The check is in the Mail: Midland Park homes finally connect
July 21, 2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, The Village of Ridgewood received a long anticipated check from Midland Park in the amount of $330,000, for a one-time fee assessed back in 2009 allowing the borough of Midland Park to connect into the village’s sewage disposal system.
The Ridgewood News reported that Village Manager Ken Gabbert, informed the Village Council on Wednesday that funds hd finally been received, for the connection of approximately 60 homes along Erie and Glen avenues. ( https://www.northjersey.com/news/163189386_ayment_from_Midland_Park_to_aid_2013_Ridgewood_Budget.html )
The check is in the mail with Federal stimulus funds having been sought by Midland Park but the borough ending up getting help of village officials, receiving a low-cost loan from the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust Fund to finance the project.The loan covers the construction costs as well as a connection fee paid to the Village of Ridgewood .
The money was already spent .Village Manager Ken Gabbert told the Ridgewood News ,”That revenue was counted in the 2009 budget. We didn’t get it in 2009 and it was part of our difficulties going into 2010,” Gabbert went on to say , “So all the pain that we had back in 2010, this time we get to count it as unexpected [revenue]. It will increase our surplus at the end of 2012, so it will actually help us in 2013.”
The project at the intersection of Glen and Erie avenues will begin around July 23 and last through Aug. 6. Glen Avenue will be closed to vehicle traffic, and motorists should plan alternate routes to avoid delays.The price tag $600,000 to connect the Midland Park homes to Ridgewood’s gravity-driven system that feeds into the water pollution control facility and disconnect the homes from the current antiquated system.
Ridgewood Water storage tanks now at 76% of capacity
July 21,2012
the staff of the ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ , Ridgewood Water Is Feeling the heat after 10 straight years of summer water restrictions . According to the Ridgewood News (RN) ,”As of this morning, we were at a level of 76 percent in our storage tanks,” Village Manager Ken Gabbert said Wednesday. “That’s indicating that we’re getting a very good level of cooperation from the residents of the four communities, and we did have a long weekend when we were watching every foot on the storage facilities.” ( https://www.northjersey.com/news/163221036_Ridgewood_Water_says_residents_are_cooperating_in_water_usage.html )
The RN goes on to say that Ridgewood Water officials have not yet determined when restrictions would be lifted, nor did they speculate how today’s rainfall would impact storage tanks.
As we all know Stage II water restrictions were “Declared” on July 10th Stage II water restrictions mean that residents, businesses, governmental agencies, and all other water users must adhere to Stage II restrictions. No irrigation is allowed on Mondays at any time. Irrigation using a handheld hose is allowed at any time except Mondays. Stage II limits irrigation to alternate days based on the street addresses of properties. Irrigation of properties with odd-numbered addresses shall be permitted on odd-numbered days, while irrigation of properties with even-numbered addresses shall be permitted on even-numbered days.
While the issues is and has been for the last 10 years not that there is not enough water , but the inability of Ridgewood Water to pump and Store water fast enough .
Everyone is well aware of the dangers of low water pressure or not having enough water . The inability to fight a fire or sufficient reserves to offset a water main break like the Village experienced on July 14th when a 10 inch water main broke between Circle Avenue and John Street.(https://theridgewoodblog.net/16338/ ) or two months ago a construction crew working on a gas main replacement project for PSE&G struck a water main at the intersection of Godwin and West Side Avenues. ( https://theridgewoodblog.net/water-main-break-godwin-west-side-avenues/ ) could create a serious issues without needed reserves.
The Bergen record reported that “miles of leaky, aging pipes — routinely loses track of 25 percent of the water it treats before a drop ever reaches customers. And other suppliers lose even more.” ( https://www.northjersey.com/news/bergen/bergen_safety/North_Jersey_drinking_water_going_to_waste_as_system_leaks_lose_25.html )
And while it was nice to see Ridgewood Water admit to the Ridgewood news that , “Restrictions on water usage are not unfamiliar to Ridgewood’s water department customers. Moritz said that he could not remember “any other year that we have gone without them.”https://www.northjersey.com/news/163221036_Ridgewood_Water_says_residents_are_cooperating_in_water_usage.html ) It does not excuse the continued unacceptable situation and third world conditions of Ridgewood’s valuable water supply. Making Ridgewood Water more a liability than an asset.
Ridgewood Police look to Tighten Up security at Clearview’s Warner Quad in Ridgewood
July. 20, 2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Several movie theaters in New Jersey are stepping up security in the wake of the mass shooting in Colorado during a screening of the new Batman movie “Dark Knight Rises”.
The AP is reporting that AMC Entertainment, which has movie theaters in Ridgefield Park, Paramus, Clifton and Wayne, that they are taking a closer look at security .
Police both in the Village of Ridgewood and Ridgefield Park told the Bergen Record that they are stepping up patrols around local theaters as a precaution.
Five myths about free enterprise
Arthur C. Brooks | The Washington Post
July 13, 2012
The 2012 presidential campaign is shaping up to be a battle of two economic philosophies. One favors a greater redistributive and regulatory role for the government; the other prioritizes the values of free enterprise, including private property, individual liberty and limited government. Given the economic hardships the United States has endured in recent years, it is tempting to conclude that free markets are no longer best for us — but that would misread our history, and buy into myths about the impact of free enterprise.
“Given the economic hardships the United States has endured in recent years, it is tempting to conclude that free markets are no longer best for us — but that would misread our history, and buy into myths about the impact of free enterprise.” -Arthur C. Brooks
https://www.aei.org/article/society-and-culture/free-enterprise/five-myths-about-free-enterprise/
1. Free enterprise hurts the poor.
The Occupy Wall Street movement of 2011 and plenty of politicians would have us believe that the free-market system is a contest between the ultra-rich and everyone else (the “99 percent”). But in fact, there never has been a greater force for helping the poor than free enterprise.
Since 1970, the percentage of the world’s population living on the equivalent of less than a dollar a day has fallen by more than 80 percent. Hundreds of millions of people have been pulled out of grinding deprivation.
This miracle was not the result of U.N. development projects or U.S. foreign aid. It was free trade, rule of law, property rights and entrepreneurship that achieved this miracle. In China alone, free trade and foreign investment lifted 400 million Chinese out of absolute poverty between 1981 and 2001.
Whatever the Occupy movement claims, every American earning more than $34,000 a year is in the world’s top 1 percent, as World Bank economist Branko Milanovic calculates in his book “The Haves and the Have-Nots.” Americans make up less than 5 percent of the planet’s population, but we’re about half the members of the world’s 1 percent. And we’ve accomplished that through our commitment to free enterprise.
2. Free markets are driven by greed.
I once asked Charles Schwab how he built the $16 billion investment company bearing his name. He never said a word about money. He spoke instead about accomplishing personal goals, creating good jobs for employees and the sacrifices along the way — including when he took a second mortgage on his home so he could make payroll.
Entrepreneurs are rarely driven by greed. According to Careerbuilder.com, in 2011, small-business owners made 19 percent less money per year than government managers. And as Northwestern University business professor Steven Rogers has shown, the average entrepreneur fails about four times before succeeding.
Free markets and entrepreneurship are driven not by greed but by earned success. For some people, earned success means business success, while for others, it means helping the poor, raising good kids, building a nonprofit, or making beautiful art — whatever allows people to create value in their lives and in the lives of others.
Earned success gets at the heart of “the pursuit of happiness.” The General Social Survey from the University of Chicago reveals that people who say they feel “very successful” or “completely successful” in their work lives are twice as likely to say they are very happy about their overall lives than people who feel “somewhat successful.” And it doesn’t matter if they earn more or less; the differences persist.
3. Free enterprise breeds envy.
Americans don’t resent the wealthy. In a poll in April, the Pew Research Center found that 88 percent said they admired people who get rich by working hard.
This is one way the United States is exceptional. In the World Values Survey conducted between 2005 and 2007, researchers asked people in 54 nations whether success flows from hard work or from luck and connections. Americans were more likely than people in other developed countries — twice as likely as the French, for example — to say success comes from hard work. “In a society that rewards initiative and offers opportunity, free enterprise fosters aspiration and ambition.” -Arthur C. Brooks
In a society that rewards initiative and offers opportunity, free enterprise fosters aspiration and ambition. In a social democracy with economic stagnation, you find envy, resentment, unrest — just look at Greece and Spain, where people are demanding government benefits instead of demanding to keep more of what they earn.
4. The free market caused the financial meltdown.
It wasn’t free enterprise that was at fault; it was the lack of free enterprise. Statism and its co-dependent spouse — corporate cronyism — melted down our economy.
As my American Enterprise Institute colleague Peter Wallison has documented, two decades of misguided government policy contributed to a massive bubble in housing. When it began to deflate, so did the whole financial system. And who showed up first in the bailout line? Large corporations, including car companies and mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Find me an opportunistic politician chumming the waters with tax loopholes, and I’ll show you a corporate shark.
This isn’t the free market at work — not even close. It’s a toxic mix of big government and its corporate clients. We need more free enterprise, not less — free enterprise where entrepreneurs put their money on the line and earn a profit or suffer a loss.
5. Free enterprise is unfair.
When I was an economics professor, my students would sometimes argue that it was “not fair” for the rich to have so much more than the poor. So halfway through the course, I proposed that a quarter of the points earned by the top half of the class be passed on to the students in the lower half, to improve grade equality. Unanimously, the students agreed that this would be unfair.
I didn’t have to spell out my point much.
Income redistribution is necessary to pay for the state and desirable to finance a social safety net, but as long as incomes are legitimately earned, redistribution is not intrinsically “fair.” For a majority of Americans, fairness means not redistribution, but rewarding merit — and that is what free enterprise does.
In 2006, the World Values Survey asked a sample of Americans to consider two similarly placed workers, one of whom was more reliable and efficient than the other. Was it fair, they asked, that the better one was paid more? Approximately 89 percent of respondents said it was.
And since 1973, the General Social Survey has asked Americans this question: “Some people say that people get ahead by their own hard work; others say that lucky breaks or help from other people are more important. Which do you think is most important?” For 40 years, between 60 percent and 70 percent of Americans have chosen “hard work.”
Unless you believe that Americans don’t earn their success, you must recognize that free enterprise makes our nation more fair.
Arthur Brooks is president of the American Enterprise Institute and the author of “The Road to Freedom: How to Win the Fight for Free Enterprise.”
Personal Finance: : Don’t Die in 2013: Confiscatory 55% Death Tax Set to Take Effect
In 2013, the death tax will revert to its antiquated, pre-2001 form.
This content is provided by the Americans for Tax Reform Foundation.
Current Law
The 2001 tax relief bill (EGTRRA), drastically reduced the impact of the death tax over the course of a decade, so that it was eliminated entirely for one year in 2010 — a good year to die, joked a number of pundits. The bill lowered marginal rates and increased the applicable exclusion amount, but it also included a provision allowing individuals to carry over exclusion dollars that were unused by their spouse at the time of his or her death. This “portability” measure effectively increased the applicable exclusion for many households, in some instances putting millions of dollars beyond the reach of the federal government.
The death tax rose from the grave at the end of 2010, with a Bush-era top rate of 35% and an applicable exclusion amount of $5 million ($5.12 million in 2012).
Scheduled Changes
In 2013, the death tax will revert to its antiquated, pre-2001 form. The applicable exclusion amount will plummet to $1,000,000, and the top marginal rate will leap twenty points to 55%. A 5% surtax will also return, to be levied on estates between $10 million and $17 million. This raises the top effective rate of the death tax to 60%.
Lots of things are happening at Graydon Pool this Summer
Ridgewood NJ, This hot, sunny summer (after a slow start in June) has brought large groups
of people of all ages to Graydon, having a ball.
Photo by Alan Seiden
The Parks, Recreation, and Conservation Board, by my request, demolished the
never-used bocce court, restoring a large shady area of sand at the back of
the 12-foot beach that has been greatly enjoyed all summer.
Parks & Rec just bought two new Ping-Pong tables to replace the ones ruined
in the hurricane late last August. These are popular.
On July 11, the council agreed to let Graydon open at 10 AM every day all
summer. Parks & Rec had intended to open at noon on the last 15 weekdays in
August (Aug. 13-31). They had originally also intended to open at noon on
the first 13 weekdays in June after the June 2-3 opening weekend; the
previous council had changed that in May. The mayor said that night that
they would determine next summer’s operating hours in the early fall, in
time for the 2013 Village calendar, which of course will be printed in late
2012, to be correct, for a change. We hope they will agree to restore the
traditional operating hours for next year and indefinitely. The noon
openings had been extremely confusing and saved very little money. Summer is
short and tremendous expense and efforts are made to prepare and maintain
Graydon. Locking the gate does not seem like a reasonable way to save a few
dollars, especially with badge prices rising steadily and patrons being
sought from all towns. To attract people, the place needs to be open for
business.
Photo by Alan Seiden
Another brand-new piece of news is that Graydon patrons holding yellowing
coupon books purchased in or before 2009, declared invalid after Labor Day
of 2009 or 2010 (not sure) by Parks & Rec (this was a surprise to the
council), may now use them again, indefinitely. (The books have no dates
printed on them and never expired before.) It just happened this week,
and by private email, not at a public meeting.
On July 17, about 50 Graydon fans of all ages held our Third Annual Graydon
Regulars Potluck Picnic and Barbecue. It was a big success. People brought
food; no money was exchanged.
At the July 18 council meeting, three people, including me, objected to a
number of aspects of Valley Hospital’s attempted takeover of Graydon in the
guise of color-branded turquoise day camp T-shirts, posters/big
banner/lifeguard canopy, etc., from the Promise Foundation. Even the
lifeguards’ T-shirts are turquoise, although in a deeper hue and not (like
the kids’ shirts) bearing the appalling slogan REAPPLY BEFORE YOU FRY with
the hospital logo below it, on the back. One day camp mom protested the
shirts and another woman noted that the ingredients of the sunscreen given
to all the children (that’s what they are supposed to REAPPLY)–again with
the Promise Foundation logo–have been noted to be potentially harmful to
children. In fact, she said, sunlight protects against many kinds of cancer,
and melanoma is often hereditary and appears in parts of the body and on
people that are never exposed to the sun.
The association of the word CANCER with Graydon (on the canopy,
the big banner, and in general) was unacceptable.
The Schools Development Authority yesterday tried to put the best face on its progress, announcing plans for more emergency work and detailing the status of 10 ongoing capital projects that are moving ahead.
But the challenge for the beleaguered agency remains that none of the large projects are actually in the ground yet, leading to another number that the Democrats are starting to trot out.
“To date, the SDA has not started to build one new school in the last 34 months,” said state Sen. Donald Norcross (D-Camden), a longtime critic of the SDA’s sluggish pace. (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)
Ridgewood’s Graydon swim team unified and unbeaten
FRIDAY, JULY 20, 2012
BY ANTHONY LOCICERO
CORRESPONDENT
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
RIDGEWOOD — No longer is there a separation among the Graydon Pool lifeguards, Learn to Swim instructors and Graydon swim team. Ridgewood Parks and Recreation has put together a new regime and unified the program as a whole. Swim team coaches are also members of the lifeguard staff and/or Learn to Swim staff.
“Parks and Recreations wanted to bring the whole program under one umbrella,” said aquatics director and assistant pool manager Dan Burzinski. “The change was done to kind of streamline things. A lot of the stuff is more integrated.”
The new swim team head coach is Barbara Farrell — who goes by B. Leigh — who recently graduated from Kent State. Farrell worked with the American Red Cross along with Burzinski, who swam collegiately at the University of Massachusetts and the Learn to Swim program. She also oversees Learn to Swim, which has 95 kids in the program.
Former Ridgewood High School and current University of Richmond swimmer Megan Morales coaches the swimmers 11-and-up. She’s also been a lifeguard at Graydon Pool for the past four years.
Mark Farrell — no relation to the new head coach — is in his first year coaching the nine and ten year olds. He is a Washington Township resident and Westwood High School and Ramapo College graduate.
Lack of exercise kills roughly as many as smoking, study says
July 17, 2012 | 3:48 pm
People across the world are falling so far short on exercise that the problem has become a global pandemic, causing nearly a tenth of deaths worldwide and killing roughly as many people as smoking, researchers warned this week as an alarming series of studies was published in the Lancet.
Eight out of 10 youngsters age 13 to 15 don’t get enough exercise, according to one of the Lancet studies released Tuesday, and nearly a third of adults fall short. The problem is even worse for girls and women, who are less active than boys and men, researchers found.
The results are fatal. Lack of exercise is tied to worldwide killers such as heart disease, diabetes and breast and colon cancer. If just a quarter of inactive adults got enough exercise, more than 1.3 million deaths could be prevented worldwide annually, researchers said. Half an hour of brisk walking five times a week would do the trick.
Tree Topples Over Onto Linwood Avenue In Ridgewood
July 20,2012
Boyd A. Loving
11:47 AM
Ridgewood NJ, A tree toppled down onto busy Linwood Avenue in Ridgewood near the Paramus border mid-morning on Friday. Ridgewood Police Department officers diverted eastbound traffic away from the blocked roadway until workers from the Village’s Parks & Shade Tree Department could cut the tree and remove the debris. No injuries were reported, nor were any utility wires hit when the tree fell. Ambulances headed to The Valley Hospital were not impacted by the partial road closure.
Teen Volunteer opportunities abound in Ridgewood
FRIDAY, JULY 20, 2012
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Several weeks into summer, some Ridgewood teenagers, included those frustrated by the summer job search, might be looking for a way to stay busy and give back. Several summer volunteer opportunities still exist at local organizations.
As part of a volunteer initiative, Ridgewood High School graduate Nina Evans (left) helped Genesis Healthcare Center Activity Director Linda Mariconda develop the Adopt-a-Grandparent program at the center.
Now is also a good time for teens to apply to programs and organizations that they might like to volunteer with in the fall, according to several volunteer coordinators at local organizations.
Debbie Emery, director of community volunteer services at the Volunteer Center of Bergen County, said Ridgewood students can look on her organization’s website throughout the year to find possible opportunities.
“We start hearing about that stuff in the late winter and early spring,” Emery said about summer opportunities. “A lot of that stuff gets scooped up.”
However, some local programs have not yet fulfilled their volunteer quotas.
Surveys ask: How are we using our iPads?
By MIKE MURPHY
Good Morning Silicon Valley
A pair of surveys released today detail the latest trends in what people are doing with their iPads. The interesting bits in a nutshell: The wildly popular Apple tablets are being used more, and more often for business purposes.
The third annual iPad usage survey from Business Insider found that people are spending significantly more time on their tablets. 47 percent of those polled use their iPad between two and five hours a day, up from 41 percent last year and 38 percent in 2010, and 10 percent use it five to eight hours a day (up from 8 percent last year). Overall, 64 percent reported increasing their time on the iPad once they got past the giddy initial exploratory phase. That increased usage is coming at the expense of desktops and laptops — 47 percent now consider their iPad their primary computer, up from 29 percent in 2010. Web surfing is the most popular iPad activity (taking up 37 percent of users’ time), followed by email and social networking (21 percent). The survey found almost 60 percent of web browsing by those polled is now done away from a traditional computer, with 45 percent using their iPads the most and 14 percent using smartphones the most. People also seem to be happy with their iPads — 84 percent have no interest in a Kindle Fire or Nexus 7 tablet, and 70 percent say they wouldn’t be interested in a smaller iPad.
In a separate survey, Consumer Intelligence Research Partners found that business usage increased among buyers of the third-generation iPad, according to All Things D. The report found 21 percent of new iPad users intended to use if for business purposes, 8 percent more than those buying older-model iPads. That could indicate that as the iPad gets more powerful and more enterprise apps are built, the tablets are being seen as must-have items by corporate America. All Things D notes that 94 percent of Fortune 500 companies are jumping on the iPad bandwagon. “Now that Apple has launched three generations of the iPad, it’s become clear that they intend it as a tool, not a toy, especially with the improved display and faster connection,” CIRP partner Michael Levin told All Things D.
All in all, more good news for Apple as it prepares to announce its quarterly earnings next week.
Ridgewood NJ, Village officials remain on the fence about several aspects of New Jersey Transit’s (NJT) proposal to sell advertising space at the Ridgewood train station.
New Jersey Transit is proposing the placement of advertisements on platforms and the pedestrian underpass at the Ridgewood train station. Council members and other residents left last week’s work session meeting with a better understanding of NJT’s plan; however, many were not yet convinced that the initial ideas presented by NJT representatives are in the village’s best interest.
In addition, some council members suggested that the transportation corporation, which operates the country’s largest statewide public transit system, must completely fulfill the obligations of the recent $40 million renovation before moving forward with the advertising project.
As of early this week, NJT and its advertising contractor, Titan Outdoor, had hopes of working with the village to sell and install advertising placards at the train station. Transit officials are targeting spots on the platforms and the station building as well as the walls of the pedestrian underpass. The ultimate goal for both NJT and the village is an increase in revenue, transportation officials said.
Ridgewood school district may allow technology tools in classroom
FRIDAY, JULY 20, 2012
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
The Ridgewood Board of Education’s (BOE) Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiative will not require families to buy devices like iPads and laptops for their children to bring to school this September, officials said this week.
As of now, BYOD is a measure to allow Ridgewood’s students to use devices they already own to take notes in class, investigate items on the Internet and prepare documents, according to Superintendent Daniel Fishbein.
“The initial part of this, until we know how many students are going to bring it in, is simply for note-taking,” he said.
While technology has long been a part of many students’ education, bringing in these devices was previously prohibited in most cases unless students had a specific learning need, Fishbein said. The new policy will allow students with devices to use them in school.
Students who bring in devices will have access to a new guest network that was developed this year, Fishbein said.
Tree Tears Through Roof of North Monroe Street Home
Boyd A. Loving
6:20 PM
Ridgewood Nj, Shortly after 5:00 PM on Thursday, Ridgewood Police and Fire Department personnel responded to a 911 call of a tree that had fallen through the roof of an occupied home in the 300 block of North Monroe Street.
No injuries were reported to the occupants, but the structure did sustain significant roof damage. Fire Department personnel inspected the house to ensure there were no electrical hazards. A private tree company was then called to remove the tree from the roof, facilitating a tarp being put in place.
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