Long-vacant “Town Garage” back on in the news again
THURSDAY JULY 26, 2012, 1:49 PM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Village Council members are expected next month to resurrect a discussion initiated by the Ridgewood Planning Board, which has asked the governing body to review the stipulations and intentions of the North Walnut Street Redevelopment Area and Redevelopment Plan.
The Village Council will reopen discussions next month on what to do with the Town Garage property.
Ridgewood NJ, Village officials remain on the fence about several aspects of New Jersey Transit’s (NJT) proposal to sell advertising space at the Ridgewood train station.
New Jersey Transit is proposing the placement of advertisements on platforms and the pedestrian underpass at the Ridgewood train station. Council members and other residents left last week’s work session meeting with a better understanding of NJT’s plan; however, many were not yet convinced that the initial ideas presented by NJT representatives are in the village’s best interest.
In addition, some council members suggested that the transportation corporation, which operates the country’s largest statewide public transit system, must completely fulfill the obligations of the recent $40 million renovation before moving forward with the advertising project.
As of early this week, NJT and its advertising contractor, Titan Outdoor, had hopes of working with the village to sell and install advertising placards at the train station. Transit officials are targeting spots on the platforms and the station building as well as the walls of the pedestrian underpass. The ultimate goal for both NJT and the village is an increase in revenue, transportation officials said.
Ridgewood NJ, A conceptual plan to improve the pedestrian underpass at the Ridgewood train station has piqued interest among several council members, who last Wednesday expressed desire to meet with New Jersey Transit (NJT) officials and discuss the potential ideas.
NJT recently completed a $40 million renovation project at the station to make Ridgewood’s transit hub accessible to disabled passengers and more convenient for all riders. That project, however, did not include improvement work to the underpass.
In its current condition, the underground walkway shows deteriorated walls, exposed rebar and general disrepair. Though it is out of sight to many village residents, the passageway is an eyesore to those who use it.
Ex Chief Bombace looks to resuscitate image after behavior was blasted by judge in Reilly verdict
Kevin Reilly alleged that he reported two incidents in which firefighter safety was compromised because of violations by his superiors.
The recent decision by Judge Menelaos W. Toskos reducing Firefighter Kevin Reilly’s 3.5 million dollar jury award to $500,000.00 told only half of the story.
Firefighter Reilly’s “whistle blower” claim that he and his colleagues were ordered to clean up an unknown chemical spill at The Valley Hospital was proven to be false during the court proceedings. The chemical had been identified by The Bergen County Hazardous Materials Team, which was called to The Valley Hospital at 7:30 PM on Sunday, August 12, 2007, at the request of the Fire Department, for what was then an unknown spill in the area of the Hospital Pharmacy. I was also called to the scene by the on duty Fire Captain.
The members of the Ridgewood Fire Department and Bergen County Hazardous Materials Team contained and then identified the spilled material, which was identified as 1000 cc of Glacial Acetic Acid. Bergen County Hazmat and Fire Department members then used an absorbent to pick up the liquid. Once all of the liquid had been picked up they double bagged the absorbent and the broken bottle for disposal. The bagged material was turned over to a Hospital Representative for disposal in the Hospitals normal hazardous waste flow. This action was documented in a report filed by the Bergen County Hazardous Materials Team (BCDHS Case Number 2007-8-71) see attachment.
The next day, Monday, August 13, 2007, Deputy Chief David Yaden and I returned to Valley Hospital in the morning to speak to the Valley Hospital Safety Officer about incident and to insure that the already contained and bagged material was going to be disposed of properly. When we went to check on the hazardous material it was noticed that the outer bag had been torn at some point. We called for the on duty firefighters to respond to The Valley Hospital and I instructed Firefighter Reilly and the other Firefighters to wear their appropriate respiratory protection with gloves and to place the torn bag into another bag and then place a hazardous materials label on the new bag.
None of the already bagged absorbent material had spilled from either of the inner bags. No spill was cleaned up by Firefighter Reilly or the other Firefighters. At no time were these Firefighters placed in any danger and because there was no spill there was no need to call the Bergen County Hazardous Materials Team for this situation.
Mr. Bombace has been working directly with Paul Arohnson for the past 3 years to get a super majority of “like-minded” council persons
Mr. Bombace has been working directly with Paul Arohnson for the past 3 years to get a super majority of “like-minded” council persons elected. At first it was the “Crowd” (Cronk and Dowd); now its Albert Puccarelli and Gwen Haulk.
The problem with allowing Paul Arohnson to control a super majority (who have been telling anyone who will listen; that they intend to elect him as Mayor) is that these three will jam their agenda through over and over again and the Village will be changed forever. It should be no suprise they have been having private (read: secret) meetings with various development partners to construct new retail, garages and apartments in various locations in downtown (this is the kind of stuff that leads to jail time, just look what happened in other urban areas around us these past few years).
The current Council is composed of five individuals, none having a lock on control and all having “independent”, not “like-minded” or “lock-step” thinking.
In this Tuesday’s election there will be three non aligned candidates; they are: Keith Killion, Jane Shinazoka and Russ Forenza. Anyone who knows these three; knows they are very different people with very different ideas, all respectful of eachother and the tax payer.
Vincent Loncto is sworn in as Ridgewood schools trustee
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2011
BY EVONNE COUTROS
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD – A former chief financial officer for major corporations was sworn in Monday night as the school district’s newest trustee.
Vincent Loncto took his seat as a trustee at Monday’s school board meeting at the district’s Education Center on Cottage Place.
The certified public accountant was one of six candidates interviewed for the trustee post after Charles Reilly resigned earlier this year.
“The school budget is in the process of being developed, so I’m coming in at the right time,” said Loncto, who retired earlier this year from a 40-year career in financial management.
“It has to be done collaboratively,” he said. “What we are talking about here is enhancing the quality of the school system under budgetary constraints. It is detail-intensive work.”
Letter: Former fire chief James Bombace corrects ‘misleading’ statement
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2011
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Former chief: Manager should be in charge
To the editor:
At the last council meeting, Deputy Mayor Tom Riche stated: “When the Emergency Operations Center is activated … all command and control immediately goes to the Emergency Operations Center and the director of Emergency Management. So the village manager theoretically at that point is no longer in charge.”
Nothing, however, could be further from the truth.
>Ridgewood school board interviews six candidates for open seat
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2011
BY JOSEPH CRAMER
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The Board of Education (BOE) interviewed six candidates this week for the seat left vacant by trustee Charles Reilly’s departure last month.
Six candidates applied and were each questioned by board members on Monday night regarding their professional backgrounds, reasons for applying for the position, and goals as a potential BOE trustee. The decision on Reilly’s replacement will be announced at a public meeting on Nov. 7.
Among the candidates – James Morgan, Gwen Sullivan, B. Vincent Loncto, Janice Willet, Rei Shinozuka and Eric Gross – several themes were consistent across the six interviews. All expressed a desire to contribute to the reputation of the Ridgewood school district, which was a primary reason behind moving to the village for many of the candidates.
Issues of communication, whether relating to complex technical matters such as yearly budgets or simple instances of parent feedback, were also paramount in candidates’ responses.
>Interviews will be held on Monday, October 24, 2011 for Vacant Board Seat
APPLICATIONS RECEIVED FOR VACANT BOARD MEMBER POSITION
As of Friday, October 21, 2011, 4:00 p.m., the district has received applications for the vacant Board Member position from the following people:
Eric Gross
B. Vincent Loncto
James Morgan
Rei Shinozuka
Gwen Sullivan
Janice Willett
Interviews will be held starting at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, October 24, 2011, at the Regular Public Meeting, in the Board Room on the third floor of the Education Center.
Ridgewood NJ, New Jersey Transit (NJT) is wrapping up the last of its major renovations at the Ridgewood train station and putting the finishing touches on the project in anticipation of its expected fall completion date.
The extensive $41 million construction project, which began in early 2009, was undertaken with the intent of making the station accessible to disabled passengers and more convenient for all commuters. Since then, the station has seen a raised platform replace the previously existing one on the station’s west side, the installation of 350-foot canopies over the tracks, new stairs, parking improvements and renovations to the station’s restrooms and ticket booth.
During a municipal budget review held on Wednesday April 14th, Dylan Hansen, the Village’s Network Administrator, publically revealed that 102 Village of Ridgewood employees are currently using cell phones that were paid for by Ridgewood taxpayers. Additionally, all monthly usages fees, in connection with business and/or personal calls, are also paid by Ridgewood taxpayers.
Clearly, the Village Manager and Village Council were either asleep at the switch or absent when cell phones were distributed at Village Hall. It is not possible that there are 102 Village employees whose positions warrant unlimited business and personal use of taxpayer provided cell phone service. This is simply an outrageous situation that must be brought to an immediate end.
The Fly has several questions for the Village Council:
1) What is the percentage of Village employees who have taxpayer provided cell phone service?
2) What is the formal approval process for obtaining taxpayer provided cell phone service?
3) When an employee retires, resigns, or is terminated, is someone checking to make certain that taxpayers aren’t continuing to provide the individual with cell phone service?
4) Is there a list kept of who has these phones or do we just know that 102 are out there? Is the list available for public viewing?
5) Is the value of cell phone service for personal use being reported as income on W2 forms?
The Fly suggests that now is the right time for Village Council members to hang up most of the Village issued cell phones.
Well now St. Patrick’s Day wouldn’t exist if not for the man himself! But how much do we know about him? Did you know that he spent six years of slavery in Ireland until he escaped and undertook religious training abroad?
Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig is the Gaelic way of expressing a wish that you have all the blessings of St Patrick’s Day and the “luck of the Irish” to go with it. There are many humorous explanations for this expression. One comes from the legend of the ‘Little People’ of the land, know as leprechauns. Finding or catching a leprechaun (who would then give you gold) was a lucky event that could only take place in Ireland ! The Irish are descendants of great Celtic and Viking fighters and invaders. Their natural fighting skills often ensured survival & hence they became known as the ‘lucky’ people .a classic case of making your own luck ! But then “The Luck of the Irish” may all be legend.
Saint Patricks Day Parades Worldwide, Irish Pubs all around the globe, Fun Runs, Irish Associations, Irish Music Festivals, Irish Names, Irish Dancing Schools, Irish Music Irish Roots, Irish Festivals,Scottish Highland Games USA & Canada, as well as, Scottish Pipes & Drum Bands.
St Patricks Day is for thinking about our Saint as well as a time to think of loved ones across the water.
So, why is it celebrated on March 17th? One theory is that that is the day that St. Patrick died. Since the holiday began in Ireland, it is believed that as the Irish spread out around the world, they took with them their history and celebrations. The biggest observance of all is, of course, in Ireland. With the exception of restaurants and pubs, almost all businesses close on March 17th. Being a religious holiday as well, many Irish attend mass, where March 17th is the traditional day for offering prayers for missionaries worldwide before the serious celebrating begins.
As reported in the Ridgewood News by Michael Sedon and Kipp Clark , attorney Stuart J. Lieberman, of Princeton-based Lieberman & Blecher, who represents the Preserve Graydon Group contends that a Nov. 16 letter written by Village Clerk Heather Mailander failed to answer the group’s concerns about why the village is taking all the information gathered by the RPP “at face value without reviewing them,” as well as questions why municipal employees have been made available to help the group. With these questions yet unanswered, Lieberman contends the RFP should never have been issued.
Liberman went on , “In short, the basis for my client’s concern is that the municipality has clearly and extensively relied on the work product of the RPP in creating the draft RFP, apparently taking its conclusions at face value and without reviewing them thoroughly or perhaps at all,” Lieberman wrote. “For reasons more fully explained in my letter dated to you Nov. 30, 2009, we believe the draft RFP violates state law.”
Once again Village Government business seems to be driven by the price of a particular project and not the value of the improvements the project will bring to the quality of life in the Village .
Again this blog was proven correct in its objections to the original $13 million dollar proposal because as Ms. Mailander clearly points out in her statements that the Village Council only seems interested in hearing what it wants to hear.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with what an amazing town Ridgewood used to be ,in the olds days had you pulled a stunt like this you would have been quietly asked to leave town in no uncertain terms and your house would have been put on the market the next day. It really was a beautiful place to live and no one would have ever put up with this type of behavior or even known someone would have even tried to get away with it . It just wont happen in Ridgewood.
Oh well …
if you can’t handle Ridgewood’s tax burden, then i suggest you MOVE. nobody is holding a gun to your head to live here. if you don’t want to pay state income taxes or don’t want to deal with high property taxes go to Texas!
if you can’t pay our taxes then you’re clearly too poor to be living in ridgewood.
Warning: Undefined array key "sfsi_riaIcon_order" in /home/eagle1522/public_html/theridgewoodblog.net/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-social-media-icons/libs/controllers/sfsi_frontpopUp.php on line 165
Warning: Undefined array key "sfsi_inhaIcon_order" in /home/eagle1522/public_html/theridgewoodblog.net/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-social-media-icons/libs/controllers/sfsi_frontpopUp.php on line 166
Warning: Undefined array key "sfsi_mastodonIcon_order" in /home/eagle1522/public_html/theridgewoodblog.net/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-social-media-icons/libs/controllers/sfsi_frontpopUp.php on line 177
