The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
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Absolutely ridiculous. You can build a 2,000 sf house for $375,000 (build not buy land).
I blame the village for not overseeing this project more closely. Even though we have seen all of these delays, I bet the village is still paying on time.
The village needs to step up and demand improvements and completion of the job. If not, they need to sue the contractor to fix all of the problems (as well as demand legal fees for having to sue them).
>Stakes are high as hospital hearing starts
Monday, June 8, 2009
Last updated: Monday June 8, 2009, 6:30 AM
BY LINDY WASHBURN
NorthJersey.com
STAFF WRITER
https://www.northjersey.com/news/health/47172637.html
The people who live near the former Pascack Valley Hospital say their health will be jeopardized if it doesn’t reopen.
But some North Jersey hospitals say it is the region’s health care system that will be thrown into disarray if Pascack is revived.
>During last night’s Village Council Work Session, local real estate developer Nick Tsapatsaris revealed his conceptual plan to offer valet parking at Wilsey Square. The developer hopes to have his operation up and running prior to the start of NJ Transit’s upcoming train station renovation project.
Tsapatsaris, owner of a commercial office building at 20 Wilsey Square, informed Council members of his plan to install several parking lifts on property located directly behind the Exxon station on Godwin Avenue, just south of Wilsey Square. According to Tsapatsaris, an increase of 70 parking spaces could be achieved in the area by deploying parking lifts on the identified property.
Under Tsapatsaris’ plan, drivers would exit their cars directly in front of his building at 20 Wilsey Square. A valet parking attendant would then take over. No car owners would be permitted in the area where the parking lifts operate.
Council members thanked Mr. Tsapatsaris for his presentation and suggested he move his proposal forward by submitting an application to either the Board of Adjustment or Planning Board.
Tsapatsaris is a member of the Ridgewood Planning Board.
>California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown and other law enforcement officials allege that three makers of artificial turf deliberately failed to disclose that their products contain lead.
By Marc Lifsher
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 4, 2008
SACRAMENTO — California’s attorney general wants to put a new spin on the old admonition “Don’t step on the grass!”
The warning could read “Don’t roll on the artificial turf” if Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown and local law enforcement officials prevail in a lawsuit filed late Tuesday against three top makers of the green plastic playing fields and grasslike indoor-outdoor carpeting.
The complaint filed in Alameda County Superior Court alleges that the three manufacturers violated California’s Proposition 65 environmental law by knowingly failing to disclose that their products contain lead.
The lawsuit, which has been joined by Los Angeles City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo and Solano County Dist. Atty. David W. Paulson, names Beaulieu Group of Georgia, AstroTurf of Georgia and FieldTurf USA Inc. of Florida.
All three companies said they were working with California officials to settle the lawsuit and stressed that their products were safe.
AstroTurf, an artificial-turf pioneer, said in a statement that it “has demonstrated its industry leadership by proactively developing new products that are below the most stringent standards for lead in consumer products.”
Joe Fields, chief executive of FieldTurf’s Canadian parent company, said that his artificial turf recently got a clean bill of health from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Lead, which is used to give a natural green hue to the artificial turf, has been identified by state agencies as an ingredient that can cause cancer, damage to male and female reproductive systems, and birth defects in developing fetuses.
Children and other individuals can ingest harmful levels of lead by absorbing it through the skin or by rubbing the ersatz grass and then touching food or their mouths, the suit contends.
The state attorney general’s office said it found excessive lead levels in some of the artificial-turf samples tested from the three companies.
Although artificial turf presents little or no danger when it is new, lead levels rise to potentially harmful levels as it gets older, said Deputy Atty. Gen. Dennis A. Ragen, the state’s lead attorney on the lawsuit.
“As it ages, it forms more dust,” he said, and could contain levels of lead that are more than 20 times what’s allowed by Proposition 65.
The state, Ragen said, is negotiating with the three companies and is optimistic that a legal settlement can be reached that requires the products to be reformulated so that no lead is used in the manufacturing.
Most companies targeted by Proposition 65, known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, are eager to change their products rather than be forced to sell them with a warning that they contain chemicals “known to the state of California” to cause cancer or birth defects.
“The bottom line is this is 2008. Why are you making something with lead deliberately put into it?” Ragen said. “You need to find some substitute to make the color stable.”
Beaulieu attorney Peter Farley says he hopes to reach a friendly settlement with California. He stressed, however, that his company makes only an indoor-outdoor type of product and does not sell artificial turf used on athletic fields and stadiums.
The state decided to take action against the three companies after it received a legal notice from an advocacy group, the Oakland-based Center for Environmental Health, that it intended to file a private lawsuit on the lead warning issue against Beaulieu and other artificial-turf manufacturers.
“Our testing on products from dozens of companies shows that artificial turf can contain high amounts of lead that can easily come off onto children’s hands when they play on turf fields,” said Michael Green, the center’s executive director.
marc.lifsher@latimes.com
>Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Last updated: Wednesday August 20, 2008, EDT 1:03 AM
BY KAREN SUDOL
Staff Writer
Two Northern Valley Regional artificial turf fields that have been closed since June because of high lead levels will reopen.
The Board of Education voted 5-to-4 tonight to immediately reopen the fields in Demarest and Old Tappan on a condition that the district follow a guideline from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. That recommendation calls for young children to wash their hands after playing outside, especially before eating.
The district will also continue to restrict children under 7 from playing on the fields.
The board was “unanimous’’ in wanting the fields to reopen but differed on the standards — state or federal guidelines – that should be followed, said Board Member Raymond Wiss.
While the federal recommendation calls for hand washing for younger children, the state guidelines recommend children under 7 be restricted from playing on the fields, that all athletes shower and wash their clothes after playing on the fields and that the fields be watered down before play.
Board Member Leonard Albanese said the cost for equipment to water down the fields alone would be $26,000.
Board Member Kyung Hee Choi voted against the measure, saying she believed the district should follow the state guidelines, especially watering down the fields.
Superintendent Jan Furman recommended reopening the fields and following the state guidelines after the consumer product safety commission concluded recently that the lead in artificial turf fields poses no risk to children.
“After learning what the federal agency had said, I now think it’s safe,’’ she said.
The fields were closed in early June following the discovery of lead levels as much as 15 times higher than the state safety standard for residential soil. They were among seven in Bergen County that had been closed because of high lead levels. Numerous districts and towns have tested their fields after the state health department found lead levels that exceeded the standards on fields in Newark, Hoboken and Ewing.
The Northern Valley fields will reopen immediately and in time for the start of football practice at both schools on Friday. The board will discuss the use of the fields by sports clubs next month.
The board also approved participating in a Rutgers University study at no cost to the district that will assess lead and other metal concentrations on the fields and exposure levels.
E-mail: sudol@northjersey.com
>By Joe Strupp
Published: June 30, 2008 10:50 AM ET
NEW YORK The Record of Hackensack, N.J. is planning to vacate its main headquarters and move staff to the site of its sister daily, The Herald News of West Paterson, according to a staff memo from Publisher Stephen A. Borg. The memo declared: “We must re-invent ourselves.”
The memo stated that the move could save about $2.4 million per year. Borg confirmed the memo and said that most of the news staff would actually become mobile journalists, working from the field, while others would also relocate to one of the paper’s eight weekly newspaper sites.
“The number one objective is more mobile journalism,” Borg, who said the paper has about 30 such “mojos,” who report from laptops and cell phones, told E&P. “And to take advantage of our other offices.”
Borg said the move has not been scheduled, but added, “I wouldn’t want it to occur any later than January ’09. Advertising has already moved. In the last six weeks.”
The memo refers to Record relocating to Garret Mountain Plaza, an office building in West Paterson that houses several operations for parent company North Jersey Media Group, including the Herald News. Borg said The Record would occupy some of that leased space. “We are working on the logistics,” he said. “But reporters I want out in the field, the vast majority of them.”
The memo, distributed last week, states: “We are in the midst of great change. Classified advertising revenues are falling fast. Some of it is due to the economy. But much of it is secular. Ads won’t return to the print newspapers even when the economy gets better.”
Later, the memo reveals, “Vacating Hackensack will save the company $2.4 million a year. This number is for electricity, cleaning crews, and other items that will go away upon vacancy. When we actually sell the land, additional money will be saved like, but not limited to, property taxes.
“So, we will be vacating Hackensack as soon as logistically possible. Some of Record editorial will be moving to Garret Mountain, but I really view this change as ‘moving out to the field.’ The move is not from one big office to another. The move is from one big office to the field. It is not that The Record has left Hackensack; we are now all over the market. (I am planning a marketing campaign to promote this. I envision the “MOJOS” like a swarm of bees landing in different towns.)”
Borg’s memo then goes on to describe the ongoing shift to mobile journalists, who can work full-time out of the office: “We have and will continue to have more mobile journalists. They will share desks as they are rarely in the office. The office/work concept is called ‘hoteling’. Employees actually reserve desk time to cut down on the number of desks and square footage needed.”
The full memo is posted below:
********************************
We are in the midst of great change. Classified advertising revenues are falling fast. Some of it is due to the economy. But much of it is
secular. Ads won’t return to the print newspapers even when the economy gets better.
Getting this revenue back on the web dollar for dollar won’t happen. We are competing against non-news site for eyeballs, hence, ad dollars. Our competition is not merely other newspaper sites. Even for the ads we get, the web rates are much lower than those of print ads.
We must reinvent ourselves.
One such way is to lower our overhead costs. These are expenses that don’t directly affect our products. Reporters directly affect the product; our building does not.
Vacating Hackensack will save the company $2.4 million a year. This number is for electricity, cleaning crews, and other items that will go away upon
vacancy. When we actually sell the land, additional money will be saved like, but not limited to, property taxes.
So, we will be vacating Hackensack as soon as logistically possible. Some of Record editorial will be moving to Garret Mountain, but I really view this change as “moving out to the field”. The move is not from one big office to another. The move is from one big office to the field. It is not that The Record has left Hackensack; we are now all over the market. (I am planning a marketing campaign to promote this. I envision the “MOJOS” like a swarm of bees landing in different towns.)
We have and will continue to have more mobile journalists. They will share desks as they are rarely in the office. The office/work concept is called “hoteling”. Employees actually reserve desk time to cut down on the number of desks and square footage needed.
Bob Klapisch and Ian O’Connor Æ and there may be others Æ don’t even have desks here so this effort need not be limited to “MOJOS”. We seek more and more of this. If you are interested in this idea even if you are not a “MOJO”, please let Doug Clancy know.
Second, we are going to look at shift work closely. If two people do not overlap, they might be able to share a desk. We have executives who share offices in Garret Mountain.
Third, we plan on using our community newspaper remote offices for any NJMG purpose. We have started this, but we will do more. We have offices in the following locations:
Ridgewood, Westwood, Cresskill, Rutherford, Clifton, Rockaway, Kinnelon, and Fair Lawn.
Also, we have offices out of The Record’s circulation area Æ Millburn, Montclair and Nutley but they may be near your home.
We are analyzing the capacity of these locations right now.
If you are interested in working in one of these offices (including the Essex locations), please let Doug Clancy know.
Finally, see [Assistant Managing Editor] Doug Clancy if you are interested in working from home, even just for some of the days of your schedule (he will need the specifics).
As for the timing, there are too many open items for me to give you a precise date. There are too many items still outstanding. I don’t want it
to be past January, 09.
I encourage you to talk to people in Advertising. Overall, they have seen the move to GMP as a positive change. The builder is newer. There is more natural light. Views are nice. The furniture is newer.
While we face many challenges, innovative ideas will lead us through it. Let’s abandon the traditional work/office environment model and innovate.
Thx.
——————————————————————————–
Joe Strupp (jstrupp@editorandpublisher.com) is a senior editor at E&P.
>Sunday, June 22, 2008
By MIKE KELLY
RECORD COLUMNIST
CDC instructions advise all who set a toe on one of these fields to remove all clothing as soon as possible.
Mike Kelly is a Record columnist. Contact him at kellym@northjersey.com.
WE LIVE in wondrous times. We no longer need real grass for football, soccer, baseball and lacrosse. We have artificial turf, made from plastic, nylon and ground-up car and truck tires.
But now we worry.
Recent tests on fake turf fields at four high schools in northern New Jersey revealed high levels of lead. And now comes a truly wondrous message from the federal government – actually a special advisory from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC advisory, which was released late last week, is actually a set of instructions for anyone who uses an artificial turf field. Pay attention to the vocabulary here. In this bizarre debate, vocabulary is perhaps the only thing worth laughing about.
At the top of the list of CDC instructions is this: Anyone who steps onto a fake field should wash “aggressively” afterwards.
Yes, you read that right: Wash aggressively. No more quick showers to save water. If you play, you get sprayed, the advisory says.
It doesn’t matter if you have spent three hours kicking a soccer ball or five minutes throwing a coach’s temper tantrum. If you step on that plastic turf, you need to wash your mouth – and everything else – with some serious soap and water for at least 20 seconds on all exposed body parts.
But that’s not all.
Remove your clothing
The instructions ask all athletes – and anyone else who sets a toe on one of these fields – to remove all clothing as soon as possible.
Naked soccer? Lacrosse au naturel? Baseball in the buff?
The possibilities are endless.
But the instructions don’t end there. The CDC recommends that all sports uniforms worn on fake fields should be turned inside out to avoid spreading “dust.”
Apparently, the uniforms tend to get coated with ground-up bits of tires and other “artificial” items that are dangerous to your health and wardrobe.
But again, that’s not all.
The final instruction is this: All clothing worn on an artificial field should be washed separately from other items. Besides the “delicate” cycle on washing machines, maybe now we need the “fake turf” cycle.
In other words, the CDC wasn’t kidding when it advised athletes and others to wash aggressively.
They’re not laughing, either.
Indeed, this is no laughing matter. But the story of the growth of artificial athletic fields is full of irony.
From town recreation fields in Franklin Lakes, Wayne and Fort Lee to more than two dozen public and private high schools across northern New Jersey, artificial turf fields are a growing trend. But here’s the irony: Many of these fields – especially those built for municipal parks – were funded by state Green Acres grants.
That’s right, money, set aside by state law, to preserve New Jersey’s natural environment was used to buy a fake environment.
Buy first, test later
But perhaps the most outrageous piece of irony is this: Scientists knew that artificial turf fields might cause health and environmental problems. But in the rush for improved athletic and recreational facilities – and use of those Green Acres dollars — far too many bureaucrats opted to install the fake fields first, then test for hazards later.
So last week, we learned that the lead content of the fake turf at Ramapo High School in Franklin Lakes was six times the state standard and the lead content of the Indian Hills High School field in Oakland was seven times higher. The fields will be closed during summer, school authorities said.
“We’re not going to be using either of our fields until we complete further testing,” said Paul Saxton, the superintendent for the Ramapo Indian Hills school district.
But testing is one thing. What if those additional tests confirm high lead levels? What then? Remove the fake turf and start over? And who pays for this?
Fake fields, by the way, don’t come cheap. A basic soccer and football field goes for around $2 million.
The news of high lead levels at the Ramapo and Indian Hills high schools comes on the heels of similar revelations at the Northern Valley Regional High School District’s artificial fields in Old Tappan and in Demarest. Initially, the district considered canceling graduation ceremonies, scheduled for the fields.
But other tests revealed “acceptable” lead levels. How comforting.
Meanwhile, a group called the Synthetic Turf Council issued a statement in praise of the new tests.
“Our industry is proud of its unblemished record of human health and environmental safety,” the council said.
Really now. The same statement underscored the inherent paradox of these fake turf fields. “Lead chromate has been used in a number of synthetic turf fields,” the council acknowledged.
But then the council said we should not be worried. “Lead chromate’s extremely low bioavailability prevents it from being readily absorbed by the human body,” the statement said.
But if lead chromate is so safe, why does the New Jersey Department of Health suggest that children under age 7 be prohibited from playing on fields with high lead levels?
That sort of question never seems to be answered. The state continues to find high levels of lead in artificial turf, but the fake turf manufacturers and their lobbyists claim we shouldn’t worry.
Comforting, isn’t it?
>My understanding is that the infill at Maple Park was something called Nike Grind, which FieldTurf offers as an option and blends recycled Nike shoe soles with specially treated and cleaned ground tire rubber.
The tests that were conducted on the fields in question found no safety concerns about the rubber infill. In the past, people had raised concerns about the infill. But, legitimate testing has repeatedly dispelled these concerns, which were based on erroneous claims. Why would you criticize FieldTurf for recycling tires in an environmentally responsible manner, which would otherwise end up UNTREATED in landfills? Below is the full text from which your selective excerpt was taken.
“Installation of a FieldTurf field eliminates the use of harmful pesticides, fertilizers and herbicides, while at the same time, removes over 40,000 tires from landfill sites.
FieldTurf requires no mowing, fertilizing, reseeding or watering. A typical soccer / football field can use between 2.5 million and 3.5 million gallons of water per year.
FieldTurf saves a billion gallons of fresh water every year. Coupled with reduced labor costs related to maintenance, equipment and elimination of costs for supplies such as fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides, many of our clients report a reduction in maintenance costs of as much as $30,000 to $60,000 per field, per year.”
The concern from the NJDHSS report is with lead from lead chromate in the dye used to color the green fibers. As others have pointed out, this is encapsulated in the patented FieldTurf fibers (which are different from other manufactures). The lead does not “leach” out of the fibers and is not transmitted through contact with the fibers. The tests that have raised this issue dissolve the fibers in acid to release the lead. The pesticides, fertilizer and geese droppings that were previously found on Maple Park Field, leached into the ground water and were easily transmitted through contact with the skin represented the true health risk.
It is very important that concerned individuals distinguish between FieldTurf and other “synthetic turf designs”. Despite the fact that the NJDHSS test DO NOT indicate that the lead on the FieldTurf fields is released through normal usage and that they state that “by itself, playing on the fields does not pose a health concern”, FieldTurf has voluntarily explored ways to reduce or eliminate lead entirely from its design.
In support of the environmental responsibility of FieldTurf’s design, it should be noted that the EPA has formed and partnership with FieldTurf through its GreenScapes program (see https://fieldturf.com/specialFeatures.cfm?specialFeatureID=331&lang=en).
FieldTurf’s design has also been recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council for qualification under its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Green Building Rating System™. This is the national standard for what constitutes a “green building” and is utilized as a design guideline and certification tool for architects and designers seeking to develop high-performance, sustainable buildings. FieldTurf’s qualification falls under LEED Version 2.2,. which is an updated version of the rating system for new construction, major renovations, and water efficiency. It is designed to guide and distinguish high-performance commercial and institutional projects. A recent large FieldTurf project in Nevada earned LEED point recognition by saving 129 acre feet of water a year, enough to provide water to 428 single family homes, while providing a safe recreational space.
When you take the time to learn the facts and consider them rationally, it is hard to make a compelling case against the safety and environmental responsibility of FieldTurf’s design.
>June 10, 2008
Wednesday June 11, 2008, EDT 11:52
AMBY KAREN SUDOL AND COLLEEN DISKINSTAFF WRITER
High lead levels found in artificial turf at both of Northern Valley Regional’s high schools have prompted school officials to close the fields indefinitely.
The results came just a week after state officials recommended that the federal government investigate nearly 4,000 artificial turf fields in use nationwide, following sample tests that found lead at three fields in New Jersey.
That round of testing did not include Northern Valley, which tested its fields independently.
Now, more testing of the fields at the Demarest and Old Tappan locations will be done to determine how serious the problem is and whether the fields might need to be replaced.
“We want to take every precaution to find out exactly what we have&hellip before we let anybody go back on the fields,” said Ray Jacobus, the assistant superintendent for business.
State health department officials say children would need to have prolonged contact with the fields as well as exposure to lead in other settings before their health would be at risk. Inhaling or ingesting lead can cause brain damage and other neurological illnesses, state health officials say.
“The main concern is the cumulative effect of a child being exposed to lead from a field when also exposed to lead at home,” said Marilyn Riley, a Department of Health and Senior Services spokeswoman. “That’s where more of the concern is.”
Concentrations of lead in fibers from the green-colored synthetic turf at the Demarest school’s field were about 15 times the state standard for residential soil — 6,300 milligrams of lead per kilogram of fiber over the state standard for soil of 400 milligrams of lead. A sample taken of the green turf fibers of Old Tappan’s field was 10 times the state standard.
The state recommends restricting the use of fields for children under the age of 7. If the fields are used, they should be watered down to suppress dust and hand, body and clothes should be washed thoroughly. The most conservative recommendation is to close the field.
A statement by FieldTurf Tarkett of Montreal, Canada, which installed both Northern Valley fields six years ago, said the company was “astonished’’ by the findings, given that the state health department tested 10 FieldTurf fields this spring and found “very low or undetectable levels of lead.’’
“As an industry leader in the synthetic turf industry with more than 2,500 installed fields around the world, FieldTurf is fundamentally dedicated to the health and well being of everyone who plays on our fields,’’ the statement reads.
FieldTurf is working with the Northern Valley to verify the results and wants to conduct its own tests, said spokesman Elliot Sloane.
The field closures could mean finding new on-campus locations for graduations on June 19 in Demarest and June 20 in Old Tappan, said Superintendent Jan Furman.
Four turf samples from each school’s field on May 21 were tested, said Gary Leverence, president of Environmental Remediation & Management, Inc. of Trenton. Each field had one sample with elevated lead levels. The results showed the lead is contained within the product used to dye the fields green, he said.
When she received the results on Friday, Furman closed the fields, which cost $700,000 each to install.
ER&M is performing more tests at the two fields: of the sand underneath the fields to determine if lead has leached beneath the turf and on dust from the field, which is collected from shoes. Results should be available by the end of the week.
Northern Valley hired ER&M after the state tested turf from about a dozen municipal parks and colleges and found elevated levels at fields in Hoboken and Ewing. A Newark field tested for high levels last summer. The turf was replaced at those sites.
The turf industry contends the potential harm to children is overstated.
Lead chromate has been used in some dyes to keep the green color of the blades from fading in the sunlight. The industry is moving to phase lead out as an ingredient, said Rick Doyle, president of the Synthetic Turf Council.
But Doyle said experts hired by the industry have determined that the lead chromate in the fields is insoluble and encapsulated, meaning that it won’t leach into the soil below and can’t be absorbed into the body.
The industry claims that a 50 pound child would have to ingest 100 pounds of synthetic turf to be at risk of absorbing more than the recommended standard for lead, Doyle said.
“At the end of the day, we are still saying that this turf is safe,” Doyle said.
Parent Peggy Blumenthal, whose 17-year-old son Sean has played soccer on the Demarest turf field, said state and federal agencies should have required lead testing statewide long ago.
“If state is coming down now saying we think there’s a problem, why didn’t they come down six years ago and do the research before it’s a problem, before everybody has it down?’’ she asked.
“What are we supposed to do as parents?’’ said the Haworth resident. “Do I take my child for lead testing? Do you get a blood test or urine test? What are you supposed to do? Accept it and see what happens 10 years down the road?’’
E-mail: sudol@northjersey.com
——————————————————————————–
GRASS VS. SYNTHETIC
A debate has been raging for several years in the United States and Europe over whether artificial turf improves or worsens the environment.
Pro
* Minimal watering needed, only on hot days to cool playing surface.
* No fertilizer runoff into surrounding waters.
* No need for weedkillers and other pesticides.
* More than 25 million tires kept out of landfills, crushed and used as fill on synthetic fields.
Con
* Chemicals. Activist groups call for more testing of not just lead content but of whether the chemical ingredients in crumb rubber can leach into the environment, give off gas or be ingested when they get on children’s hands.
* Runoff. Water flows off turf just like pavement, creating another impervious surface that could potentially damage surrounding wetlands and streams.
* Ground warming. Turf fields can overheat on hot days, creating mini heat islands.
* Disposal. When fields wear out, the fake grass and other materials likely will end up in landfills.
May 28,2008
the staff of the Ridgewood Blog
Ridgewood NJ, During the last Maple Ave library expansion,the library patrons went to the Pease. When the new library opened, the Portrait of George Pease and some other pictures, memorabilia was moved to the main floor of the renovated libary; the section was renamed “The George L. Pease Memorial Library” Once that was done, the library board, headed by Nancy Greene, and with Janet Fricke on the board, the council went to court and voided the will, because “the functions of the Pease were being served at the new library building” This was done in 1999.the Library Board (not the Village) and Sidney Stoldt, who argued the case for the Library,were in agreement that the building be closed to the public as no longer necessary.The 911 emergency center rent goes directly to the library board, and not one cent to repairs. The village residents have paid twice: once in library budget, and once separately for all repairs, including the roof. All rent from upstairs tenants, e.g. realtor, lawyer, etc. would go directly to the LIbrary Board, not the public. No member of the public was alerted to the court appearance.
All was readied for commercial rent when, in the Fall of 1999, Hurricane Floyd hit, and the police were moved into the building since it was so high and dry. The police worked closely with the Historic Preservation Commission to make certain that no part of the wood structure was ruined; they kept it as pristine as possible.
This entire lawsuit was done under the radar; in fact, when one resident attended a council meeting in 1999, and the title of a resolution was read, the resident questioned what it meant and was told that she couldn’t ask questions “at that time”.
Nobody cared, and to this day, most residents don’t care, so we have what we deserve.
Yes, I wish we could all chip in to save the building; that was the plan agreed upon by the Council when the historic grants were supposed to be applied for. Most of the matching grants would have been paid for by private funds, it was privately promised; and this was told to the Council. The promise was made that the building would be open to the public. For David Bolger to appear 24 hours before a promise to keep the building open and apply for grants is no mystery. The fix was in from the beginning. Now the council could look as if they really were considering public use, but they weren’t. All the Council members voted to accept the Bolger money.
Is it too late? Its up to the readers of this blog. Others have done more than their share; if more people would stand up, things could be reversed. But if only a dozen people are interested, the building will be stolen.
>The Fly has just received word that the Ridgewood Athletics Foundation has applied to turf and light athletic fields at Hawes School and Ridgewood High School.
Both projects will be managed by Conklin Associates, a consulting engineering firm based in Ramsey. Reportedly, applications for NJDEP stream encroachment permits were signed off on by BOE Administrator Angelo DeSimone.
The stream encroachment permit application, by the way, says it is for “in kind” replacement, but does say it is artificial turf.
So much for the publically announced plan that Lower Hawes would not be touched.
>
Valley expansion plan under fire
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Last Updated Saturday March 22, 2008, EDT 9:48 AMBY BOB GROVESThe cost of Valley Hospital’s proposed expansion would threaten Ridgewood’s taxpayers and the future of the facility, critics charged.
Valley’s $750 million plan to replace two of its older buildings with three new ones over the next decade could balloon, with interest, to $1 billion — and that would require the hospital to earn an additional $40 million a year for 25 years to pay it off, said Paul Gould. He is a member and spokesman of Concerned Residents of Ridgewood, a neighborhood group that has opposed Valley’s expansion plans for months.
“Where will it come from?” Gould said. “Will we end up with another Pascack Valley?” The Westwood hospital went bankrupt and closed last year after building a $50 million addition.
On the contrary, Valley’s plan “is vital to its success,” said Maureen Curran Kleinman, a hospital spokeswoman.
“If Valley is not allowed to renew over time, we will not be the hospital that the community will choose for its medical care in the future,” Kleinman said in a statement. “It will impede our ability to attract the best physicians and staff, and the hospital would be at risk of facing the same unfortunate fate as Pascack Valley and many other New Jersey hospitals that have been forced to close their doors.”
The Ridgewood Planning Board is deciding whether to approve separate requests, by Valley and by Concerned Residents, for changes in the village’s hospital zone ordinances and master plan. Those changes would either allow the hospital to expand or preserve the surrounding neighborhood.
Beyond financial concerns about the hospital’s plan, Gould and other members of his group worry how much Valley’s expansion would cost the village.
“Taxpayers would absorb the additional infrastructure costs of roads, fire and police, which are paid for by the residents of Ridgewood,” he said.
If, for example, Valley increased its occupancy rate from its current 87 percent to 100 percent, to help pay for the expansion, that could add 80,000 car trips on village streets to the hospital per year, on top of 600,000 vehicle visits already made there annually, Gould said.
While other area hospitals have expanded or renovated in recent years, Valley’s $750 million plan is one of the most ambitious.
Gould’s group is worried that Valley will suffer the same fate as Pascack Valley, which succumbed to a $100 million annual debt after it opened an addition. The hospital closed in November.
“We do not want another bankrupt hospital,” Gould told the Planning Board during a public hearing this week.
But Valley officials say the hospital is not in financial danger.
Valley would finance the first phase of its expansion, estimated at $420 million, through tax-exempt bonds, fund-raising and existing cash, “as is typical financing for not-for-profit hospital projects,” Kleinman said.
Even after the project is complete, Valley’s debt will be “manageable and moderate in comparison to other hospitals,” Kleinman said.
Gould conceded that Valley “is very profitable today,” he said. At a time when many of the state’s hospitals are struggling financially, Valley hospital has $225 million in cash and investments and a $46 million debt, according to tax filings. Revenue increases by 8 percent each year, Gould said.
But to pay for the hospital to pay for the expansion, Gould said, net patient revenue would have to increase by an additional 8 percent a year. How will the hospital do that when it’s only adding three more beds to its current 451? he asked.
Valley officials have repeatedly said their building plan is being done to bring the hospital up to modern medical standards, not to bring in more patients. Will the hospital have to increase what it charges patients? the neighborhood group asked.
“Valley’s charges are among the absolute lowest of any hospital in the state,” Kleinman said. “Even after the project is in place we will still have charges well below other hospitals in New Jersey.”
The neighborhood group also claims that the Planning Board, through its attorney and other professional advisers, has already been negotiating with Valley officials about some terms of the expansion before it has been approved.
David Nicholson, chairman of the Planning Board, said its professionals had met with Valley officials, but denied that they had “negotiated” any of the proposal.
“The implication that this matter is already decided is simply not true,” Nicholson said.
Kleinman said the hospital met with village professionals to discuss the hospital ordinance and make a recommendation to the Planning Board, but not to negotiate terms of the proposed expansion.
E-mail: groves@northjersey.com
>Valley Hospital ‘at a pivotal point’
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Last Updated Tuesday March 11, 2008, EDT 9:01 AMBY BOB GROVESThe Valley Hospital needs more space to handle advances in medical technology and provide better patient care, officials said Monday.
“The hospital is at a pivotal point in its history,” Audrey Meyers, Valley’s president and chief executive officer, told the Ridgewood Planning Board. “Valley must be allowed to evolve over time.”
About 200 people, including supporters and opponents of Valley’s expansion plans, attended the public hearing. Valley’s $750 million plan includes adding a parking deck and replacing two buildings with three new ones, increasing the hospital’s size by 67 percent.
Although modern surgery involves less-invasive techniques, it requires bigger equipment than can be accommodated by Valley’s existing operating rooms, Meyers said. Under the plan, Valley would add just three beds to its existing 451 beds, but the hospital wants to make all its room private in keeping with current standards of care, Meyers said.
The population of Valley’s service area is relatively stable and expected to grow by only 4 percent in the next 10 years, she said. “The demand for change at Valley will be driven by changes in technology and patient care delivery,” she said.
Opponents say the proposed 80-foot-tall hospital buildings don’t belong in the residential neighborhood because they would overshadow homes as well as Benjamin Franklin Middle School.
Answering concerns by nearby residents that the expansion would increase traffic, Meyers said that the hospital’s nine off-site facilities have already eliminated more than 673,000 car trips per year to the hospital’s main campus.
Tuesday night’s special Planning Board meeting at George Washington Middle School was its fourth public hearing on Valley’s proposal.
The next meeting will take place next Tuesday, when Concerned Residents of Ridgewood, a group that opposes the hospital’s plan, will make their arguments before the Planning Board.
In January, the residents group applied to amend the village Master Plan and its hospital zone ordinance to “limit its impact on the community and preserve the village’s residential character.” The group also asked the Village Council and the Planning Board to amend the ordinance to change the minimum distance — from the current 40 feet, to a proposed 80 feet — that hospital buildings must be set back from North Van Dien and Linwood Avenues.
“We want further clarification about whether the hospital has changed any of its positions from 12 months ago — particularly the magnitude and scale of the proposed development — following the public outcry,” Paul Gould, a member of the group, said before the meeting.
David Nicholson, chairman of the Planning Board, said the board would consider the request by the hospital and concerned residents “as legitimate and equal” and will consider them simultaneously. “The board will then make its decision whether it will consider any changes — one or the other or one of our own devising — to the ordinances,” he said. “My hope is we will make a decision by the end of April.”
E-mail: groves@northjersey.com
>
Susan Sherrill, Editor of The Ridgewood News, photographed at a recent social event with Audrey Meyers and Megan Fraser of The Valley Hospital. This photograph appears on page 136 of the most recent “201 Magazine.”
The Fly wonders if Ms. Meyers, The Valley’s President and CEO, and Ms. Fraser, her Director of Marketing and Public Relations, were trying to ensure favorable print media coverage of The Valley’s Renewal Plan.
A picture is indeed worth one thousand words . .
>
During this evening’s Village Council Work Session, Village Manager James M. Ten Hoeve revealed that ground breaking for the proposed parking garage on North Walnut Street will not take place until at least the year 2011.
New Jersey Transit has officially informed Village officials that bids for the ADA compliant renovation of Ridgewood’s train station will be advertised in June of 2008. The New Jersey Transit Board of Directors expects to award bids in September of 2008, with construction scheduled to begin in early 2009. The train station renovation project will take until 2011 to complete.
Since existing parking at and near the train station will be disrupted during New Jersey Transit’s massive construction project, Village Council members have wisely elected to avoid their own project, which will cause the temporary elimination of approximately 100 parking spaces on North Walnut Street.
The Fly believes that between now and 2011, parking requirements within the Central Business District will change significantly. Let’s wait at least until 2010 before committing any more money and resources to a parking plan that may be obsolete before construction even begins.
