The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
photos courtesy of the Village of Ridgewood
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the long-awaited demolition of the abandoned Town Garage on Franklin Avenue is officially underway, marking a significant milestone for the Village’s revitalization efforts. Village Manager Keith Kazmark announced the commencement of the demolition process, which aims to transform the property from an eyesore into an opportunity for redevelopment.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Village Council Chat , The Village Council will be holding Council Chat on the first Saturday of every month, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., in the Court Room, on the 4floor of Village Hall. This is an informal, brief meeting with two Village Councilmembers to discuss your thoughts, suggestions or concerns about the Village. Reservations will be taken for specific times for this event, by calling 201-670-5500 ext. 2207.All are welcome to attend, but those with reservations will be seen first.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood’s Historic Schedler Property is the only physical barrier protecting an entire Ridgewood neighborhood from the harmful pollutants of Route 17, a major transportation corridor.
The tree and green-filled parcel (7+ acres) filters out light, noise, visual, airborne particulates, gaseous pollutants, and air toxics emitted by nearby diesel truck and motor vehicle activity. Equally important, it protects property values and helps deter crime.
Continue reading URGENT MESSAGE about SCHEDLER PARK in Ridgewood
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the Village Council honored Ridgewood Library Director Nancy Greene with a proclamation that declared December 14th, Nancy Greene Day in the Village of Ridgewood, in honor of the library director’s upcoming retirement. Greene announced her retirement as of January 1st after dedicating 27 years of service to what is often ranked as the best public library in Bergen County .
Continue reading Retiring Ridgewood Library Director Nancy Greene Honored
DEADLINE – 1/7/2022, interviews will be held on 1/19/2022
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood Village Council is looking for residents who are interested in volunteering to serve on the following Boards and Committees: The Parks, Recreation, and Conservation Board, The Citizens Safety Advisory Committee, The Central Business District Advisory Committee, the Open Space Committee, and the Historic Preservation Commission, (Class C members).
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, during Wednesday night’s meeting, the public comments once again turned to a discussion on Zabriskie Schedler Property . Ridgewood resident Siobhan Winograd expressed her frustration over the rate of progress at the Schedler property .
Continue reading Zabriskie Schedler Property in the Eye of an Agenda Driven Storm
Face it, folks. The village council and Board of Ed are treating the residents of Ridgewood poorly. We are open checkbooks for them. They need to treat our money like they treat their own household budgets, very carefully. I do not spend money that I do not have, why are they paying for things that will never make sense, like a huge parking garage that they already know will lose money. On top of that, buying property so someone else doesn’t buy it and develop it? This is bad. How about creating zoning ordinances that help maintain Ridgewood’s character to made large development unattractive and too difficult that developers will be scared away. I grew up in a NJ town where they have never let in franchises and fast food. No DD, no Starbucks. It is a thriving town where they have kept development reasonable and well thought out. Why can’t we do that here?
July 1,2018
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the new Village council move quickly on a $12,000,000 financing for the Hudson Street garage.
3650 – Bond Ordinance – Hudson Street Parking Garage
($12 million)- Appropriates this money for the design, management, construction, furnishing and equipping of the Hudson Street parking garage
3651 – 2018 NJDOT Grant – Hillcrest Road Capital Ordinance – Appropriates $215,000.00 for the Hillcrest Road Streetscape project, which will be reimbursed through a $215,000.00 grant from the NJ Department of Transportation
3652 – 2018 NJDOT Grant – North Pleasant Avenue Capital Ordinance – Appropriates $165,627.00 for the North Pleasant Avenue Streetscape project, which will be reimbursed through a $165,627.00 grant from the NJ Department of Transportation
24. RESOLUTIONS
THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTIONS, NUMBERED 18-196 THROUGH 18-210 ARE TO BE ADOPTED BY A CONSENT AGENDA, WITH ONE VOTE BY THE VILLAGE COUNCIL. THERE IS A BRIEF DESCRIPTION BESIDE EACH RESOLUTION TO BE CONSIDERED ON THE CONSENT AGENDA. EACH RESOLUTION WILL BE READ BY TITLE ONLY:
18-196 Appoint Village Attorney (NTE $275,000) – Appoints Matthew Rogers as the Village Attorney under a no bid contract from for a term of 7/1/18-6/30/19. The required Pay to Play forms have been filed.
18-197 Appoint Village Bond Attorney (NTE $60,000) – Appoints McManimon, Scotland, and Baumann, L.L.C., 75 Livingston Avenue, 2nd Floor, Roseland, NJ as the Village Bond Attorney from 7/1/18-6/30/19 under a no-bid contract. The required Pay to Play forms have been filed.
18-198 Appoint Village Professional Planner (NTE $60,000) – Appoints Brigette Bogart or Brigette Bogart, Planning and Design Professionals, LLC, 648 Godwin Avenue, Suite 2, Midland Park, NJ as the Village Professional Planner from 7/1/18 – 6/30/19, under a no-bid contract. The required Pay to Play forms have been filed.
18-199 Appoint Professional Planning Consultant for Declaratory Judgment Litigation – Affordable Housing and Related Matters (NTE $65,000) – Appoints Elizabeth McManus, LEED, AP, PP, AICP and Clark, Caton and Hintz, 100 Barrack Street, Trenton, NJ as the Village Professional Planning Consultant from 7/1/18 through 6/30/19, under a no-bid contract. The required Pay to Play forms have been filed.
file photo by Boyd Loving
February 14,2018
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The Village Council will be interviewing the four companies who responded to the RFP for the Hudson Street parking garage on February 21, 2018, beginning at 7:00 p.m. This meeting will be held in the Sydney V. Stoldt, Jr. Court Room on the fourth floor of Village Hall, and will also be televised on the Public Access channel. Each company will summarize their proposals and will present their concept plan(s).
The deadline for the RFPs (Requests For Proposal) for the construction of the garage was January 19 at 10:00 am. Seventeen potential bidders picked up packets in late 2017, and four submitted proposals.
These were the proposals received, listed from lowest to highest overall:
1. Pike Company Inc:
$9,464,666
2. Terminal Construction Corp:
Version 3 – $10,100,000
Version 2 – $10,900,000
Version 1 – $11,480,000
3. Epic Management Inc:
$12,340,666 to $12,573,738
4. Prismatic Development Corp:
$14,399,000
*compiled by Councilman Ramon M. Hache
Ridgewood News only covers one Council member, Jeff Voight. That ought to tell you something. JV is front and center in every video, photo and news story. It’s very apparent that they are no longer a newspaper. The Ridgewood News is a public relations platform catering to a select group who share the same personal agendas. The same applies to the highly censored Facebook page, Ridgewood Mom and Dads. ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————- Thank Good for this blog and two worthy community Facebook pages, It takes a Ridgewood Village and Ridgewood Moms and Dads with FREE SPEECH.
The Village Council should not miss a single opportunity to put a firm grip on the comings, the goings, and most importantly, the OPM spending patterns and priorities of the legacy Village Manager. Along these lines, the VC should probably press the pause button, indefinitely, on the contemplated renovation project in Van Neste Square. The next thing we will learn is that a half million dollars has already been spent on landscape architecture plans that will go to waste if the project doesn’t go forward immediately.
Aronson left us these problems and we need to deal with them now, ourselves. How much money is too much to unravel what was done? Besides, this is not a witch hunt – – this is a targeted effort to try and determine the truth of repeated allegations of improper favoritism in Village life. There is a reason there is a law on the books that allows the council to conduct this inquiry. This is exactly the situation where an investigation is required.
May 14,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ ,In 1973, President Gerald Ford authorized EMS Week to celebrate EMS practitioners and the important work that they do in our nation’s communities. Henceforth ,The Village Council of the Village of Ridgewood proclaimed the week of May 15 through May 21 as Emergency Medical Services Weekand encourages the community to support Ridgewood Emergency Services and all of their programs, ceremonies and activities. The members of Ridgewood Emergency Services are 24/7 ready to provide lifesaving care to those in need. These members engage in thousands of hours of specialized training and continuing education to enhance their lifesaving skills. The Village Council recognized the value and accomplishments of the Ridgewood Emergency Services with the 2016 theme “EMS STRONG-CALLED TO CARE”. The proclamation was presented to Chief/Director Tony Lillo with members of Ridgewood Emergency Service present at the May 10th Village Council meeting.
On any given day, Ridgewood Emergency Service EMT’s help save lives by responding to medical emergencies, including heart attack, difficulty breathing, a fall or accident, drowning, cardiac arrest, stroke, drug overdose or acute illness. The Ridgewood responders care for their patients’ medical needs and show caring and compassion to their patients in their most difficult moments. For the first 4 months of 2016, Ridgewood Emergency Services responded to over 530 requests for assistance while spending over 6500 hours being on duty and training away from their own families. Please find out more about Ridgewood Emergency Services at https://ridgewood911.
“Ms. Hauck got elected last time because the West side of Ridgewood voted and the Eastside did not. Check the records. I believe this “committee” came into existence after that election. Most of those in administration, on the board, and doctors from Valley that live in Ridgewood are also from the West side, and, I would be willing to bet, most of this front they call a Financial Advisory Committee live on the West side. Get it ? It is nothing more than a power play by a relatively small group of people with big money and egos that could care less about the overall well being of Ridgewood. And you are right 1:44, that could easily happen, but not just to that neighborhood.”
While others say , ” please don’t make this a West v. East thing. That tears a community apart and it’s insulting. I happen to live on the West side, within spitting distance of the East side – the argument that we are 2 separate groups doesn’t fly.”
Lets face it , “that has been the undercurrent for several years and now with all of the disputes going on, especially with the so called “crown jewel”, a lot of people are making this an east side west side thing… and some postings implying people living near the hospital are suckers, selfish, nimby etc. has done wonders to cement that feeling…and yes it is unfortunate but it is becoming a huge reality…”
“I’ll stick to my original comment for which I think I’m entitled after 33 yrs. It’s a power play, pure and simple. I have not said anything that people who have resided here have not said privately, trust me. But if nothing else, maybe it will get the people in this town to wake up, vote these people and their friends out, and stop the train wreck. That’s what the statement was intended to do. Sometimes being “politically correct “”does not work.”
“I live on the west side and I have email from Gwenn saying the previous administration did not take care of the west side and she and the current administration are making sure that west side is not neglected. So, she definitely tried to play that card.”
