This petition is to seek to protest and repeal Ordinance 3519-An Ordinance authorizing the execution and granting of a lease purchase agreement with the Bergen County Improvement Authority relating to issuance of County Guaranteed Lease Revenue Bonds for the Village of Ridgewood parking Deck Project (i.e. Hudson St garage).
You must be a registered voter residing in the Village of Ridgewood to sign the petition.
This has nothing to do with the design or scope of the parking garage-just to stop the funding of it with the BCIA, until Ordinance 3519 can be submitted to the electorate (Village of Ridgewood residents/registered voters) for a vote at next election as a referendum question.
If you have any Questions, please email no2bcia@gmail.com
As of Monday Feb 15, the petitions will be available at following times/locations:
Lorraine Reynolds house, 550 Wyndemere Ave/come to door off John St., Monday, Feb 15th – 1pm-4pm.
Anne Loving, call cell 201-723-8017 to make appt to sign.
Melanie McWilliams – 431 Bogert Ave – Feb 15th-Feb19th (M-F) 9:15-12:15pm, call/text to confirm 201-675-8937
PLEASE CHECK BACK AS TIMES/LOCATIONS WILL BE ADDED.
PLEASE EMAIL no2bcia@gmail.com if you are a registered voter
and can help canvas neighborhoods this week when it’s not so cold out!!!
WE ARE WELL ON OUR WAY RIDGEWOOD!
Please let us know if you want to be part of the petition to say No 2 BCIA,https://goo.gl/forms/KpPtDY2We9
Below are some reasons why people feel we should not have a lease/purchase agreement with the BCIA (Bergen County Improvement Authority):
1. The BCIA will cost us more than what it will cost us to bond through Ridgewood. Yes, the BCIA can get us a better interest rate by 0.03%- to 0.08% compared to what we get from a Ridgewood Issued bond, but that is so small and it eventually costs more to go with BCIA, because of their initiation fees, and annual fees as well as multiple lawyer fees. Here are the final costs -https://mods.ridgewoodnj.net/pdf/manager/hudson/20160129BCIAFin.pdf
2. The BCIA financial comparison from the above link, does not consider the fact that we will now have to charge out-of-town commuters the same price as Ridgewood commuters (a requirement by the BCIA to treat all county residents the same.). Suppose we issue 50 out-of-town commuter passes at $300 less than what we could have charged them, that’s $15,000 more per year for the next 25 years by going through the BCIA. Will non-resident commuters take many of the spaces, leaving few spaces for our own commuters?
3. Once we take money from the BCIA, it will be issued like a loan, not like a Home Equity Line of Credit. We cannot draw the funds when we need them, i.e. as the project goes along. We will have to start paying interest on ALL of the money from day 1, which is May 2016, and the garage will not be complete until Feb 2017. Once the BCIA bond is issued in May 2016, we won’t be able to pre-pay for 10 years. We are locked into the interest for 10 years, even if the design & scope changes to a smaller design and we need less funds.
4. The county will own the garage for next 25 years. They may add more conditions later, for now they have asked us to treat non Ridgewood commuters at the same price.
5.The lease agreement also mentions that the BCIA will build the garage and lease it to us. It’s not clear / not explained to us how much control they will keep during the ‘build’ phase.
6. Overall, all of the benefits explained to us for going through the BCIA route are financial. In the end, with all those benefits, if it still costs more, and if we don’t retain full control of the garage and the process, then why go through the county?
7. We can and should do this with a Ridgewood Issued bond. It is our fiscal and resident responsibility to make sure this bond is issued through Ridgewood and not the County.
Point number 5 is perhaps the most disturbing – – we were told that the Village would control this garage and had learned its lesson from the millions of extra tax dollars wasted on Village Hall. (Which flooded after it was built, but don’t get me started.)
If we cede control of the building to the county, imagine the number of piggies that are going to come into town wanting a piece of the action.
Yet again, we are told things that simply are not true. Make sure to put your council person on the spot the next time you see them – – firmly and politely let them know if you are upset over the sell out of the Village of Ridgewood.
More importantly, seek out the petition from those who have listed their names on line – – get your friends and family – – and sign, sign, sign! Imagine yourself as John Hancock throwing off the tyrannical yoke of the oppressor!! Well, maybe that’s going too far, but think of yourself saving yourself a tax bill for money spent to let neighboring towns park in the Village to use NJ transit.
Petitions are worth the paper they are printed on and that’s about all they’re worth. Have fun busy bodies of Ridgewood.
the county executive may see losing 1000 plus voters differently
James: Just enjoy the ad revenue.
James, if this gets 1,000 legitimate signatures I’ll buy you a Cohiba
I am going to hold you to it !
For every one voter that signs the Petition, there are 5 more who are convinced about their vote. They may not come out to sign their names, but they will remember this for the next county freeholder vote.
Anon Y Mous. – Don Smackyerphone Delzio
I’m confused about why we wasted time having the referendum in the first place. We knew that there were three votes in favor already so the referendum must have been to try to get votes four and five. If 65% in favor didn’t qualify as enough of a landslide to to convince Mike and Susan that they are with a small minority in town what would have?
It’s going to be pretty funny when the petition gets about the same number of signatures as there were no votes on the referendum. Doesn’t this just mean that the people that were against it on the referendum are still against it? Isn’t that a lot of grandstanding just to capture the same list of unhappy souls? I wonder if perhaps the petition is a way to collect contact information to use in the upcoming election. That would certainly be an underhanded use of the petition drive wouldn’t it.
2:19 and 2:25 – wait until you knock on doors to ask for a vote again this year. Everyone knows the lies that were spread out before the referendum. They are going to hold you accountable for them.
2:19pm, pls stop making the claim that 65% voted for the plan. Watch this to see what 65% knew before the vote – https://www.tubechop.com/watch/7623263
If more there are more than 1700-1800 valid signatures that would at least equal the no vote in November and I’m sure all of those who voted no likely may not have the time to sign… If not close to that range, the referendum results seem validated… The 30% turnout was high for an off cycle election as well…
I am told they only need 1000 signatures to go to Trenton to stop it. So once they get 1000, they won’t try for more.
That’s what’s being positioned as transparent democracy? 1,000 people undoing the votes of 3,700?!? Ignorance is strength. War is peace.
2:25 – I am one of the petitioners and I can tell you that many who have signed for me state categorically that they voted YES on the November referendum and are furious at the way the Council Majority is trying to shove this huge garage through by having the county bond it. No one is happy with the County bonding it. They want a garage, almost everyone wants a garage, but they want a reasonable size and they want Ridgewood to issue the bond. And to answer your snarky suggestion, we are not collecting email addresses. Leave that level of underhandedness to those who use private email lists such as CHURCH GROUP lists to disseminate their campaign information. (yes, you know who you are).
It is killing Rurik that, unlike him, a group of concerned citizens is doing something. Unlike Rurik, who just throws ridiculous made-up words around and shoots darts from his poison ipad keyboard. Yes, win or lose with this funding of the garage through the county, at least some people are willing to get up and say they are sick to death of the way this council majority is ruling like they are are a three-person elected body with no regard for 40% of the group. People are actively doing something and I honor them for trying. Keep spewing and spurting Rurik, it will get you nowhere (except for dribble and drool on your bow tie).
4:05pm, where were you when three members of the council circumnavigated the super majority requirement for bonding tax payers money.
4:07 “almost everyone wants a garage” ? Really ? Not when you can get by easily with a deck across the street from the Post Office for a fraction of what this is going to cost. Complete waste of taxpayers money, pure and very simple.
5:50 If the council wasn’t empowered to do what they are doing then it would not get done. Also you may want to go back to the debate tape from your dynamic duo in the last election because they BOTH acknowledged county funding as something worth looking into and not evil on its face. A small number of unhinged anti-Paul-council-meeting-regulars are trying to fool 1,000 people into overturning the clear will of 3,700 of their neighbors. That’s not democratic by any definition.
I guess you didnt attend any meetings
The petition is not against Ridgewood bonding the garage, it is against Bergen County bonding it. Period. End of story.
7:25pm, did the 3700 voted for paying money to the county and making it a commuter garage?
Delzio – now more than ever !