Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Police Department is pleased to announce the 2016 Chief Michael Feeney Jr.Police Academy will be held June 23rd to July 1st at the Benjamin Franklin Middle School. Applications will be available April 1st at the Ridgewood Police desk. The seven day academy sponsored by Ridgewood PBA Local 20 is open to Ridgewood residents entering 6th 7th and 8th grades in the fall of 2016. Visit the Ridgewood Police Website for more information.
For those of you who have watched the 2016 budget work sessions, one of the highlights (or actually lowlights) that was discussed is the state of recycling in Ridgewood today. This is by no means a problem unique to Ridgewood.
Our curbside recycling program began in 1991. We ask our residents to separate their recycling into different streams and to use the beige recycling barrels that we provide to you. We sell our recycling products to processors and in the past have collected enough fees to significantly help in offsetting the expense of running this program. The level of fees is under siege and has actually decreased 18% over the last 3 years from $332,552 to $266,232; a further decline is anticipated in 2016.
This is not a Ridgewood-specific challenge. Based on global issues, predominantly the China crackdown dubbed Green Fence, recycling processors are finding it increasingly difficult to supply China, a major global recycling processing center, with recycling products. China is rejecting containers of waste it deems are contaminated or are not sorted appropriately.
Which brings us back to our challenge in Ridgewood……
Our recycling processor has, with little notice, tightened their standards for the product that we provide to them. We therefore must provide the recycling processor with the most pristine product that we can – this means that it is so very important that we improve the quality of our recyclables.
One particular problem is the inclusion of plastic bags with your recycling – this is not allowed. When mixed in with other recycling, plastic bags get caught in the machinery at the recycling plant at times causing the facility to shut down their sorting equipment to manually remove entangled bags. When the processor has to manually separate this material from our stream, the Village loses revenue and pays for the disposal of the material as garbage. Not intermixing plastic bags with your recycling has always been a rule since the inception of our recycling program but has not been strictly enforced because the market was accepting the product without question. Plastic bags must be placed in your trash or recycled at Stop & Shop, Whole Foods Market and Acme.
Besides not intermixing plastic bags with your recycling, you can help us even more by following good recycling practice which you can find either in the 2016 Green Guide that was mailed to your home earlier this year or on our Recycling Website or by calling us at 201-670-3373.
I have touched on the Ridgewood economic challenges above……but a crucial point is that recycling is good for our world…..this should be reason enough for us to try to do better as a community. We have also challenged our recycling team to come up with new and different ways to enhance our program. As usual, we would love to hear your ideas on this – I know that we have many residents who are passionate about this issue.
We look forward to working with you on this effort.
Best,
Roberta Sonenfeld
Village Manager
201-670-5500, ext. 203
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.
Ridgewood NJ, Get up to speed on the latest details released from the Village on the proposed parking garage on Hudson Street.
DESMAN HUDSON STREET DECK DRAWINGS – 1/29/2016
These drawings represent the site plan, floor plan & building sections for the revised design of the Deck at Hudson Street. This Deck design was first considered in October 2015. There will be 325 parking spots. The height to the roof is approx. 43′ and 46′ 8″ to the parapet. Click Here for Drawings
This document produced by BCIA Professionals contrasts BCIA County Guaranteed Financing with Village of Ridgewood Stand Alone Financing for debt associated with the Parking Deck Project. Please note that the estimated differential between the two scenarios has changed since last week, due to changes in BCIA issuance costs amended by the BCIA on Friday, January 29, 2016. Now, there is an estimated differential of $22,248 which averages less than $900 per year. Click Here for the document.
Ridgewood NJ , correct me if I am wrong is this not a violation of the Faulkner Act, the Village of Ridgewood was established as a non partisan town . Why is the mayor promoting partisan politics?
The Optional Municipal Charter Law or Faulkner Act (N.J.S.A. § 40:69A-1, et seq.) provides New Jersey municipalities with a variety of models of local government. This legislation is called the Faulkner Act in honor of the late Bayard H. Faulkner, former mayor of Montclair, New Jersey and chairman of the Commission on Municipal Government.
The Faulkner Act offers four basic plans (mayor–council, council–manager, small municipality, and mayor–council–administrator) and two procedures by which the voters of a municipality can adopt one of these plans. The Act provides many choices for communities with a preference for a strong executive and professional management of municipal affairs. Twenty-one percent of the municipalities in New Jersey, including the six most populous cities (Newark, Jersey City, Camden, Trenton, Paterson and Elizabeth) all govern under the provisions of the Faulkner Act. More than half of all New Jersey residents reside in municipalities with Faulkner Act charters. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faulkner_Act )
Ridgewood is governed within the Faulkner Act (formally known as the Optional Municipal Charter Law) under Council-Manager plan B, as implemented on July 1, 1970, by direct petition.[46] Under this form, the governing body consists of five council members who are responsible to hire and oversee a professional Village Manager who has full executive power for all departments. The government consists of five council members, with all positions elected at-large in nonpartisan elections to serve four-year terms on a staggered basis, with either two or three seats coming up for election in even-numbered years on the second Tuesday in May. At a reorganization meeting held on July 1 after newly elected council members take office, the council chooses a mayor and deputy mayor from among its members, with the mayor presiding over Council meetings, but without any executive authority.[6] The Village Council appoints a Village Manager to oversee the day to day operations of the Village, to handle personnel, citizen inquiries and complaints, and to handle the administrative duties of the Village. The Village Council passes local laws, makes appointments to various Boards and Committees, and awards various contracts for purchases of goods and services used by the Village. They also review, amend, and adopt the annual budget for the Village prepared by the Village Manager and Chief Financial Officer. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ridgewood,_New_Jersey )
COUNTY COMMITTEE PETITIONS AVAILABLE
Petitions for County Committee are available in the Village Clerk’s Office. County Committee members represent their political party in each voting district, and they vote at the convention for the County Officials. There are two County Committee members for the Democratic party and two County Committee members for the Republican party from each voting district, one male and one female. The candidates running for County Committee must run to represent the voting district in which they reside. The petitions must be signed by voters in the same voting district and be of the same political party as the candidates. County Committee members are voted on in the Primary Election. The deadline to submit completed County Committee petitions to the Village Clerk’s Office is April 4, 2016 at 4:00 P.M. (https://www.ridgewoodnj.net/news/672-county-committee-petitions-available )
Ridgewood Water Info Session 2/23/16 from Glen Rock TV on Vimeo.
GLEN ROCK, NJ , Glen residents questioned , Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronsohn, and Ridgewood Water officials during special public meeting recently.
The meeting was the second such meeting giving the new Ridgewood water management team a chance to explain the complexities of managing a decentralized water system as opposed to a single source system.
The Village of Ridgewood owns the embattled utility company, which services Wyckoff, Midland Park, and Glen Rock.
A major lawsuit by officials from those municipalities alleges that the utility artificially inflated its costs by commingling Village of Ridgewood expenses with that of the water utility. In a recent press release Wyckoff officials claim the, “massive” 37 percent rate increases approved since 2010 are “unlawful” and “excessive,”
MLS # 1535930
456 E Saddle River Rd, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, Ranch Thomas Panso, Sales Associate Keller Williams Valley Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 2/28
25
MLS # 1606302
641 Maxwell Pl, Ridgewood, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath, Col Charlene Bai, Sales Associate Coldwell Banker, Fort Lee
Ridgewood NJ, with the announcement that the citizens group has gathered enough signatures to force a binding referendum on BCIA funding of the garage . Mayor Paul Aronsohn has already announced his intention to go back to Village financing for the project .
With a council election just around the corner it makes sense to postpone any action on the garage until the next council . Recent verbal and physical attacks on residents have crossed the line and the public no longer feels comfortable with the current council. Lets face it ,the entire project is now suspect and the public has lost all confidence and trust in the current Village Council.
Key information like the Maser report appears to have been withheld from the public and some council members as well as the conclusions in the Walker report seem to have been misinterpreted,with the reality being the garage has little chance of paying for itself.The projects design and financial impact on the village , as well as increases in parking rates appear to be left to chance by the current council majority .
Other projects are waiting in the wings , like the high density housing for the central business district, negotiations with Valley Hospital and the Ridgewood Water suit all of which will force major changes to the Village of Ridgewood .
Common sense should prevail and all major decisions about the Village and Village business should be postponed until the new council takes over in June and restores the public’s confidence in the Village council’s ability to represent the residents of Ridgewood .
file photo of the Council Majority …ie the 3 amigos
February 26,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, ,it does appear from recent OPRA requests that the Village harassed a resident who objected to Health Barn USA plan by calling DEP on them and conducting numerous property maintenance inspections.
The attached documents, obtained late Friday afternoon, February 26, 2016, in response to an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request dated February 3, 2016, clearly identify who it was that “dropped a dime” on your family.
It’s all public information available to anyone who submits an OPRA request. You may wish to share this with your friends and neighbors.
We have also filed an OPRA request with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection just to see if anything additional turns up.
It certainly is a shame that your speaking out in opposition to an irrational plan proposed by the Village Council “majority” triggered what appears to be nothing more than a vindictive series of trumped up code enforcement actions directed at your property.
Why N.J. towns are unlikely to see good news on aid for property taxes
State Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick (R-Union) said Thursday he’d like to restore aid to New Jersey’s municipalities to lower property taxes, but the state simply can’t afford it. Samantha Marcus. NJ.com Read more
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.
Ridgewoood NJ, Leaf summon issue resolved for now , while it does seem troubling as to the percentage of homes who were issued summonses. Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld reported that 404 out of 414 leaf summons were paid , 3 were heard by a judge , others were dismissed for various reasons.
https://www.tubechop.com/watch/7730477 courtesy of Saurabh Dani
Location: Unitarian Society of Ridgewood, 113 Cottage Place, Ridgewood, NJ Cost: $20 per person
Event Description
Ridgewood NJ, The Ridgewood Choral will hold a benefit concert and silent auction. Carl Patrick Bolleia, pianist and 2004 Music Award winner will play piano selections from the earliest composers to the latest. Since 1967 The Ridgewood Choral has presented the Florence Reinauer Memorial Music Award to a musically talented teen. Over $30,000 in scholarships has been awarded to high school seniors in recognition of excellence in vocal or instrumental performance. Admission at the door on the day of the performance is $20 and includes refreshments. Proceeds will fund the Award, currently $2500. For more information about The Ridgewood Choral, a non-profit community chorus, visit www.ridgewoodchoral.org
Ridgewood NJ, Village officials on Tuesday officially denied a Ridgewood resident access to footage taken by a security camera located in the courtroom at Village Hall, this despite a 2015 Appellate Division of New Jersey Superior Court ruling associated with a similar case in Bloomfield Township, Essex County.
The Ridgewood resident had sought access to security camera video footage taken during a recent meeting of the Village Council at which a meeting attendee was allegedly assaulted.
The staff of The Ridgewood Blog wonders if Village Attorney Matthew Rogers was consulted prior to the request denial, and also how much this is all going to cost taxpayers in legal fees associated with anticipated litigation.
