It doesn’t make sense that a village manager is announcing what a tenant has spent for their own personal gain at a public meeting? And then when the village manager is asked to provide facts about the information she put out there she is unable. How can a town like Ridgewood let this manager get away with this. If the information is said at a meeting then it should be available to the public at that moment. What is this healthbarn and what does it have to do with Ridgewood and the village manager? Seems a lot of time is spent on the subject. And a lot of the tax payers dollars are being used to help a business. I heard on one hand it is a partnership but then I heard that all Ridgewood is collecting is the same rent the tenant before paid. Any info is welcome
Ridgewood NJ, One (1) summons was issued by Ridgewood PD in connection with a Monday morning, 07/18 rollover crash at the intersection of Kenilworth Road and Spring Avenue in Ridgewood. The driver of a Toyota Camry allegedly ran a stop sign and hit a Hyundai Santa Fe, which then rolled over on its side. A retired Ridgewood firefighter assisted the Hyundai’s driver from the vehicle by kicking out the windshield; he suffered a minor cut to his leg in the process, but refused to be transported to a hospital. Both vehicles were removed from the scene by a flatbed tow truck. Ridgewood FD personnel attended to a minor crash related fluid spill. Spring Avenue was closed in both directions between Circle and South Pleasant Avenues while the crash scene was being cleared.
The committee members who signed those advertisements and letters to the editor should also resign. As citizens they have a right to free speech. They signed those letters as advisory committee members going.
They were never an independent voice. Their mission should be defined, their minutes should be public. Otherwise they are political hacks.
All boards should have by laws and minutes.
The FAC seems like a tool of the council and not an independent body. They did not help to dispel this image when two members ran for council supported by the current council majority. Their letters to the editor in support of the council majority causes showed that they did not exercise good judgment.
“The third section details capital investments that Health Barn has made at Habernickel. Health Barn has already exceeded its $60,000 capital commitment.”
ZERO FACTS to support this statement, and despite numerous e-mail requests made to Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld for backup details, NO INFORMATION HAS BEEN PROVIDED TO DATE.
In fact, in response to several e-mails from residents, Sonefeld replied in writing that “Stacey Antine is currently out of the country . . . ” (i.e., currently unable to provide the requested details) – however, within hours of Sonefeld’s e-mail being sent, Ms. Antine was observed walking to her car at 1057 Hillcrest Road, Ridgewood, NJ USA. Huh?
Leading many residents to wonder if the ” . . . already exceeded its $60,000 capital commitment” is a BOGUS statement (i.e., a lie).
Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Blog received a tip that one of the boats pictured here was moved to another piece of Village owned property. Our tipster also reported that employees of the Village’s Street Department assisted in moving the watercraft. It is not know whether the boat was towed there by a Village owned vehicle.
We will not reveal where the boat supposedly is, but will tell you that will the cooperation of a resident who lives near the main entrance to the facility, we have installed well disguised web accessible night vision video camera and are now videotaping all movements in and out of that facility. Additionally, we now have access to a camera equipped drone and will obtain aerial photographs of the property shortly.
Outdoor storage. The following regulations shall govern outdoor storage within the Village:
(1)
In the R-125, R-110, R-1, R-2 and R-3 Residential Zones, and in other zones where a legal one-family or two-family dwelling exists, outdoor storage shall be permitted only as an accessory use to a one-family detached or two-family dwelling and shall be limited to private camping trailers, boats and boat trailers, garden tractors and implements, automobiles, motorcycles and motorbikes, except as otherwise provided below. Such storage shall comply with the following requirements:
(a)
Outdoor storage shall be permitted in the side and rear yard.
(b)
The item as stored shall not exceed six feet in height.
(c)
The item shall be screened with a fence or screening hedge so that such item is not visible from any abutting residential property or street.
(d)
Any items stored in the side yard shall not be permitted closer to the side lot line than the side yard setback requirements for a principal building on the same lot.
(e)
Any of the permitted items enumerated in § 190-124E(1) that exceed a height of six feet, as well as any pickup or panel truck, mobile home, bus, van used for commercial purposes or recreation vehicle, may be stored on any residential lot only if such item shall be kept in an enclosed garage on such lot; provided, however, that the parking of any recreational vehicle outside a garage for up to five separate or consecutive days during a calendar year shall be permitted.
(2)
Outdoor storage of any kind is prohibited in the R-1A, R-2A, R-4 and R-5 and R-7 Zones, except for a legal one-family detached or two-family dwelling.
[Amended 8-9-2006 by Ord. No. 3015]
(3)
Nothing contained herein shall be construed as prohibiting parking of passenger vehicles used by the occupant for day-to-day activities, provided that such vehicles have side windows and are parked on the driveway. Trucks parked overnight shall be garaged.
(4)
In all nonresidential zones, no article, equipment, vehicle, supplies or material shall be kept, stored or displayed outside the confines of any building unless and until the following regulations are complied with, except that outdoor cafes licensed by the Village and permitted by this chapter shall be exempt from the following requirements to the extent such exception is required to carry out the outdoor cafe business:
(a)
Outdoor storage is only permitted in the side and rear yards.
(b)
Any items stored in the side yard shall not be permitted closer to the side lot line than the side yard setback requirements for a principal building on the same lot.
(c)
Outdoor storage shall be screened by special planting or fencing, maintained in good condition, so that items being stored shall not be visible from any adjacent property or public street.
[Amended 4-7-2010 by Ord. No. 3242]
(d)
Any fence required to screen the outdoor storage of flammable material otherwise permitted by this chapter shall not be closer than 20 feet to any property line of the lot upon which it is erected.
(5)
Where otherwise permitted by this chapter, the display of new and used motor vehicles for retail sales as a permitted accessory use in the B-2 and C Zone Districts shall not be required to be screened by a planting or fence, except where the premises for such permitted use abuts or faces any premises situated in any residential zone.
(6)
Motor vehicles, recreational vehicles, boats and trailers parked or stored within the Village shall not be used for sleeping, bathing, toilet functions or the preparation of food, on either a permanent or temporary basis.
[Added 4-9-2008 by Ord. No. 3114]
(7)
Motor vehicles, recreational vehicles, boats and trailers parked or stored in the Village shall not be used for the storage of items or materials. Exempted from this prohibition is the storage of items or materials in such vehicles or equipment that are designed for this purpose, when such vehicles or equipment are accessory and incidental to the principal use on the property and are not prohibited by other regulations. By way of example, but not limitation, this subsection shall be interpreted to prohibit the storage of items or materials in a commercial vehicle or commercial trailer on a residential property, unless such commercial vehicle or trailer is permitted to be located on the property by other regulations of the Village.
[Added 4-9-2008 by Ord. No. 3114]
(8)
The storage of flammable, toxic or hazardous materials on property or in vehicles shall comply with all applicable regulations, including but not limited to the regulations of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the Village’s Department of Health and the Fire Department.
[Added 4-9-2008 by Ord. No. 3114]
In fact, remembering the details of a meeting well enough to approve or question them is only possible within a very short time. Not to mention that just getting it out of the way immediately is the only sane way to proceed.
There are rules (laws?) about this, which the previous council broke constantly. And this has happened before, with previous councils approving months and months of meeting minutes all at once just before some of them stepped down from the dais for the last time. Hearing them approve many months of minutes that they couldn’t possibly have read through was proof positive, if we needed it, that they were hiding everything they could from the public and press and spending time only on issues from which they would benefit personally. Or at the very least, they were comfortable flouting the law and making things much harder for residents as well as others, including attorneys, researchers, developers, etc., seeking meeting minutes.
“Yes. There seems to be a lot of things fueling this but it is the constant misinformation that is reported by the mainstream media and the 24/7 liberal cable networks that stoke the fires with their political correct reporting, speculation on what happened and their team of has been FBI and political talking heads.” ex-Mayor Keith Killion,and Former Ridgewood Police Captain
Ridgewood NJ, in his comment Killion echoed a sentiment held by many law enforcement officials through out the country . In a recent opinion piece by Heather MacDonald ,”The war on cops: The big lie of the anti-cop left turns lethal”
MacDonald says that in the summer of 2014 a lie overtook significant parts of the country and grew into a kind of mass hysteria. That lie holds that the police pose a mortal threat to black Americans—indeed, that the police are the greatest threat facing black Americans today.
Several subsidiary untruths buttress that central myth: that the criminal-justice system is biased against blacks; that there is no such thing as a black underclass; and that crime rates are comparable between blacks and whites, so that disproportionate police action in minority neighborhoods cannot be explained without reference to racism.
The poisonous effect of these lies manifested itself in the cold-blooded assassination of two NYPD officers in December that year.
MacDonald goes on to assert that the highest reaches of American society promulgated those untruths and participated in the mass hysteria. President Barack Obama, speaking after a grand jury decided not to indict the police officer who fatally shot Michael Brown, declared that blacks were right to believe that the criminal-justice system was often stacked against them. Obama repeated that message as he traveled around the country subsequently.
Ridgewood NJ, Is the new council really planning to approve minutes from the last meeting this Wednesday. We noticed an agenda line item for July 20th meeting which says :
6. Approval of Minutes
If the new council is planning to approve the minutes from July 13th meeting on July 20th, that will be a surprising change for the village residents.
The previous administration had stopped releasing meeting minutes for almost 2 years while they went on to approve multi family housing and garage issues. They had forced residents to watch long video recordings which could take hours instead of quick text searches in the meeting minutes.
Here is a short video of how they approved 2 years worth of meeting minutes on their last day in the office.
https://www.tubechop.com/watch/8188452
Although surprising, this will be a good change for the village of Ridgewood.
Ridgewood NJ, Two (2) individuals injured during a rear end crash at the intersection of Franklin Avenue and Cottage Place on Saturday evening, 07/16, refused to be transported to a hospital for medical treatment and left the scene via means other than an ambulance. Both vehicles involved, a Subaru and a Honda, were towed from the scene by a flatbed tow truck. RIdgewood FD personnel attended to a minor crash related fluid spill. Ridgewood PD and EMS personnel were also present at the crash.
BOE Meets on July 18 at 5 p.m.
Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Board of Education will hold a Regular Public Meeting on Monday, July 18, 2016 at 5:00 p.m.The meeting will be held in the Board Room at the Education Center, 49 Cottage Place. The public is invited to attend the meeting or view it live via the district website at www.ridgewood.k12.nj.us using the “Live BOE Meeting” tab on the district website, or on Fios tv channel 33 or Optimum 77.
Click here to view the agenda for the July 18, 2016 Regular Public Meeting.
Click here to view the 2016-2017 Budget presented at the May 2, 2016 Regular Public Meeting.
Click here to view the Full Day Kindergarten Recommendation presented to the Board at their March 7, 2016 Regular Public Meeting.
Like most actions by the former mayor, this group was created for his personal purposes, in this case at least two: to rubber-stamp his decisions with a faux economic rationale (e.g., the largest garage drawing) and as a feeder group to provide a credential for placing people loyal to him in various positions that he intended to fill with sycophants (village manager, two council candidates). We have a highly paid CFO who should be doing all this work and making these recommendations. (We also have a well-paid planner, but he’s useless and should be replaced.) The two defeated council candidates, with unknown continuing ties to the outgoing council members who endorsed them, remain on the committee; disbanding it would remove them from an advisory position to the council without having to “fire” them individually. And by the way, the FAC was originally going to be a board, not a committee, which would have had more clout; the other boards are Planning and Zoning. When establishing this group was under discussion, then-councilman Tom Riche voted against it, stating that the requirements for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest were insufficient. He was right. In addition, giving a bunch of barely vetted residents access to confidential financial and other information that only the council should see just because they work in banking or whatever is another creepy-crawly. Just dump it.
Our new dispatcher Gypsy. Lost owner located just hanging out waiting to be picked up.
July 17,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood Police remind you that Dog license renewals were due on June 30, 2016. Dog licensing is required by the State of New Jersey, Department of Health, Office of Animal Welfare. The owners of all dogs seven months of age or older are required to annually apply to the Village in order for a license to be issued. A 3 year license may also be issued. Proof that a licensed veterinarian has vaccinated the dog against rabies must be provided and that the duration of the immunity from that vaccination extends through the full licensing period. For more information, contact the Village of Ridgewood, Department of Health at 201-670-5500 x503
Ridgewood NJ, The adult male driver of a Ford LTD Crown Victoria jumped a curb, drove down a sidewalk, and sheered off a fire hydrant in front of 160 Highland Avenue, Ridgewood on Tuesday afternoon, 07/12. No injuries were reported by the driver nor his adult male passenger. The vehicle was lifted from the hydrant by a flatbed tow truck and driven away on its own power.
Ridgewood PD issued one (1) summons in connection with the incident. Ridgewood Water Company representatives at the scene estimated that there was approximately $4,000 worth of damage to the hydrant and its associated equipment. The hydrant was placed out of service until repairs could be effected.
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.
Ho Ho Kus NJ, One (1) arrest of an adult male was effected by a HoHoKus PD uniformed patrol officer following a routine motor vehicle stop on Route 17 southbound near Franklin Turnpike, Ridgewood on Saturday afternoon, 07/09.
A Ridgewood PD patrol officer and a K9 unit from the Bergen County Sheriff’s office assisted in the subsequent search of the vehicle involved in the stop. A second occupant of the vehicle, also an adult male, was not arrested, but transported to HoHoKus PD headquarters along with the arrested individual. Police on the scene did not say what the arrest was for.
