Tag: solutions

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Ridgewood High School – Team I.C.E. Takes First Place in the STEAM Tank Challenge

rhs 2020

New Jersey School Boards Association is proud to announce this year’s virtual STEAM Tank Challenge top finishing teams

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, this year, 112 STEAM Tank teams made it to the virtual STEAM Tank final presentations held in May. Over 1,500 students pitched their creative and innovative ideas and solutions to judges who volunteered their time and provided critical feedback to help teams along their STEAM Tank journey.

Continue reading Ridgewood High School – Team I.C.E. Takes First Place in the STEAM Tank Challenge

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Home Owners look for Solutions for Dramatic Changes in Ridgewood’s Yard Waste Pick

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October 14,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood Nj, Ridgewood has made some dramatic changes in how grass clippings are disposed of . The new rules sat that grass clippings must be segregated from other yard waste and cannot be placed in the street with leaves.

The Ridgewood blog has put together some suggestions on reducing the grass clippings and alternatives for disposing of them. Many municipalities have already begun to refuse to pick up grass clippings and leaves because of reduced landfill availability. In fact, some states have banned yard waste in landfills.

In the Village many homeowners are bagging clippings to be picked up and sent to a local composting facility , particularly with leaves this seems a bit impractical. Another option is using mulching lawn mowers. A mulching mower reduces the size of clippings and spreads them back on the grass, where they rapidly decompose and return to the soil.

Grass clippings are a valuable organic source of nutrients, especially nitrogen. Some mulching-mower users have found that yearly nitrogen applications may be reduced by one-fourth when grass is returned to the turf.

Although mulching mowers and mulching attachments for existing mowers can reduce clipping size, thus increasing the rate that grass clippings decompose, you can get the same effect with a normal rotary mower. Mowing on a regular basis with a sharp blade usually produces clippings that decompose fairly quickly.

In the city of Forth Worth, Texas, participants in the “Don’t Bag It” program said, on average, they felt that their lawns looked 30 percent better when they let the clippings remain than when they previously had collected the clippings. Cities with similar programs report reduced garbage loads and healthier lawns, trees and shrubs.

Leaving clippings on the lawns does not necessarily cause problems with thatch buildup. You may encounter problems with thatch whether you use a mulching mower or not. Thatch can be controlled with vertical mowing, core aerification, and proper watering and fertilization.

If you prefer not to leave clippings on the lawn,consider using collected clippings as mulch or as a component in a compost pile (which in turn will produce nutrient-rich soil conditioners).

If you have recently treated your lawn with herbicides, you will want to wait for three mowings before using grass clippings as mulch. It is possible for herbicide residues to damage garden crops if you use recently treated clippings as mulch. If you put clippings in a compost, on the other hand, pesticides rapidly degrade.

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Ridgewood Committees Need to more than looking for solutions to self-interests and perceived problems

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In the past shade tree and project pride were committees that performed a real service. HSA work with the schools and offer support.

Now we invent committees that invite input and look for solutions to self-interests and perceived problems.

We know that the CBD wants development of parking and high density housing (and turfing of Schindler, from the softball days). A 6 person committee with 3 business owners will undoubtedly find a list of demands from business owners. Now the village will be expected to come up with solutions for their business problems. I would love it if the committee questioned the sidewalk encroachment of some restaurants and requested that the brick wall at GTM be removed. And no signs in planters in the CBD. Those planters are maintained by the Project Pride Committee – a group of selfless volunteers working to make the town look better for all of us.

How about a Green Village committee. 6 residents who want to maintain the character of the village while evolving over time. Invite Artists, Architects, parents, commuters, over 55 and others to join. Let’s see what they propose.

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Ridgewood Councilmen Jeff Voigt : It is important that in these solutions we do what is best for our Village

Jeff Voigt Ridgewood Council

Councilmen Jeff Voigt speech full text:

Village Council speech:

First, thank you for your vote of confidence during the recent election. I am humbled by that confidence and committed to working towards solutions that are in the best interests of the Village.

Most especially, I would like to thank my campaign team: Sergio Alegre, Chad Chadwick, Wendy Dockray, Carol and Kevin Mattessich, Bill McCabe and Ann Spalckhaver. They are a great group of people who care deeply about Ridgewood. I would also like to thank many of you in the audience for your help during my campaign. It was a blast to work with you and I look forward to doing so moving forward.

We have a number of issues facing us over the coming years – a few of them 800 pound gorillas that are all too obvious. The solutions to these issues actually lie within this room with those who have influence over our Village – and I am talking most specifically about those in the audience. I sincerely hope this energizes you as; you are going to be asked to help in solving these issues. This also includes those with opposing views as; we need your inputs and help in this. They say that listening to, understanding, and incorporating opposing views and differences of opinion make for better decisions. I could not agree more. Let’s work together.

It is important that in these solutions we do what is best for our Village. These solutions can result in making our Village more user friendly, accessible, attractive to others, affordable and; a better place to live for us all. We as a community can do this if we keep this this in mind – namely in doing what is best for our Village.

Let’s also try and figure out solutions through less expensive and time consuming means such as compromise – meaning opposing sides sit down with each other and give to get and; in turn win in the end.

My goals over the coming 4 years are to work with you in solving these issues for the betterment of the Village and its residents. In touring our Village infrastructure with Roberta Sonenfeld, our Village Manager, I was struck by the fact we have a number of under-utilized assets that we can take advantage of for increased revenue generation – potentially marketing these services to other municipalities/businesses. These additional $$$ can be used for numerous initiatives, including lowering our taxes. We are going to look at maximizing these assets to increase our revenue streams with the committees I will be working on.

Job one, however, and I believe as well for my colleagues on the dais, is to solve our parking issue downtown, with a focus on a re-alignment of parking spaces and streets, a smaller Hudson St garage, and with innovative pricing – while simultaneously making our downtown more accessible, user friendly, and safer.

With innovative pricing, the parking utility can be a more significant revenue and surplus generator for the Village – helping to defray other costs. Let’s also re-think high density housing downtown in a way that makes sense, fits with, and actually enhances the character of our Village. Additionally, Valley Hospital needs to be a better neighbor and come up with solutions that actually make sense for our neighbors in the surrounding Valley area. Having relevant expertise in the field of healthcare, I am confident Valley can work towards this and in turn thrive in this rapidly evolving healthcare market. With these and other initiatives, I plan to reach out to all relevant constituencies whether they be developers, Valley, the chamber of commerce, and the residents to keep the dialogue going in order to work towards viable solutions.

Not surprisingly, some of these issues have been hotly contested with the outgoing council majority – Mayor Paul Aronsohn, Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli, and Councilwoman Gwen Hauck. I have to thank them for teeing up a number of them. It can safely be said that there was never a dull moment in

Village Hall with you on the council. One of my concerns is that future council meetings may not be as entertaining as they have been in the recent past.

Interestingly, by your making us keenly aware of these issues it may make the path towards resolution easier. Let’s use any momentum that has been gained through this process in putting some of these issues to bed.

I look forward to working with the residents and various boards and committees on these and other initiatives. We have many committed, smart, and talentedcitizens on our boards and committees and in our Village who can help in figuring out how to make this a better place to live. This is what I am actually looking forward to most – in working with you to accomplish this. My commitment is to work hand and hand with you and; in ensuring those who do the work, get the credit and recognition.

I also look forward to working with the new council – Susan Knudsen, Bernie Walsh, Ramon Hache, and Mike Sedon. You the residents have voted in 5 independently minded people and now the fun begins.

They say what you put into something is what you get out of it. I wholeheartedly agree. This is going to be my second full time job and I am confident it will be time well spent and extremely gratifying.

Lastly, I would like to thank my family – my wife Patty and my children, Ryan, Kevin, and Emily. We have lived here for over 23 years and call Ridgewood home. It is a great place to raise a family and live the rest of your life in. Patty and I plan on doing so and in calling many of you our friends and neighbors over the coming years.

Let’s all work towards making Ridgewood an even better place to live than it

already is.

Thank you.