Mrs. Price never properly educated the Board on how dysfunctional the AH/COAH laws and politics have been (and very well will be), and that until such time as an unlikely final verdict is delivered, they should be wary reacting too quickly to threats from developers.
The implications of Monday’s ruling serves to underscore the unwise, biased and, unacceptable for Ridgewood, process undertaken by the prior Planning Board and Council. While we can and should promote fitting and proper development (and proper “development process”) in Ridgewood, which does add affordable units to our housing base, we should never have done this in the manner – fraught with bias and influence – that occurred over the past four years.
Beyond this, I believe there are certainly other ways Ridgewood can more properly and proactively plan to meet future AF/COAH requirements. These ways may be more creative and better for both Ridgewood and those truly needing AH than those put forth by the developers. I look forward to discussing my thoughts on them with you. I have been in the multifamily business for two decades, have managed many properties with affordable and moderately priced units, and am happy to share my experience.
Lastly, it is important to note that if members of the prior Planning Board and Village Council voted out of fear of lawsuits, they already got one: and sadly it’s from their own Residents, the very people they were elected or selected to properly represent. It’s a suit that alleges decisions based upon conflict of interest, outside influence, and improper representation and, most importantly, seeks to correct the serious mistakes in planning, representation and judgement made by the prior Council and Planning Board.
While the AH/COAH laws truly lack clarity, what is clear is that Ridgewood’s Residents demand proper planning and process. There is a much better route than the one taken by the prior Planning Board and Council.
Best Regards,
Dave Slomin, Resident
Follow up _________________________________________________________________
July 13,2016
Dear Mayor, Council and Village Attorney Rogers,
My July 12th email provoked feedback from a good number of fellow Residents and representatives various Ridgewood citizen groups, including responses to my letter and the linked articles with concern that pro-development attorneys may contend the appellate decision does not “change anything.” As the agenda indicates tonight’s Council meeting will address litigation in closed session, I wanted to make sure my comments were placed in the proper context, asMonday’s ruling does impact things here in Ridgewood.
My point is that the ruling exemplifies the significant dysfunction and lack of clarity that continues to exist (as it has for several decades) in the Affordable Housing definitions and determinations at the State level. This highlights the Planning Board attorney’s failure to properly advise the Board on how to address these issues. Mrs. Price, as a professional land use attorney, was well aware of this dysfunction and should never have counseled our Planning Board as she did. By proceeding as if the now reversed lower court decision was new “scripture,” and by either misunderstanding and/or misapplying other standards, the Planning Board attorney wrongly influenced the public debate and Board members’ votes. Necessarily, therefore, the Village Council proceeded under a flawed process and construct.
I do understand that whether State rulings ultimately determine that Ridgewood owes 50, or 100, or 500, or 1,000, or 100,000,000 affordable units, we are well short of that number and need to provide some additional AH units. From that singular perspective the ruling has a more limited impact. However, that is not the issue at hand. Rather, the issue is the defective and conflicted process in our municipal governance effecting the passage of recent pro-development ordinances. As such, what the appellate court’s decision signifies to me – as a multifamily real estate professional, with several decades of experience – is that the law has been and will be in a state of flux for some time to come. That no one can predict with certainty what will happen should definitely have been strongly conveyed to the Planning Board and Village Council prior to their votes. It was not. That is why the willingness of the prior majorities on the Council and Planning Board to side with those speculating with our downtown is so particularly egregious. Rather than react and surrender to an imagined obligations, or cave to the potential of developer lawsuits, Ridgewood should have performed correct and proper master planning with proper construct and counsel. There were so many things wrong and biased in their failed excuse for “planning.” You have the opportunity to begin the process of correcting this and protect Ridgewood from reckless overbuilding now and in the future.
Thus, I urge the newly constituted Council to address all pending litigation in view of the voters’ mandate. And you do have a clear cut mandate. Mayor Knudsen and Deputy Mayor Sedon both won their council seats in a landslide two years ago. And in the recent election, not only did Councilmembers Voigt, Hache and Walsh win in another landslide, but they routed the candidates heavily promoted by Aronsohn, Pucciarelli and Hauck to promote furtherance of development at the excessive scale and density recently passed. Then, subsequent to these elections, Residents next defeated the oversized garage by a vote of 2 to 1. These were not just victories. They were repudiations. They represent the voices and the clarity with which Ridgewood Residents speak and vote once we know the truth. Residents have spoken. You know very well what your constituents want. The recent votes leave no questions whatsoever. Your actions need to reflect the mandate we gave you.
Now is the perfect opportunity for the Village to move forward in acknowledgement of the serious issues raised by litigation in the housing and hospital lawsuits. With these suits, along with the garage referendum matter, you need to rectify Ridgewood’s core problems. Let’s show progress by first openly acknowledging that serious mistakes were made by the prior Council and Board Members. We all know it… our votes showed it. A perfect starting point for that is to recognize the legitimacy of the issues raised by our fellow citizens’ lawsuits, and settle those lawsuits as strong representatives of your constituents and not as officials fearful of outside interests. Then, let’s redirect the Village’s resources to focus on the developers with either settlement talks or continuing litigation, whatever is required to do what is truly right for Ridgewood. If you do what’s right, you will have our endless support. If any shortcuts are taken, Ridgewood’s divisions will sadly remain. And it’s time to end our divisions.
Lastly, please note I am including Mayor Knudsen in this email, as I entered her email incorrectly in my email of 7/12.
Ridgewood NJ, looks like Ridgewood residents who questioned the over development of the central business district proved right all along. A state appeals panel overturned a court order that could have added thousands of units to developers’ plans.
Suburban towns are not required to address the so-called “backlog” of unmet housing needs that supposedly accumulated from 1999-2015. This is a very good development for Ridgewood. The developers have much less leverage than they thought they did. Now we have to press the point that we are fully built-out, have been for decades, and should not be obliged by any court to “build up”, city-style, to accommodate large numbers of new residents.
What a shame for Saraceno, Simoncini, Pucciarelli and all the others that stood to gain big time and pushed so hard to get all that housing into the CBD. Kudos to,the citizens who delayed all the development and stood up to Aronsohn and his horrible reign of terror, and Gwenn with her sparkly eyed talk about COAH.
Taxes are too high, why are we paying $102mn a year for schools that aren’t living up to their reputation? The teachers are a huge part of the problem here, and their “bad faith” negotiations are only making things worse. Why do they deserve better health care benefits, i.e. lower co-pays, than the taxpayers subsidizing their plans?
These teachers have lost so much credibility in our community through their actions/inactions, words, and greed. They’re riding the reputation of excellence despite not being excellent themslves – time for new educators who actually want to work with our students and help them.
This commentator is aware of a long-tenured RHS teacher in an important academic subject (won’t get any more specific than that) that was on full mail-it-in mode all year, for no good reason. Near the end of the year, it got even worse. The teacher’s students suffered needlessly, particularly grade-wise. Like, all of them. We need new blood. Teacher misbehavior in light of this contract dispute has gotten out of hand in terms of its spitefulness. Ridgewood residents and taxpayers should not allow themselves to forget this…
it’s even worse than that. The teachers recruit our own kids to fight their proxy war through indoctrination. I read a recent article in the paper about the various ‘Teachers of the Year’ nominated by students. One of Ridgewood’s teachers was complaining how anti-teacher it was in his school instead of being thankful for the nomination. He can always go to another district if he doesn’t like his six-figure 10 month job.
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Police report that Ridgewood High School was the target of vandalism. The Ridgewood Board of Education reported criminal mischief at the Ridgewood High School occurred over the weekend. A rock was thrown through a window causing property damage.
All actors are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law
Charlotte Samuels, a recent graduate of Ridgewood High School, has made her mark in the worlds of marathon swimming and community service. In 2015, she became the first person to swim a course of more than 20 miles from Long Island to the Jersey Shore through an area known as the New York Bight.
Samuels also became the youngest person in the world to complete the “Triple Crown” of open water swimming. She conquered the feat in 2014 when she mastered the English Channel, theManhattan Island Marathon Swim, and the Catalina Channel. The previous record had been held by an 18-year-old Australian swimmer.
Samuels’ swimming career launched at age 12 when a friend encouraged her to participate in a mile-long swim in the Potomac River in Maryland; it was then that she discovered her love for open water swimming.
Ridgewood NJ, A Ridgewood Police Department Patrol Patrol Officer and two (2) police department supervisors responded to Ridgewood High School (627 East Ridgewood Avenue) shortly after 11 AM on Friday, 6/10 in response to a 911 telephone call from a school employee reporting dozens of students running amok in the school’s main hallway with plastic swords in their hands. Police confiscated an undisclosed number of swords and reported damage to at least one (1) classroom’s windows. No immediate arrests were apparent.
As the New Jersey Board of Education deliberates whether high school students should have to pass certain math and English exams to graduate, one state lawmaker wants to throw another subject into the mix.
Assemblyman Jay Webber, a Republican from Morris County, is sponsoring legislation to require students to pass a civics test, using the same set of questions asked of immigrants applying for U.S. citizenship.
His bill (A3894) is nearly identical to one introduced during the last legislative session by then-Assemblyman Charles Mainor, a Democrat. Mainor’s bill (A4226) never made it out of committee.
Under the latest proposal, students would have to correctly answer at least 60 of 100 questions. Students would be asked, for example, what the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution are called (answer: Bill of Rights), who becomes president if both the president and vice president can no longer serve (answer: Speaker of the House) or what stops one branch of government from becoming too powerful (answer: checks and balances).
Students would first take the test in ninth grade. Those who don’t pass would retake the exam each year until they passed. Local school boards would decide the method and manner in which the test is administered.
Ridgewood NJ, On May 19, nine RHS students participated in the Orlando Saa Foreign Language Poetry Contest, along with 48 different high schools. RHS had three winners: Jenna Casey, 2nd Place for French; Yihan Wang, Honorable Mention for Chinese; and Jeff Zachem, 3rd place in Latin
Ridgewood NJ, for the second time in as many weeks a Senior prank strikes again,hitting a home 15 Maynard Court , filling the front lawn with Village council elections signs of losing candidates .
RIDGEWOOD, N.J. , The Ridgewood High School Boys and Girls track teams each won state sectional titles this Saturday.
This was the first sectional title for the RHS Girls since 2006, ending a seven-year run for Randolph; the RHS Boys win puts the squad back on top of the group after losing to Randolph last year. Before that loss, they had won five consecutive sectional titles.The RHS Boys team ended the season posting a perfect record.
Outstanding efforts were made ; senior Sam Halvorsen won the girls 1,600 meters in 5:03.12 and placed third in the 3,200 in 11:09.04 behind teammate Olympia Martin (10:58.62) and Bergen Tech’s Abigail McLaughlin.
Halvorsen was also part of the 4×800 relay team along with Leah Rosenfeld,Meghan Adams, and Evelyn Kotch, which set the meet record with a winning time of 9:32.84.
Olympia Martin won the 3,200 meters in 10:58.62 coming from behind to do it. Never leading until the final lap when she passed McLaughlin.
Michael Thurston won the 800 for the boys with a time of 1:54.45. He also anchored the victorious 4×400 relay team (3:20.97) which held off Paterson Eastside by about a mere half a second .
Kobi Grant won an exciting 100 in 11.09 for Ridgewood in which the top four sprinters were all separated by a half-second. Grant finished fourth in the 200-meter run with a time of 22.43, and anchored the 4×100 relay team to victory in a season-best 43.90 ,finishing second behind Mount Olive (43.32).
1st Place winner, Alexandra Gutierrez with Scott Garrett
May 26,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) announced the winners of the 2016 Congressional Art Competition at Sussex County Community College in Newton this Saturday. The Congressional Art Competition is open to all 9th-12th graders from New Jersey’s Fifth District, and this year’s competition featured 90 pieces of artwork from New Jersey high schools in Bergen, Passaic, Sussex, and Warren Counties (full list below).
This year the winners were: 1st Place, Alexandra Gutierrez, “Split Vision,” Bergen County Academies; 2nd Place, Grant Brewster, “Forgotten,” Delbarton School; 3rd Place, Nicole Spangenburg, “Doug,” Wallkill Valley Regional High School; 4th Place, Nicole Spangenburg, “Rasta Man Dan,” Wallkill Valley Regional High School; 5th Place, Sophia Bevacqua, “Landscape,” Northern Highlands Regional High School; 6th Place, Nicolina Kanapinski, “Take Me For a Ride,” High Point Regional High School; 7th Place, Maansi Srivastava, “The Afternoon Glow,” Bergen County Academies; 8th Place, Sarah Vargas, “The Dreamer,” Bergen County Academies.
Each spring, the Congressional Institute sponsors a nationwide high school visual art competition to recognize and encourage artistic talent in the nation and in each congressional district. Since the Artistic Discovery competition began in 1982, more than 650,000 high school students have participated. Students submit entries to their representative’s office, and panels of district artists select the winning entries. The first-place winner from each congressional district is invited to attend a reception in Washington, D.C., and the winning artwork is displayed in the U.S. Capitol for a year. Read more here.
Students from the following schools will be participating (by county):
Bergen County Academies
Bergen County Technical High School (Student lives in district)
Ridgewood NJ, RHS junior Jamie Lim, has recently been named a finalist in the Facing History Together student essay contest Titled, Jam in a Jar, her essay was picked out of nearly 4,000 other student entries. The contest was based around the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, and sponsored by the organization, Facing Our History and Ourselves.
