>Ridgewood Water Company subscribers may soon be faced with additional rate increases following a revelation at Wednesday evening’s Village Council Work Session that an electric service hook up to the new Valley View Avenue water storage tank will cost $135K.
Although the $135K estimate for electric service installation was presented to Ridgewood Water Company officials on September 4, 2009, Village Council members were not made aware of the need for additional project funding until April of 2010.
It is believed that the recently installed Valley View Avenue water storage tank will not become operational until the $135K electric service installation is complete. Thus, Village Council members have now been backed into somewhat of a corner. That is, they must approve an unexpected $135K expenditure, or be faced with a new water storage facility that can’t be made operational (and lawn sprinkler peak season is rapidly approaching).
The Fly would like to know how many more Village employees will be laid off in order to make up for the surprise $135K expenditure?
>Ridgewood police sergeant admits to stealing PBA funds Wednesday, May 5, 2010 Last updated: Wednesday May 5, 2010, 5:34 PM BY EVONNE COUTROS NorthJersey.com STAFF WRITER
RIDGEWOOD – A village police sergeant has admitted to theft by deception five months after his arrest for stealing funds from the local Policemen’s Benevolent Association.
Detective Sgt. William Hemmer, of Sussex, pleaded guilty and made more than $115,000 in restitution to Ridgewood PBA Local 20 through his attorneys on Wednesday in Bergen County Superior Court in Hackensack. Hemmer, 40, diverted the money from the Local 20 bank accounts into his personal account. The 17-year veteran of the Department has been banned from public service for life with formal sentencing for the crime in June. If Hemmer violates his terms of probation, he faces five years in prison.
Hemmer was treasurer of Local 20 for more than seven years. The PBA was conducting an audit of its accounts when the discrepancy was found and the case referred to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office. RIDGEWOOD – A village police sergeant has admitted to theft by deception five months after his arrest for stealing funds from the local Policemen’s Benevolent Association.
Detective Sgt. William Hemmer, of Sussex, pleaded guilty and made more than $115,000 in restitution to Ridgewood PBA Local 20 through his attorneys on Wednesday in Bergen County Superior Court in Hackensack. Hemmer, 40, diverted the money from the Local 20 bank accounts into his personal account. The 17-year veteran of the Department has been banned from public service for life with formal sentencing for the crime in June. If Hemmer violates his terms of probation, he faces five years in prison. Hemmer was treasurer of Local 20 for more than seven years. The PBA was conducting an audit of its accounts when the discrepancy was found and the case referred to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.
>Union protest outside Valley today. They were asked to remove the coffin that they were using as a prop because it might upset the students walking past.
The hospital administration contacted us to let us know they have asked the protesters to get rid of the coffin when children are going to/coming out of school. The hospital is waiting to hear back from the protesters about that. In the mean time, the hospital has said they will have a security person (possibly an off-duty Ridgewood Police officer if one is available) cross students to other side of the road and they will try to put up some sort of barrier up to shield the coffin from view on that other side of the street.”
According to Valley Hospital administration a union is protesting about some asbestos removal work that hospital had done over the weekend. The hospital assured us that they used a properly licensed contractor and all the work was done with proper precautions and without incident; but union is unhappy that the contractor used union workers who were paid off the union scale because the contractor didn’t go through the union hall to get the workers.
The union has set up a display on Van Dien Ave. There are two people on the sidewalk handling out leaflets. On the grass between the sidewalk and the street they do a coffin set up on saw horses. Part of the coffin is open and a dummy is in there with a helmet and gas mask on. There is also a large sign in front of the coffin that says “Asbestos Kills”. The image may be disturbing to some children.
The hospital administration contacted us to let us know they have asked the protesters to get rid of the coffin when children are going to/coming out of school. The hospital is waiting to hear back from the protesters about that. In the mean time, the hospital has said they will have a security person (possibly an off-duty Ridgewood Police officer if one is available) cross students to other side of the road and they will try to put up some sort of barrier up to shield the coffin from view on that other side of the street.
There doesn’t appear to be any cause for alarm over this. We just want to make sure parents are aware of it if/when your children come home with an unusual story about their trip to or from school.
>Read Soul Alinsky and then talk to me about disjointed and disruptive manners. I don’t care to be friendly and cordial to people on the left who will lie to get their way.
All across tis nation from local to national levels of government there is a battle for the direction which this nation will take for years to come. Ours in Ridgewood is only a microcosm of the larger struggle. Either you decide to win by pushing back the forces of statism or you are an accomplice by your unwillingness to fight fire with fire.
The fact remains that liberals control our BOE and believe that spending money on new fangled education programs, which are unproven and carry with them an ideology of the left in the quest to indoctinate our children into their way of thinking.
If you question this, just open a math book, if you can find one in our elementary schools, and read the PC crap in it.
Ask yourself why the Asst. Superintendent for Curriculum just bought a new subject curriculum for our middle schools when we are trying to save money. Maybe to justify her $140k salary?
>Board of Education and Village Council Meeting – May 10th at 5:30PM
Monday, May 10th at 5:30pm in the Village Hall Court Room, the Village Council and the Board of Education will meet to further review the recent defeat of the 2010 – 2011 School Budget.
>Jack Elwood, a Ridgewood High School physical education teacher battling Lou Gehrig’s disease for years , died on Sunday. at the age of 59.
Students at Ridgewood High School observed a moment of silence on Monday morning after the announcement of Elwood’s death .
In May 2003, Elwood was diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a fatal neuromuscular disease that causes progressive muscle weakness, eventually leading to paralysis. RHS students, coworkers, friends and family held numerous fund-raisers in recent years to help the teacher and his family, including the annual Jack Elwood 5K Walk/Run. Elwood often expressed gratitude at the support he and his family got from the community.
Elwood,was assistant manager at Graydon Pool during the summer months, remained teaching at RHS during the early stages of the disease.
Elwood is survived by his wife, Laura, and daughter Tricia.
Visitation will be held at Feeney Funeral Home in Ridgewood on Tuesday, May 4 from 7 to 9 p.m. and Wednesday, May 5 from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Thursday, May 6 at St. Luke’s R.C. Church in Ho-Ho-Kus.
As we approach the municipal election for Village Council on May 11th I would like to thank many of you for your support. I have been truly humbled by the outpouring of encouragement before and during my campaign.
As many of you are aware, I was a Ridgewood Councilman from 1998 through 2002. During my tenure, Ridgewood residents benefited from the Library expansion, Graydon Pool and waste management facility upgrades as well as a stabilized tax rate and low debt service. Since then, Ridgewood has failed to recognize the need to control expenses so the residents who have lived here for decades, may continue to enjoy our beloved Village.
As a candidate for Council, I have continued to emphasize that we must transition to a new era of fiscal responsibility. Some might say easier said than done in government, however with a Council who will take that leadership role seriously, that message must clearly be sent to Village management who will initiate a top down approach to restraint. The days of spend and tax is behind us! We must, together, look forward to new behavior.
During the past eight years since I was on the Council, I have continued to be closely involved with Village affairs. I currently serve as a member of the Planning Board, OEM (office of emergency management), Historic Preservation Commission and the Site Plan Committee. Almost daily, I interface with various departments in the Village so I am keenly aware of areas in need of a redefined focus. As your Councilman I will commit to making the changes required to safeguard your personal investment in Ridgewood.
Your vote on May 11th (VOTE LINE # 4) is crucial to the journey into the future for Ridgewood. I humbly ask for your vote.
I have been asked repeatedly in this election about my views on Graydon and how to improve the facility and make the water clearer for swimming. The Village is in the process of preparing for an RFP that would perhaps include major capital improvements. It would not be feasible to add a major structure to the site.
The majority of the site is located in a High Risk – Inundation Flood Zone (AE Flood Zone as designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency https://www.fema.gov).
Our Village Hall is also located in this same Flood Zone and is regularly damaged by flooding. As a small, recent example: a rain storm flooded the elevator pit disabling the elevator this spring 2010. Significant damage and destruction have previously occurred to the Village Hall and vehicles causing significant financial loss to the Village tax payer. While vehicles can be moved when storms threaten, structures cannot and future flooding damage and losses are inevitable. Many residents of Ridgewood remain upset that the Village spent over $10,000,000 (and is still paying off the bond today) for a structure that will flood over and over again.
Graydon has, in the past and will continue to, flood many times. Common sense dictates that placement of the proposed $10,000,000 pool structure will be a future financial disaster for the tax payers of Ridgewood in two ways:
First, the Village will be required to self insure this project and self fund future damage. Secondly, the Village will be required to back-stop the required bond financing. Those who proclaim the pool financing will not burden the Ridgewood tax payer because the recreation facility will be financially self-sustaining are deceiving the public as the unlimited backstop of the Village of Ridgewood AAA credit rating will be required to finance the project. Should the pool be unable to meet its massive financial obligations, the Village tax payer will be entirely on the hook for loan re-payment.
Common sense and historical perspective provide obvious answers. Stepping back in time we would observe the diversion of a nearby stream. This stream runs along and under the Graydon pool. It may well be imagined that this land was donated to the Village by a generous resident not only because it would enhance the life of countless Ridgewood residents in the future but also because, within Graydon’s border are harnessed powerful forces of nature that make it unsuitable for significant man-made development.
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Over the past few weeks, Governor Christie and the media have made a big deal about some recently-released data. It showed that statewide, over the past 10 years, enrollment in New Jersey schools has grown 3%, while staffing in NJ schools has grown 14%. The Governor and others used these statistics to back-up the claim that there has been a “hiring spree” in our schools and that today there is “plenty of room to cut.” I would totally agree on a statewide level.
However, the statistics in Ridgewood are very different:
2000-2010 Ridgewood: (from DOE reporting) Enrollment Growth = 11% Total Staff Growth = 6.9%
And if we project ahead to next year (2010-11) based on the cuts we are making, it will look like this:
2000-2011 Ridgewood: (from DOE reporting) Enrollment Growth = 11% Total Staff Growth = 0%
In other words, Ridgewood’s staffing-to-enrollment growth ratio is the complete opposite of the rest of the state. (See year-by-year comparison chart at the end of this post.)
Unlike many other districts, Ridgewood is educating many more students in a much more rigorous program with much more state-mandated curriculum – and with the same number of staff — as 10 years ago. This doesn’t look like “bloat” to me.
FYI, the number of administrators in the district has gone down 34% in the same 10-year period. Our highest number of administrators was 37 in 2004-2005 down to 27 currently in 2009-2010 and cut to 21 next year. We have not had so few administrators in decades.
Our district serves 5,700+ students every day. And we will accomplish this next year with 21 administrators. I have to be honest and say while I’m all for streamlining and working “lean,” I’m a bit concerned about the workloads and effectiveness of those 21 administrators. It is for this reason that I can’t support cutting any more administration at this time.
Of course, if the Governor’s proposed 2.5% budget cap becomes law, we’ll be cutting our budget more next year, and we may have to find ways to consolidate a few more administrators. But for now, for this year, I think we’ve cut enough.
> the Ridgewood blog recieved so many of these coments they could not be ignored:
Hey here’s a little story from last year that will give you a clue about how Mr. Orsini handles a child’s repeated cries for help from him regarding another child who had been relentlessly bullying her at school (not on line).
He ignored her cries for help repeatedly, did nothing to help her at all, took no action, didn’t even approach the issue with the bully’s parents and did not discipline the bully in any way. Yet when this poor victim finally reached her breaking point, after making a more that noble effort to make peace with this bully, and fought back, she was suspended. THE VICTIM WAS SUSPENDED, NOT THE BULLY. Why? Because administrators like Orsini are trained to make problems go away, not solve them. Usually this happens at the expense of the victim.
If you think that Mr. Orsini spends more time with and knows more about your child than you do, then I feel nothing less than pity for your child because you are a PATHETIC parent.
It isn’t up to a school principal to know and raise your child. It’s up to you.
Sounds like nothing much has changed there since 2006. My son was bullied at BF and physically assualted. Mr. Orsini would not speak to me when I went to the school. He offered me no sympathy and took no responsibility, He sent Lorna Oates to talk to me. When I insisted upon talking to him, he would not come out of his office and never called me as requested. When I finally got him on the phone, he scolded me for questioning why he never imposed a suspension or otherwise upon the bully. He told me: “I make the rules, not the parents!” Didn’t this idiot realize that I could sue Ridgewood up one side and down the other?
He did not have an antibullying program at the time or did he call the police liason officer when the incident occurred. So, now he is the Crusader against Facebook? Spare me! He is lucky that he was not sued or fired for that serious screwup but the Bd of Ed always sweeps their mistakes under the rug.
The following year, my friend’s son was repeatedly bullied by another boy. His grades tanked and he was suffering great mental anguish. His parents finally took him out of the school to a private school when Tony completely ignored the problem. Again, after writing a letter to the Bd of Ed and meeting with the superintendent at the time, nothing was ever done except rewarding Orsini with tenure. What a wonderful school district!!
Take Notice that, in accordance with the requirements of the Municipal Land Use Law, N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et. seq., and the Village of Ridgewood Land Use Ordinance, the Village of Ridgewood Planning Board will hold a public hearing on Monday, May 3, 2010 concerning a proposed amendment to the land use plan element of the Village of Ridgewood master plan. The proposed amendment would revise the plan policies for the H Hospital zone district. The hearing will commence at 7:30 p.m. and will be held in the auditorium at the Benjamin Franklin Middle School, 335 North Van Dien Avenue, Ridgewood, New Jersey.
Any interested party may appear on said hearing date and at subsequent hearings and participate therein, in accordance with the rules established by the Planning Board and as set forth on the record by its Chairman. It is anticipated that the majority of the hearing on May 3, 2010 will be comprised of testimony by the Board’s professionals. To that end, any interested party who wishes to testify or participate in the hearing but who is not reached at the May 3rd meeting will be afforded a reasonable opportunity to participate during subsequent hearing nights. Subsequent hearings are currently scheduled for May 4 in the Village Hall Court Room, 131 North Maple Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ, and May 17, 18, and 24 at the Benjamin Franklin Middle School Auditorium, 335 North Van Dien Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ.
The proposed master plan amendment will be on file at least ten (10) days prior to the start of the May 3, 2010 hearing in accordance with law at the office of the Ridgewood Planning Board, 3rd Floor, Village Hall, 131 North Maple Avenue, Ridgewood, New Jersey and will be available for public inspection Monday-Friday between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. The amendment, together with a copy of this notice, will also be posted as a courtesy on the Village’s website at www.ridgewoodnj.net. A copy of the proposed amendment will also be served upon the Bergen County Planning Board and the clerks of adjacent municipalities in accordance with N.J.S.A.40:55D-13(2) and (3).
>I am 17, and I do not want to put these tags on my license plate because Im scared to death of someone following me home one night because they know Im a teenager and incapable of defending myself yet. Therefore I find kyleighs law to be more dangerous then actually good if you think about it.
