Tag: Village Council

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VILLAGE COUNCIL FINAL VOTE ON HIGH DENSITY HOUSING THIS WEDNESDAY, 3/23. 7:30pm

clock_cbd_theridgewoodblog

VILLAGE COUNCIL FINAL VOTE ON HIGH DENSITY HOUSING
THIS WEDNESDAY, 3/23. 7:30pm at RHS CAMPUS CENTER
RIDGEWOOD NEEDS YOU… ONE LAST TIME!

Dear Neighbors,

This Wednesday night, 3/23, our Village Council, is set to vote on High Density Housing that is TOO BIG, TOO DENSE, TOO OUT OF SCALE and TOO OUT OF CHARACTER with the Village we love. Check out this video to see what the “new density” looks like: YouTube High Density Video.

All politicking, threats of lawsuits, and municipal studies and impacts aside… this comes down to a matter of “Vision” for Ridgewood. And right now, there is a huge disconnect between the vision for Ridgewood’s future held by the current powerholders in our Village Council and Planning Board, and that of a large majority of Residents. These powerholders see downtown Ridgewood as bigger scale, taller, denser, and much more bustling. They are planning a town center with a more urban look and feel, not a small town character. I don’t really know what is influencing them, as virtually every Resident CBR has spoken with – 1,000s of them over the past 4 years – wants Ridgewood to maintain its small town feel. Residents want to give their children and grandchildren the same wonderful town we enjoy. When we want more city, we know that Manhattan is a short drive away. Why doesn’t our Council majority feel the same?

Citizens for a Better Ridgewood (CBR) is for fitting and positive development. We are only naysayers to bad representation and bad planning. CBR believes that we can promote fitting development in Ridgewood by lowering the density of the current ordinances from 35 to 25 units per acre, which is already a 100% increase over current zoning, yet has solid precedent in our Village. Additionally, our planners must also limit Floor Area Ratio (e.g. building size), and enforce proper street setbacks and parking to make new buildings work. We feel it is our Council and Planning Board’s job to increase the quality of life value of our entire town, not just the property values of some developers.

Wednesday night is our last chance to try and stop this. Oddly, all three of the Council Members who support this over-scaled development are not running again. Why? We can only guess. But what we do know, is that in approving such unprecedented development as a Council Majority, but a Ridgewood Minority, they leave the mess to the next Council and to every Resident of this town… and to our children. Again, bad and unfair planning.

I know it’s a huge pain, and not a whole lot of fun… But Ridgewood needs you one more time. Please come, show your support for fitting development in OUR downtown. Tell the Council to VOTE NO to the current High Density Ordinances and let the new Council, coming in this summer help get it right.

RIDGEWOOD NEEDS YOU THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT… 7:30 at RHS! A failure to plan, is a plan to fail.

Thanks for your support over these four long years.

Dave Slomin
CBR Supporter
Ridgewood Resident (and father of 4th Generation Ridgewood Kids)

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Council Candidate Ramon M. Hache shares his thoughts on the Proposed High Density housing

Ramon Hache ridgewood NJ
March 16,2016
the staff of theRidgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, We asked Council Candidate Ramon M. Hache on his thoughts on the high density housing and here is what he said ,”I am a proponent of responsible development and protecting our community from the wrong development.  We need to carefully decide on projects that will make our town better without sacrificing the corevalues and character that make Ridgewood the special place we are proud to call our home.”

Ramon then gave us more specifics ,”In terms of high density housing, all the zones around our CBD are currently being considered for a density of 35 units per acre.  There are currently four areas under consideration and three zoning changes proposed. Although each area is unique and needs to be analyzed individually, I am comfortable with an average density of 20-24 UPA. This is more in line with the total average throughout the CBD. ”

As for the studies ,” Traffic and pedestrian safety are very important when analyzing the various projects. The impact to schools is a different issue and needs to be looked at collectively for all sites. Although the recent studies suggest there would be a minimal impact to the schools, we all know that Ridgewood is known for its schools and exceptional program for special needs children. Therefore, I would be cautious to solely rely on the student enrollment projections which did not take into account the fact that it could cost around $100,000 a year to educate special needs children.”

Ramon went on saying ,”Ideally, I would rather see us approve one of the proposed zoning changes first. It could provide a good ratable and we could get real-world data on the actual amount of new students attending the schools.  We need ratables to finance many of the needed improvements and for stabilizing property taxes.”

We also asked about his thoughts on the fact that the issue is being decided by council members who are leaving office ? Ramon
emphasized , “the current council needs to work together for the welfare of the entire community and make decisions as if they were not going to be replaced by a new council.”

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The word is that since Paul, Albert and Gwenn are not running they have no reason to listen to the residents no matter how reasonable or how many speak out

town_garage_theridgewoodblog

March 10,2016
Linda McNamara

Ridgewood NJ, Last night’s meeting has truly changed the conversation or at least it should.  Roberta is holding on to a 100,000 dollar  check from the RBSA that has” Strings Attached” re:  not to be used unless a 90 foot baseball diamond is to be built.  My mini financial transactions with the village advised me to deposit all checks and cash within 48 hours of receipt.  But even more disturbing is that we also heard last night that there is an additional $100,000 in Open Space accounts available for approved projects.  How is it that when Isabella Altano came before the council with 45,000 dollars for the purpose of a matching grant to stabilize the Schedler/ Zabriskie House,  she was told that there wasn’t a single penny available for grant purposes and that no staff could be used to help her with other grant opportunities.  Obviously, this wasn’t true and the only thing that one can surmise is that the council majority along with Roberta had no intention of doing anything  to help Friends of Schedler in their quest to save the house and develop the property in a fitting manor.

But this wasn’t the worst revelation that occurred last night. Ridgewood Water is in trouble.  Sludge pipes disintegrating releasing toxic sludge into the streets that was diverted into the streams and Kings Pond!  And the on going problem of toxic contaminants seeping into the ground water at the Town Garage and municipally owned sites for many years!  Now it is reported in The Record that Ridgewood is one of 5 towns in the Bergen/ Passaic area with PFOA toxins in the water at high levels. Why isn’t this  a top priority at the municipal level? We should be investigating filters for the wells and  immediately remediate the situation at the Town Garage and abutting municipal sites.  Use eminent domain to gain control of the site we don’t own, fix the huge problem there and then develop it in a manner that is best suited for Ridgewood.  I hope I hear back because at this moment in time I believe it is my civic duty to contact the DEP and ask them to revisit their recommendations  for cleanup that have been ignored for the last 8 years.   We are currently looking to bond approx. 11 million dollars for a garage and while this is important it is not nearly as important as our water.

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Ridgewood Village Hall Caught Bullying Heath Barn Neighbors

Screenshot 2016 03 09 at 7.40.43 PM
March 10,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
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.

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Ridgewood High Density Housing Meeting Campus Center of the Ridgewood High School at 8pm

Projects_theridgewoodblog

March 9,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ,  The high density housing issue is upon us again. The Village Council will be meeting tonight at the Campus Center of the Ridgewood High School. They will discuss the results of the impact studies for high density housing. Hopefully the most important study, the impact on our already overcrowded schools, was done. Residents need to once again come out in force to express their strong desire to keep this the Village of Ridgewood and not the City of Ridgewood. The council should either change, lower, the amount of apartments allowed at these locations or vote “no” completely.

The Village Council Meetings of March 9th and March 23rd will be held at the Campus Center of the Ridgewood High School, located at 627 East Ridgewood Avenue.   The March 9th Regular Public Meeting will begin at 8:00 p.m., and will be immediately followed by a Work Session, where the results of the impact studies for multi-family housing will be discussed.  The March 23rd Work Session meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m.   During the Work Session there will be a Special Public Meeting for the Public Hearings and vote on the multi-family housing ordinances as well as a public hearing and vote on the bond ordinance to appropriate money for the Hudson Street parking deck.

This location is not equiped to  broadcast the meetings.  The meetings will be filmed and available both on UTube and the Village Public Access Channel (Cablevision 77; Fios 37) the following day.

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Ramon M. Hache announces candidacy for Ridgewood Village Council

Ramon Hache ridgewood NJ

March 9th 2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

RIDGEWOOD, N.J.–  Ramon M. Hache, 41, is certified to run for one of the three open seats on the Ridgewood Village Council in this May 10th municipal election. Hache, a father of three, sees a need for responsible, balanced leadership to propel Ridgewood forward while respecting its residents.

“I see Ridgewood standing at the crossroads of progress and tradition, and I know that a lot of big decisions will have to be made in the next few years,” Hache said. “I want to make sure that the town is guided through those decisions in a responsible way. To me this next election will provide an important reset for the town.”

Some of the big issues Ridgewood is facing in the future will be a continued push for multi-familyhousing, Valley Hospital, safety surrounding schools and the cost of maintaining and enhancing our athletic fields and parks.

Although the Master Plan was recently updated, Hache feels that it is important to revisit thisdocument, which should provide a detailed roadmap to the future and offer guidelines for smart development.

A 1991 graduate of Ridgewood High School, Hache was raised in the Village, and he is currently SeniorVice President at Permal Group, one of the largest hedge fund investors in the world.

Hache’s volunteerism includes being the treasurer for the Ridgewood High School Football Scholarship Committee, a Ridgewood Soccer Association coach, a member of the Knights of Columbus and an active member, lector and Eucharistic minister at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church.

To contact Ramon Hache: 201-960-4977, [email protected], or visit www.ramonhache.com

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Bernadette Coghlan-Walsh, former Ridgewood Councilwoman, announces her Candidacy for Village Council

Bernie Walsh

March 8,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Bernadette Coghlan-Walsh,   19 Year Ridgewood Resident, wife and mother of three has entered the race to reclaim a Council seat.

Coghlan-Walsh was first elected to the Ridgewood Village Council in 2010 and won in a landslide earning the top vote getter accolade.  She served with Distinction for four years and has remained involved in Village activities ever since.  “I’ve received overwhelming support on my new Council bid and want nothing more than to do what’s right for the Village.  Ridgewood needs honest, reliable citizens to serve on the Village Council and I believe I have proven my mettle over the years.”

Coghlan-Walsh is the Head of Global Workforce Mobility for Region Americas at Linde Gas and also manages their Non-commercial Fleet of over 250 vehicles.  Mrs. Coghlan-Walsh holds designations through Worldwide ERC signifying her mastery of Workforce Mobility both Domestic and International including Talent Management and Labor Relations.  She is poly-lingual and works daily on Immigration issues affecting employees throughout North, Central and South America.  Mrs. Coghlan-Walsh is also a State Licensed Residential Real Estate Appraiser inNew Jersey.

Bernadette currently serves on the Planning Committee of the New Jersey Relocation Council, a Girl Scout Leader for Troop 1326 in Ridgewood, Member of the Women’s Club of Ridgewood where she served as President of Juniors from 2009-2010 and an Our Lady of Mt. Carmel parishioner where she’s volunteered as CCD teacher and served on the MOMs Circle of Care.  An avid horseback rider she has the distinguished honor of being the Children’s Ambassador of the Garden State Horse Show for the past 4 years.

Her past experience within Ridgewood includes serving on the Ridgewood Planning Board, Historic Preservation Commission, Parks & Recreation Commission, Field Committee, Ridgewood Environmental Advisory Committee and the Bergen County League of Municipalities.

“Ridgewood is a vibrant, upbeat and friendly community.  I fully believe residents have become engaged in such large numbers recently because they don’t believe their voices are being heard nor understood by the current Council.   I believe any vote in May will be for a fresh perspective and return to civility for everyone on both sides of the aisle.  I’ll work tirelessly for Ridgewood, I only ask that residents support me and cast one of their votes for Bernadette Coghlan-Walsh”.

Bernadette will be listed on the upcoming Ballot in Row 4.

Contact information:  [email protected]

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Former Ridgewood Village Candidate Melanie McWilliams Endorses Bernadette Walsh and Jeff Voight

Melanie McWilliams

Hi All!

I want to say thank you so much to everyone who supported my choice to run for Village Council.

I really wanted to do it and to be a part of helping the town I love, preserve its character. I wanted to be a part of the process and I still will be.

The election is a numbers game, and we had too many chefs in the soup. If someone had to take one for the team and step aside, I am happy to have been that person. If it enables stability, common sense, and independent thinking to return to our council, then it is for the best. I apologize for the years of laughs I won’t be there to provide you, but hey, you can’t win them all! Council meetings would surely have been more interesting with me involved- in a good way!

And I’m not done. I plan to run in 2 years, and do my part at that time.

There ARE other excellent candidates, and I throw my whole hearted support behind Bernadette Walsh and Jeff Voight. They are excellent, proven, trusted leaders. I ask anyone that had been in support of me, to please throw your support behind these 2.
Thanks again to all of you.

Melanie McWilliams
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Village Council Nomination petitions that were REPORTEDLY certified by the Village Clerk

Ridgewood_-Village_Hall_theridgewoodblog

march 9,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Village Council Nomination petitions were REPORTEDLY certified by the Village  Clerk

Richard S. Brooks, East Ridgewood Avenue (spouse of Planning Board Attorney Gail Price)
Bernadette Coghlan-Walsh, Red Birch Court (former Village Council member)
Ramon Hache, Ackerman Avenue
Gwenn H. Hauck, Fairmount Road (current Village Council member)
Melanie Hooban-McWilliams, Bogert Avenue
Jeffrey D. Voigt, Glenwood Road
Evan Weitz, Oak Street (current member of Village’s Financial Advisory Committee)
Janice M. Willet, Prospect Street (current member of Village’s Financial Advisory Committee)

It is reported that one (1) or more of the above individuals is likely to ask that their name(s) not be placed on the ballot following the scheduled Wednesday, 3/09 lottery for ballot placement.

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Reader says Our mayor has brought the village of Ridgewood to this state of division and havoc

paul Aronsohn

file photo by Boyd Loving

Our mayor has brought this village to this state of division and havoc. He is a man who only gets along with those that agree with him, look at his track record of former and current council members. This village never needed a civil committee before his arrival! When you don’t agree with him, he attacks and becomes aggressive and vindictive. Pitting clergy against clergy; neighbor against neighbor; lying to voters; calling hours at the podium where residents plead for a voice in the process a discussion; using committees to prop up your projects all the while lying to them; hiding information from other council members; hiring a VM to do your bidding; calling residents liars; and the ongoing scheming and plotting how subjects and issues will be brought up on the dais have brought us to this ugly chapter. These examples are just from the last 6 months….And people like this guy? I guess the ones who will make a buck off his “leadership” do! I don’t understand how anyone can defend or support someone like him. Scary! July 1st can’t come fast enough!

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High Density Housing , Ridgewood Needs A Vision and the Village Council has None

Abraham-Godwin_theridgewoodblog

March 5,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Towns like Summit NJ, have invested money in a downtown improvement plans that are costly and visionary and included ample input from residents. While Ridgewood’s lack of vision seems to be focused on fulfilling the ad hoc wishes of special interests.

The fact is we have no development plan and there is no vision. We are reactionary in everything we do. Our council rejects public input and views the public as obstacles to be overcome. Residents are never treated as if our voices matter by the council majority, they are attacked, threatened and berated .

The group Citizens for a better Ridgewood (CBR ), worked to create a vision.The CBR Facebook page says “We support a lower number of Housing per acre, still higher than the 12 that is currently allowed, but not as high as the 35 proposed. 20-24 would be generous, profitable and would compliment the character of our downtown. 20 -24 units an acre” . The CBR statement on this –https://theridgewoodblog.net/citizens-for-a-better-ridgewood-cbr-calls-for-residents-to-attend-village-councils-public-hearing-on-september-16th-730pm/ , CBR supported 20-24 units per acre because that’s density that could be built over and over (instead of spot zoning for some units).

The CBR group searched for a visionary compromise and but were labeled as racist, a clever tactic by developers to garner support from those who are uninformed.  Watching council meetings, everyone who goes to speak in support of the big garage or in support of very high density housing has no specific current facts ,just an over reliance on almost absurd assumptions put forth by developers and their supporters,that amount to nothing more than fantasies from the land of make believe . Their tune is always the same: “anyone asking any question here is nay-sayer”, “now is the time or no one else will do it”, “they don’t want any garage”, “they don’t want any development”.. “loud mouth vocal minority”…NIMBY…yada yada yada.

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Ridgewood Deputy Mayor Emails During Council Meeting

Albert Puccrelli Deputy mayor ridgewood

 

 

file photo by Boyd Loving

March 4,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ Just a few points about the March 2nd Village meeting:

1. Albert sent an email to a resident during the meeting.  This is strictly forbidden according to a resolution that he himself penned, as follows:

Resolution 13-87 (April 24, 2013), item #4 reads as follows:

Telephonic or electronic communication between or among Councilmembers or between a Councilmember and a member of the public during public meetings is prohibited.

As soon as he realized his gaffe, Albert made a big point of saying that this is THE FIRST TIME EVER that he has sent an email during a meeting to a “member of the public” other than his family.  Evidently colleagues on the dais and members of his family are not considered to be members of the public.  Or, maybe the Deputy Mayor considers himself to be above his own rules.

2. The Deputy Mayor got nasty with a member of the public who questioned the accuracy of one of the renditions of the new garage plan.  The resident had not only questioned the depiction, but had also questioned whether this misrepresentation might have been intentional.  Mr. Pucciarelli referred to the resident’s email as STUPID and announced that he deleted it immediately.  Instead of actually looking at the resident’s suggestions, he just discarded it and then was insulting about it.

3. They voted 5-0 to go forward with bonding in-town, which will be a final hearing on the 23.  They voted 2 in favor (Susan and Michael) and 3 opposed to killing the ordinance to bond with the BCIA. Aronsohn made it abundantly clear that he will barrel ahead with the BCIA if the in-town bonding does not go through.  So the terrible three are keeping “parallel” tracks open so they can get the garage one way or another.

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Incivility in Ridgewood Council insists its the Residents Fault

gwenn hauck

file photo by Boyd Loving

March 3,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, The blog was mention by our buddy Rurik Halaby, and the council spoke on how uncivil everyone is. The best part was Gwenn who spoke about not believing everything people write on Facebook. I guess she is the only one people should believe ?

Rurik Halaby as we said ,took yet another swipe at The Ridgewood Blog during Wednesday night’s Village Council meeting when, during a public comment period, he publicly announced that he’d been named “Villian of the Year” by The Ridgewood Blog.

Of coarse it was OK for the head of the civility committee to characterize all residents at Village Council meetings as “Grand Standing”.

As for civility you live in a town where the Deputy Mayor makes threats in public meetings more than once, anyone who speaks his mind get harassed, anonymous emails get sent to peoples place of business and do not let us forget a physical assault took place at a council meeting , but yes the meanies on the blog are a tough bunch …

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Gwenn Hauck continues to use Village Hall as a mailing address for her campaign

gwenn hauck

file photo by Boyd Loving

February 27,2016

by Boyd A. Loving

Ridgewood NJ, On Friday, February 12 at 9:00 AM and again on Friday, February 26 at 6:44 AM, e-mail messages supporting the re-election campaign of Village of Ridgewood Councilwoman Gwenn Hauck (originating from the domain www.gwennhauck.com), were sent to selected Ridgewood residents/voters.

Clearly, both messages were purely political in nature and substance.  That is, they were not intended to communicate any official Village of Ridgewood matters to the selected recipients.

Included within the body of both messages was this information:

“Our mailing address is:
Gwenn Hauck – Village of Ridgewood Council
131 North Maple Ave.
Ridgewood, NJ 07450”

131 North Maple Ave, Ridgewood, NJ 07450 is the address of Village Hall, a building paid for by Ridgewood’s taxpayers and staffed only by employees of the Village of Ridgewood (whose salaries are paid for by taxpayers).

I am flabbergasted that Ms. Hauck could believe her status as a sitting member of the current Village Council would entitle her to use taxpayer funded facilities & services in connection with the receipt and handling of mail related to her re-election campaign.

Perhaps this practice MAY be lawful, but it certainly seems completely unethical, disrespectful, arrogant, and downright STUPID.

Let’s hope that Ms. Hauck just didn’t know any better as opposed to it being a deliberate effort to thumb her nose at us all.

The use an official Village of Ridgewood mailing address for Ms. Hauck’s re-election campaign must cease immediately.

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HealthBarn USA lease adopted by a 3-2 vote in Ridgewood

Habernickel HealthBarn USA protest

file photo by Boyd Loving

BY MATTHEW SCHNEIDER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

RIDGEWOOD – Members of Ridgewood’s ruling body last week voted by a narrow margin (3-2) to adopt HealthBarn USA’s lease at the Habernickel Family Park.

Councilwoman Gwenn Hauck, Mayor Paul Aronsohn and Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli all voted to adopt the lease, while Councilman Mike Sedon and Councilwoman Susan Knudsen cast the dissenting votes.

The process got going due to a resolution for HealthBarn USA to occupy the gatehouse at the Habernickel property passing by a 4-1 vote at the Feb. 10 Village Council meeting. The second resolution on the lease was postponed until Feb. 18 because the council wanted to review the finalized lease before authorizing signature.

And due to the majority vote at the Feb. 18 budget meeting, the lease was adopted.

https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/town-government/healthbarn-usa-lease-adopted-by-a-3-2-vote-1.1518523