Upper Saddle River NJ, Stop Work Orders Issued on Former Apple Ridge and One Lake Street: On Thursday, July 11, 2019, we had a significant rain event with flash flood warnings in effect. Our Construction Official and Borough Administrator were on site at the former Apple Ridge site and witnessed runoff onto Carlough Road. Hay that was in use to restrict runoff, had been swept off the property by the force of the rain and clogged the storm drains. DPW was called in as well. The hay was removed to clear the drains and sand bags placed. A portion of the silt fence had fallen down. This project is under the jurisdiction of the NJ DEP (who has stated they consider the site fully remediated and the matter closed) and the Bergen County Soil Conservation District.
Derek Michalski and the staff of the Ridgewood blog
UPPER SADDLE RIVER NJ , on June 13, 2019 another storm water runoff pollution violation observed in the corridor of Pleasant Brook in USR. NJDEP newest report# 19-06-13-0858-36 taken by operator 91. Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi, Councilwoman Janet Ariemma and US Congressional candidate Frank Palotta and current mayor of Mahwah John Roth were ALL apprised about this latest development.
Ridgewood NJ, Community Meals, Inc., is a non-profit “meals on wheels” service that serves those individuals who are unable to shop or prepare meals for themselves due to age or disability in Allendale, Glen Rock, Ho-Ho-Kus, MidlandPark, Ridgewood, Waldwick and part of Saddle River.
Upper Saddle River NJ, The DEP continues to delay adoption of new rules upgrading 749 miles of waterways to Category One streams. They have extended the public comment period another month to June 3, providing more time for opponents to organize their fight against the proposal. The C1 designation offers the highest level of protection for water quality.
This is an environmental debacle especially for a community of our size. I am worried about the future health and safety of all the homeowners living by this Toll Brothers construction project ,and I 100% agree that the EPA and FBI should continue to delve into this mess. As a long-time resident and taxpayer about to see my neighborhood go down the tubes, I demand immediate and positive action from Toll Brothers and our town’s leadership!
Upper Saddle River NJ, while New Jersey politicians plunder the state and spend their days contriving new schemes to raise your taxes, the NJ DEP is left ineffectual against polluters.
Derek Michalski of GreenUSR said,” Easter celebrations in GreenUSR has been ruined for the second year in a row!!! I never wished anyone to go to hell but if anybody deserve it it would be Chris Gaffney for his decision to allow its workers to pump heavy mud second year in a row during Holy Week. Shame on him, shame on Toll Brothers and Toll Brothers’ apologists. “
Ridgewood NJ, Opening day of trout season: Saturday, April 6, 2019 at 8 a.m. To fish for trout or salmon, a valid New Jersey fishing license and trout stamp are both required for residents at least 16 years and less than 70 years of age plus all non-residents 16 years and older.
Each spring, approximately 570,000 rainbow trout raised at the Pequest Trout Hatchery are stocked into the state’s streams, ponds, and lakes. Nearly 1/3 of these trout, 184,400, await anglers on April 6 when the season opens. The majority of trout being stocked will average 10½ inches but large breeders, measuring 14 – 23″ and weighing up to 7 pounds are also distributed in the early weeks of the season.
Upper Saddle River NJ, New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection are launching #GoGreenNJ, a social media campaign to promote simple tips that New Jerseyans can do at home to help protect the environment and reduce the impacts of climate change.
With a combined 120,000 followers on Twitter and Facebook between the First Lady and the DEP, the campaign’s messages are likely to go a long way in encouraging New Jerseyans to think differently about environmental protection.
Perhaps if you really want to clean up New Jersey you can start here in Bergen County , for over a year we have covered the story of the devastating impact of the run off from the Toll Brothers site at Apple Ridge. To date nothing as been done to protect the environment of Bergen County , not one politician or DEP official has lifted a hand . So for the talk from the Murphy Administration on “Green” New Jersey, it is nothing but talk and a ruse for tax increases.
TRENTON NJ, More virtue signaling from the Murphy Administration , Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Catherine R. McCabe announced today that the State has joined a motion in federal court seeking to block drilling-related seismic testing activity and fight to prevent offshore drilling in New Jersey .
Where exactly was the NJDEP during the 14 months that the Toll Brothers owned Apple Ridge site leached arsenic into Pleasant Brook and Saddle River ? We failed to notice one press release from the NJ Attorney General and the NJDEP only responded after the run off from the site was featured on CBS News and NorthJersey.com .
Next time someone want to raise your tax to save the environment remind them of Apple Ridge and the destruction of Bergen County water ways.
“I live along the River in Saddle River and have been complaining to our Mayor and Administrator about this for over 1 year now. Al Kurpis the Mayor of Saddle River has no interest in protecting our wells. He has done nothing to help protect the residents of Saddle River’s who live along the river, He actually told Upper Saddle River Residents he was too busy with the Town Election in 2018 to get involved, to reach out after June and to date has done nothing to keep the residents water safe in our town. In fact in the last few years he was working on a plan to sell our Water to Suez…Crazy Idea that was, thank goodness we had a few council members who saw the potential impact of that on our town. The DEP actually permitted this project allowing them to pump the contaminated water into the Pleasant Brook which flows into The Saddle River…Someone at the DEP needs their heads examined. “
Upper Saddle River NJ, Derek Michalski reports again on the runoff from the Toll Brother site at Apple Ridge, “Dark and Stormy in USR today on this gloomy Friday December 28, 2018. We are experiencing heavy rain and another storm water violation on the part of Toll Brothers in Upper Saddle River. This time laden with arsenic and lead mud (sorry “colloidal clay” as NJDEP wants us to call this 12th month long pollution) is allowed to being discharged directly into our public drains. And not even one Toll Brothers employee or USR town zoning officer on the site paying attention to lack of silt barriers and even the cheepest hay barriers. Truly pathetic how this site is being overseen.
Hackensack NJ, Bergen County Executive Jim Tedesco today issued the following statement on last night’s tragic accident involving a Bergen County Department of Public Works employee in Saddle River, Bergen County, New Jersey:
“Yesterday, our Bergen County family suffered a tragic loss. Thomas Epper, 48, a two-year heavy equipment operator in our Department of Public Works Mosquito Division, was fatally injured while performing routine tree-clearing in the Saddle River in Saddle River, New Jersey. The Bergen County family mourns with the Epper family. I want to thank the first responders for their heroic actions together with the work crew that was present at the time.
Please join us in keeping the Epper family in your prayers and thoughts.”
Ho Ho Kus NJ, On Tuesday, August 7th, residents throughout Upper Saddle River, Allendale, Saddle River and HoHo-Kus are being invited to join forces with thousands of communities nationwide for the “35th Annual National Night Out” (NNO) crime and drug prevention event. National Night Out, which is sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch (NATW) and co-sponsored locally by USRA Coalition (www.usracoalition.org), will involve over 16,500 communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canadian cities and military bases around the world. In all, over 38.5 million people are expected to participate in “America’s Night Out Against Crime”. NNO 2018 corporate sponsors are Diet & Watson, Ring, Associa and Package Guard.
National Night Out is designed to: (1) Heighten crime and drug prevention awareness; (2) Generate support for, and participation in, local anticrime efforts; (3) Strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships; and (4) Send a message to criminals letting them know neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.
National Project Coordinator Matt Peskin said, “This is a night for America to stand together to promote awareness, safety and neighborhood unity. National Night Out showcases the vital importance of police-community partnerships and citizen involvement in our fight to build a safer nation. On NNO, we invite neighborhoods nationwide to join us in Giving Crime & Drugs A Going Away Party.”
From 6 to 9 p.m. on August 7th, residents throughout Upper Saddle River, Allendale, Saddle River, and Ho-Ho-Kus are asked to lock their doors, turn on outside lights and spend the evening with Police Officers from your community at the Red Barn located behind Crestwood Lake in Allendale.
This free fun filled family event will feature a DJ, live music, games, crafts, ice cream, face painting, inflatable obstacle course, basketball and much more! A Variety of food items will be available for purchase from Cars, Mason Jar, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Carmelo’s Brick Oven Pizza and more. Pre-registration requested but not necessary for certain events. E-mail [email protected] with ages of children participating. Space is limited for certain events.
Pre-registration requested but not necessary for certain events. E-mail [email protected] with ages of children participating. Space is limited for certain events.
Glen Rock NJ, the campaign seemed to finally heat up this weekend with America’s Mayor Rudy Giuliani endorsing the GOP District 39 ticket, Senator Cardinale, Assemblyman Auth and Holly Schepisi and helping us raise additional money last night.
District 39 – (Bergen and Passaic) Bloomingdale, Closter, Demarest, Dumont, Emerson, Harrington Park, Haworth, Hillsdale, Mahwah, Montvale, Norwood, Oakland, Old Tappan, Park Ridge, Ramsey, Ringwood, River Vale, Saddle River, Upper Saddle River, Wanaque, Washington (Bergen), Westwood, Woodcliff Lake.
Giuliani also endorsed and campaigned with Kelly Greco Langschultz for NJ Senate. Kelly Landschultz of New Milford is the Republican candidate for Senate, with William Leonard of Glen Rock and Christopher B. Wolf of Saddle Brook the GOP Assembly candidates
District 38 – (Bergen and Passaic) Bergenfield, Fair Lawn, Glen Rock, Hasbrouck Heights, Hawthorne, Lodi, Maywood, New Milford, Oradell, Paramus, River Edge, Rochelle Park, Saddle Brook .
River Vale, NJ , Assemblywomen Holly Schepisi has had enough ,on Facebook she says , “Sometimes you have to fight back. When you have no platform, positions or plans, you lie about pretty much everything. This isn’t “politics” as usual. It’s intentionally and maliciously defaming someone in an effort to destroy a person’s reputation.”
Schepisi Attorney Gibbons PC Director Thomas J. Cafferty fired off a letter on behalf of the incumbent Republican Assemblywoman to the Committee to Elect Linda Schwager, Jannie Chung and Annie Hausmann.
Cafferty stated in the letter that the Democrats have published, or have caused to be published, various political advertisements containing false and defamatory statements about Schepisi, including: (1) an advertisement dated October 13, 2017, which contains fictitious quotes regarding the Sandy Hook shooting that are falsely attributed to his client; and (2) an advertisement dated October 27, 2017, which depicts images of men with machine guns and includes the statement “Auth and Schepisi have headlined events hosted by the head of a domestic terrorist militia.”
“On behalf of Ms. Schepisi, I hereby demand that you and any and all of your employees, representatives and/or agents, immediately cease and desist the publication of the above-referenced advertisements and any and all other false and defamatory statements about Ms. Schepisi,” Cafferty wrote. “I also insist that you retract the above-referenced advertisements and any and all other false and defamatory statements that you have published about Ms. Schepisi in at least as prominent a location and in the same manner as the original advertisements were published, with a copy to me.”
The attorney also warned about the sanctioning of an unprivileged, false and a defamatory statement concerning his plaintiff, communicated to a third party with the requisite level of fault and which causes damage. See Govito v. W. Jersey Health System, Inc., 332 N.J. Super. 293, 305-06 (App. Div. 2000).
“he level of fault when the statement concerns a public official or public figure, like Ms. Schepisi, is actual malice, which is the knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth,” Cafferty said. “Durando v. Nutley Sun, 209 N.J. 235, 249 (2012). In other words, the actual malice standard is satisfied when the publisher of the statement entertained serious doubts as to the truth of that statement. St. Amant v. Thompson, 390 U.S. 727, 731 (1968).”
The attorney noted that Schepisi advised the Democrats on multiple occasions that the statements contained in their advertisements are false.
“You have, however, ignored Ms. Schepisi. Consequently, you have published these advertisements with reckless disregard for the truth of the statements contained therein and with the requisite knowledge of falsity,” Cafferty wrote. “If you do not cease publication of any and all false and defamatory statements about Ms. Schepisi, I will have no choice but to advise my client of all legal remedies available to her including, without limitation, instituting a lawsuit against you.”
District 39 is Bergen and Passaic counties; Bloomingdale, Closter, Demarest, Dumont, Emerson, Harrington Park, Haworth, Hillsdale, Mahwah, Montvale, Norwood, Oakland, Old Tappan, Park Ridge, Ramsey, Ringwood, River Vale, Saddle River, Upper Saddle River, Wanaque, Washington (Bergen), Westwood, Woodcliff Lake .
