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.
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.
Ridgewood NJ, As you imagine there was a lot of talk about campaign signs in planters. According to Matt it is legal presently but there was talk of an ordinance prohibiting signs on public property or limiting the time they are permitted to be displayed.
The head of Project Pride proposed a basketball court at Vets as they are highly used and would add to the complex. A thought: Move the 60 foot baseball field to Schedler which would allow a basket ball court. However Jackie Hone brought up a great point: The Federal Migratory Act prohibits any removal,cleanup or trimming of trees during migratory season which means they can’t touch the Schedler woods until after July. By then the new council will be in place.
Probably the most important issue to many is the petition filed to rescind the bond ordinance for 11.5 million dollars to finance the Hudson Street Parking Garage. The vote was 4 to 1 in favor of moving forward. Under the Faulkner Act , the petitioners have 10 days to rescind their petition request that would result in no special election. It is not possible to postpone the election til November saving the estimated 45,000 dollars for a special election because of the timing. The vote has to occur in no less than 40 days and no more than 60 days after the 10 days allowed to the petitioners. The date of the vote in the special election will occur on June 21st.
The village engineer gave a report on contaminated sites in Ridgewood in relation to water safety which many felt was lacking full disclosure. According to Chris we’re in good shape and although we have all these underground sites cited for remediation on village owned property.
Gwenn had one”mean girl” moment when Susan asked that they postpone approving some minutes. until she could speak to Heather as Heather was unavailable( business reasons). There was some talk about why Susan needed to clarify something and then Gwenn suggested that why should one council member hold up the vote if the majority had no problem. Mike saw no reason not to allow for the postponement and Matt Rogers felt that it was a completely reasonable request and so thankfully Albert and Sir Paul didn’t object.
There were some nice moments regarding the Community Access Group and all the things they have accomplished and a future ordinance to make it a village sanctioned committee.
Mike obtained a grant for shade tree enhancement and Earth Day was a complete success. Anne Loving made a great comment regarding Gwenn’s comment about her dogs and Paul’s dog enjoying Van Neste Park on Earth Day. Anne reminded everyone that there is an ordinance banning dogs in that very park. Some thought it would be great if they had received tickets and then we changed the ordinance to allow dogs in the parks as we love dogs , but Paul and Gwenn not so much!
Readers point even more conflicts of interest in Village Hall .”Wait , so planning board approved the high density housing they were advised by Gail Price. Then when council conducted the studies – they were conducted through Village Manager’s office. Village Manager’s assistant, who was coordinating all those studies and providing data to the external firms is spouse of a counsel at Gail Price’s office.
NJ Law states that a conflict of interest need not be financial in nature but merely a perception of partiality to the issue in question.
Gail Price is the planning board attorney and has her own law firm. Her husband wants to be Ridgewood Councilman. Well lets see who else is connected. Richard M. Fricke works for Gail Price’s firm and his wife Janet is the assistant to our Village Manager .
Finally, the dots are connected! Janet Fricke is connected to the Library cabal. She is a political appointee, not civil service.”
Ridgewood NJ, More data on who was harassing the people across from Habernickel that complained about Health Barn USA.
The Village Hall caught again attacking residents who question the council majority’s decisions .
Once again the Village Hall is caught bullying neighbors .
Although one page indicates that an “anonymous phone call” triggered the NJDEP inspection, another page in the report specifically identifies Christopher Rutishauser as the complainant. A recent OPRA request offers proof positive Rutishauser call led to the complaint.
LET’S STAY ACQUAINTED WITH COUNCILWOMAN GWENN HAUCK “Have the Talk of a Lifetime” Discussion and journal writing with guidance from David B. Feeney, CFSP, CPC, as you share memories of your life while making a keepsake for your loved ones. Thursday April 7, 2016 12pm Anne Zusy Youth Center – Village Hall, 131 N. Maple Ave. No fee—Pre-registration required.
Here we are yet again at yet another important Village Council meeting, Tonight at 7:30pm at the Village Hall. I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to not making VC meetings a must attend every few weeks.
But that’s just how it is. For now anyway. Until we can get some folks onto the council who we can trust will listen to us and do the right thing when it comes to our village. That day will come sooner than later but for now, we must remain engaged.
So, in case you didn’t know already, tomorrow is the night that the Village Council likely plans to vote on overriding itself and go to the County for a bond. This is without a parking garage proposal that fits within the footprint of the Hudson street lot. This is with us being on the hook for several hundreds of thousands of dollars for the County bond, not to mention the likelihood of millions more for the building of a garage. This is against many of the the findings of the Maser Traffic Study from October 15th, which Councilwoman Knudsen and Councilman Sedon were unaware of until late December. I could go on and on…
The bottom line is that, inconvenient as it is, we must remain vigilant and protect Ridgewood, which means showing up and voicing our concerns.
Hoping to see you tomorrow night. And if you can’t make it, please email our Village Council and Village Manager to let them know that even considering voting to go to the County for a bond at this point is against the better interests of our village.
The District 40 State Assembly Candidates forum will be held on October 26th 7:30pm -9:30 pm in the Village Hall Courtroom.
The ILO of Bergen County ( LWV’s of Glen Rock, Ridgewood, Fairlawn, Teaneck and Northern Valley) is holding a District 40 Candidates Night for The State Assembly at The Ridgewood Court Room in the Municipal Complex.
We have Paul Vagianos a Democrat and an Incumbent David Russo Republican who both live in Ridgewood who are running. The State Assembly is currently dealing with property taxes, funding for The Transportation Trust Fund, Pension reform and Economic climate of Atlantic City.
The District 40 State Assembly Candidates forum will be held on October 26th 7:30pm -9:30 pm in the Village Hall Courtroom.
The ILO of Bergen County ( LWV’s of Glen Rock, Ridgewood, Fairlawn, Teaneck and Northern Valley) is holding a District 40 Candidates Night for The State Assembly at The Ridgewood Court Room in the Municipal Complex.
We have Paul Vagianos a Democrat and an Incumbent David Russo Republican who both live in Ridgewood who are running. The State Assembly is currently dealing with property taxes, funding for The Transportation Trust Fund, Pension reform and Economic climate of Atlantic City.
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