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Ridgewood must look at facts, then decide

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Ridgewood must look at facts, then decide

OCTOBER 24, 2014    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2014, 10:00 AM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

We can’t just say no to housing
Jeff Kahn

To the Editor:

Ridgewood residents love this town, and we all want what’s best for it. Most of us agree that Ridgewood needs “something” to remain a great place to live.

But in our public discourse on what that “something” is, we cannot be a town that simply says “no” to new ideas.

This includes proposals to bring modern multifamily residences to downtown. Rather, we must engage the developers, who are open to feedback and suggestions, and present us with a real opportunity to address a number of pressing needs in our town.

Downsizing empty nesters can’t find the modern option they want and are leaving town. Vacant storefronts line Ridgewood Avenue, and large, derelict lots like the old Brogan dealership blot the landscape, hurting our town’s image.

Surely, housing can be part of the answer to make sure Ridgewood remains a vibrant and desirable place to live for generations to come.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-letters-to-the-editor/letter-ridgewood-must-look-at-facts-then-decide-1.1117449#sthash.MVGiyxxH.dpuf

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Courts should decide hospital expansion

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Courts should decide hospital expansion

OCTOBER 24, 2014    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2014, 10:01 AM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Let courts decide Valley’s fate

Rurik Halaby

To the Editor:

I support The Valley Hospital’s decision to take the matter of its renewal to court, as I know that we, the residents of Ridgewood, will win if Valley wins. Valley has to renew to remain viable. And its future cannot be dictated by a small band of neighbors who are only guided by their parochial needs.

And before the politicians start beating their chests, I will relate a discussion I had with a Village Council member after the council voted against Valley in 2011. He/she shook his/her head and lamented the fact the issue ever came to the council: “It should have been settled by the courts.” Well, hopefully the Village Council’s work will be done for it.

History is full of missed opportunities, and Ridgewood’s great missed opportunity this past year was our mayor not mediating behind the scenes between Valley and its neighbors to alleviate the neighbors’ concerns and to arrive at a workable solution. If I lived in the neighborhood, I certainly would have had my concerns, but I would have worked hard to get Valley to address them to the satisfaction of most of the neighbors.

This is now doubly difficult because the neighbors’ fears have gone beyond rationality to the realm of paranoia: The neighborhood being smothered with a blanket of noxious fumes, basements being flooded, walls getting cracked, and children being mowed down by heavy trucks on their way to school. These concerns made me wonder if this project was actually taking place in the most advanced engineering country in the world.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-letters-to-the-editor/letter-courts-should-decide-hospital-expansion-1.1117450#sthash.MC5oZryJ.dpuf

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Bergen, Ridgewood target parking

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Bergen, Ridgewood target parking

OCTOBER 25, 2014    LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2014, 1:21 AM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER | 
THE RECORD

RIDGEWOOD — The county and village could soon be partnering to address parking problems in an attempt to attract more shoppers to the downtown and ease the crunch for residents.

The Bergen County freeholders unanimously voted on a resolution earlier this week authorizing the transfer of nearly $180,000 from the county planning department’s budget to the Bergen County Improvement Authority.

Ridgewood officials have been meeting with representatives from the BCIA over the past year to discuss a partnership for a multistory parking garage, which would likely be built downtown on Hudson Street.

“I am grateful to Chairman David Ganz and the entire Freeholder Board for their leadership and partnership,” said Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronsohn.

“Working together with BCIA Executive Director Rob Garrison and his board, I am increasingly confident that we can make a Ridgewood parking deck a reality,” Aronsohn added.

The BCIA will meet next on Nov. 6 to consider funding a study of the parking situation throughout the village, while making suggestions for improving it.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/bergen-village-target-parking-1.1117894#sthash.pWm99iBB.dpuf

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Democrats on FEC move to regulate Internet campaigns, blogs, Drudge

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Joseph Goebbels

Democrats on FEC move to regulate Internet campaigns, blogs, Drudge

BY PAUL BEDARD | OCTOBER 24, 2014 | 8:26 PM

In a surprise move late Friday, a key Democrat on the Federal Election Commission called for burdensome new rules on Internet-based campaigning, prompting the Republican chairman to warn that Democrats want to regulate online political sites and even news medialike the Drudge Report.

Democratic FEC Vice Chair Ann M. Ravel announced plans to begin the process to win regulations on Internet-based campaigns and videos, currently free from most of the FEC’s rules. “A reexamination of the commission’s approach to the internet and other emerging technologies is long over due,” she said.

The power play followed a deadlocked 3-3 vote on whether an Ohio anti-President Obama Internet campaign featuring two videos violated FEC rules when it did not report its finances or offer a disclosure on the ads. The ads were placed for free on YouTube and were not paid advertising.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/dems-on-fec-move-to-regulate-internet-campaigns-blogs-drudge/article/2555270

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RHS Music Teacher Jeff Haas Recognized by State Educators’ Group

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RHS Music Teacher Jeff Haas Recognized by State Educators’ Group

RHS Music Teacher Jeff Haas will be recognized by the New Jersey Association for Jazz Education (NJAJE) as the 2014 recipient of their Jazz Education Achievement Award. The award is in recognition of his many years of outstanding contributions to New Jersey’s students and teachers in the areas of jazz pedagogy and performance, while promoting the importance of appreciating and studying jazz as America’s original art form. The award will be presented on November 14 at the annual All-State Jazz concert at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.

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Driver plows straight through Ridgewood garage and keeps going

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Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving
Driver plows straight through Ridgewood garage and keeps going
October 24,2014
Boyd A. Loving
5:29 PM

Ridgewood NJ, A Walthery Avenue, Ridgewood resident drove her Lexus sedan into her driveway, through a closed door of a detached garage, out the back wall of the garage, into a neighbor’s back yard, into another neighbor’s chain link fence, then turned around in a back yard, drove down a driveway, onto a street, turned around a corner, and then back into her own driveway where she parked.  Ridgewood PD, EMS, FD, and code inspection all responded  to the driver’s 911 telephone call reporting the accident.  There were no witnesses to the event.  The driver was uninjured.  The vehicle sustained moderate to heavy front end and undercarriage damage.  The code inspector deemed the garage structurally sound, despite the heavily damaged back wall.  An investigation as to the crash’s cause remains under investigation by Ridgewood PD.

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Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving

Esurance

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Fourteen Ridgewood Students Make Bergen County Honor Band

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Fourteen Ridgewood Students Make Bergen County Honor Band

Ridgewood NJ, Eight BFMS students and six GWMS students were accepted into the Bergen County Honor Band. Those with media permission to be listed are:  Benjamin Franklin Middle School: Andrew Song (7) – Mallet 1 (highest score); Christopher Morse (8) – Bari Saxophone (highest score); Tony An (7) – Clarinet; Teddy Moll (7) – Horn; Stefanie Haas (7) – Trombone (highest score) and Emma Matthews (7) – Trumpet (highest score). George Washington Middle School: Katlyn Tagliabue (8) – Bassoon (highest score); Kieran Corcoran (7) – Tenor Saxophone (highest score); Shalin Patel (8) – Euphonium (highest score); Annie Duffy (8) – Clarinet and Edward Li (8) – Clarinet.

The two middle schools have the most students from one district earning positions into the Honor Band.  Brian Brown is the band director at GWMS and Jason Curcio at BFMS.

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Valley Hospital Welcomes Spectrum for Living

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Supervisor of Junior Volunteers and Community Projects (far left) and Kaitlyn Hipshman, ‎Supervisor of Volunteer Resources (far right). The clients who created the cards and delivered them are from our North Haledon location .

Valley Hospital Welcomes Spectrum for Living
October 23,2014

Ridgewood NJ, Today, Spectrum for Living clients delivered cards of kindness and support to Valley Hospital for Breast Cancer patients in lieu of Breast Cancer awareness month. The clients designed and decorated the cards themselves offering encouraging words like “Don’t give up” and “Stay strong”.

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Spectrum for Living is a non-profit organization dedicated to the philosophy that persons with developmental disabilities have the same rights as others to a fulfilling and meaningful life. Our programs and services support dignity, independence and encourage each person to reach their personal potential.
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Ridgewood’s Graydon Pool adding handicapped accessible ramp

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Ridgewood’s Graydon Pool adding handicapped accessible ramp

October 24, 2014    Last updated: Friday, October 24, 2014, 1:21 AM
The Record
Print

RIDGEWOOD — The village has accepted a $35,000 grant that will fund the construction of a handicapped accessible ramp at Graydon Pool.

Ridgewood officials said the Community Development Block Grant will pay for the entire project.

The plan is to use the money to build a ramp from Graydon Pool’s parking lot to the sidewalk along Linwood Avenue.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/grant-will-cover-cost-of-pool-ramp-1.1117240#sthash.Qw9JtNy1.dpuf

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PSE&G Cuts Residential Gas Bills This Winter With Three Months of Bill Credits

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file photo Boyd Loving

PSE&G Cuts Residential Gas Bills This Winter With Three Months of Bill Credits
October 23, 2014

Bill credits are in addition to 9 percent reduction on Oct. 1

(Newark, NJ – October 23, 2014) Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G) announced today that it is providing a bill credit for the next three months for its residential gas supply customers that will cut the average bill for the typical residential gas heating customer by about 31 percent.  The company will provide its residential customers who purchase gas supply from PSE&G a 28-cents per therm bill credit for usage during November, December and January.

A typical residential gas heating customer using 91 therms in November, 165 therms in December and 165 therms in January would see a total bill credit of approximately $118. Depending on meter reading schedules, many customers will see some of the credit in November, December and January with the remainder in February.

These bill credits are in addition to the reduction the utility has already put into effect on October 1, 2014, which reduced its gas supply rate to 45 cents per therm from 54 cents – its lowest rate in 14 years.

“Since 2009, PSE&G’s residential gas customers have benefitted from steady reductions in the cost of natural gas,” said Jorge Cardenas, PSE&G vice president of asset management and centralized services. “We’re able to provide additional savings this winter given the continued availability of low-cost gas from the nearby Marcellus Shale Formation in Pennsylvania. In addition, our transportation and storage capabilities and the way we manage our pipeline contracts have enabled us to seize this opportunity to once again reduce costs for our customers.

“While there’s no guarantee that these savings will be available in future years, we are pleased to pass them on to our customers as temperatures are dropping and they strive to keep their winter heating bills affordable,” Cardenas said.

PSE&G makes no profit on the sale of natural gas. The utility passes along what it pays for the gas to customers. Costs of natural gas supply account for about half of the customer’s monthly bill.

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N.J. lawmakers OK resolution aimed at blocking Christie opposition to greenhouse gas initiative and push for massive tax increase

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N.J. lawmakers OK resolution aimed at blocking Christie opposition to greenhouse gas initiative and push for massive tax increase 

“Bottom line, the program has raised electricity prices, created a slush fund for each of the member states, and has had virtually no impact on emissions or on global climate change.” https://www.masterresource.org/regional-greenhouse-gas-initiative-rggi/rggi-cap-tax-spend-model/

OCTOBER 23, 2014, 3:35 PM    LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2014, 11:27 PM
BY JOHN REITMEYER
STATE HO– USE BUREAU |
THE RECORD

Frustrated by Governor Christie’s move to take New Jersey out of a multistate program aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Democrats pushed ahead Thursday with their latest plan to challenge the governor on climate change.

Advocates of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which forces power companies to buy credits for every ton of carbon their plants emit, have praised it as an effective way to combat climate change while also boosting the state’s green-energy sector.

But Christie, a Republican who is considering a run for president in 2016, has argued that it does nothing to help the environment while at the same time increasing electricity costs in New Jersey. He announced the state’s withdrawal from the coalition in 2011.

Democrats who control the Legislature in recent years have sent Christie bills to reinstate New Jersey’s membership in the coalition, only to see the governor veto them.

Now, boosted by a recent state appellate court ruling and success they’ve had blocking another Christie initiative this year, lawmakers moved forward with their latest attempt to reverse the governor, one that they say will be successful. Christie’s representatives did not respond to a request for comment, but a spokesman for the Department of Environmental Protection said the state is making strides to prevent greenhouse gases on its own.

The Senate on Thursday approved a resolution that declares rules passed by the state DEP to formalize the withdrawal from the coalition to be in violation of the legislative intent of a 2007 law they passed after the state agreed to join the program.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/n-j-lawmakers-ok-resolution-aimed-at-blocking-christie-opposition-to-greenhouse-gas-initiative-1.1116765#sthash.v1OuhHlP.dpuf

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Ridgewood residents seek support for restorations at Kings Pond

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Ridgewood residents seek support for restorations at Kings Pond

OCTOBER 24, 2014    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2014, 12:31 AM
BY JODI WEINBERGER
STAFF WRITER | 
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

George Shabet brought a dead 3-foot carp to a council meeting in 1976 to prove a point: Kings Pond needed to be cleaned up.

Thirty-eight years later, he’s again trying to hook the council to take action on the pond, though this time with a more chummy approach.

He went before the governing body on Oct. 8 with only a sheet of paper containing his talking points, asking the council to consider appropriating money in the 2015 budget for dredging and dam repair.

At 334 Lakeview Drive, Kings Pond is virtually an extension of the Shabet’s front yard. They raised six children and now entertain 16 grandchildren and one great-grandchild by the water’s edge, canoeing and fishing in the summer and ice skating in the winter.

The pond, located between Lakeview Drive and Mountain Avenue, is home to more than 40 species of birds and other wildlife. Although at one point the depth was about 3 feet, Shabet said the legs of the herons that come to feed stick up out of the water, meaning in some spots the pond is only a few inches deep.

The pond is also adjacent to the village’s leaf composting facility, where trucks drive in and out consistently throughout the day.

On Tuesday, Councilman Michael Sedon and Councilwoman Gwenn Hauck visited the Shabets with optimism that the pond’s shoreline could be cleaned up. Upon seeing it, they realized the job would require more effort and more funds.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/residents-seeking-support-for-restorations-at-kings-pond-1.1116983#sthash.KmJw3Uge.dpuf

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Ridgewood adds an extra hour to parking meters

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Ridgewood adds an extra hour to parking meters

OCTOBER 24, 2014    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2014, 12:31 AM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Shoppers and diners will now have an extra hour of parking in Ridgewood.

The Village Council voted on Wednesday to convert all of Ridgewood’s two-hour meters to three-hour meters.

Business leaders have advocated for the change, noting that the switch will give customers more time to leisurely shop and dine without worrying about a parking ticket.

Some concerns about the three-hour limit were previously raised by Councilwoman Susan Knudsen, who argued that four hours was more leisurely. The council ultimately settled on three hours, citing varied reasoning, including the fear that four-hour meters would entice part-time workers to use those spots rather than shoppers.

“It’s never going to be perfect,” Mayor Paul Aronsohn said, noting that the meter time could be changed again. “We’ll have to monitor the situation.”

This plan to convert two-hour meters to three-hour meters comes in tandem with a larger discussion about short-term parking solutions. These solutions being discussed would serve as a temporary balm to Ridgewood’s parking woes while the village explores its long-term options, including a proposed county-funded garage (see story on page A1).

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/extra-hour-added-to-meters-parking-1.1117078#sthash.6Bq5I4M8.dpuf

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New water meters lead to much higher bills for some in Ridgewood

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New water meters lead to much higher bills for some in Ridgewood

OCTOBER 24, 2014    LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2014, 1:21 AM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER | 
THE RECORD

RIDGEWOOD — A move to upgrade thousands of water meters throughout the village has been a shock for some business owners and residents who have received larger-than-expected bills.

Some residents have received water bills that are thousands of dollars higher than they’ve been used to paying. A number of businesses have paid hundreds of dollars more for their water.

The bigger bills, officials said, are the result of accurate readings on actual use. In recent years, estimated water and sewer discharge bills were based on predicted or past use.

The village has stepped up efforts the past month to replace all of the water meters in Ridgewood, according to officials.

Meters that were installed several years ago have since become obsolete, requiring installation of so-called radio-read meters.

The updated meters emit low-level radio frequencies, easily detectable using specialized hand-held instruments; such meters eliminate the need for readers to enter homes or businesses.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/new-water-meters-lead-to-surprises-1.1117227#sthash.93rgXbKh.dpuf

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Rep. Scott Garrett calls new Hudson River train tunnel vital

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Rep. Scott Garrett calls new Hudson River train tunnel vital

OCTOBER 23, 2014, 11:35 PM    LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2014, 11:42 PM
BY HERB JACKSON
WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT | 
THE RECORD

Rep. Scott Garrett said Thursday that a new train tunnel should be built under the Hudson River “sooner rather than later” because the potential closing of one or both of the existing tunnels owned by Amtrak “would be a nightmare.”

But Garrett, in a meeting with the editorial board of The Record, said leaders in New Jersey and New York should reach an agreement first on what share of the cost they would bear if they want Washington to become involved.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/rep-scott-garrett-calls-new-hudson-river-train-tunnel-vital-1.1116958#sthash.KITPPupd.dpuf