Dear Neighbors,
Spring is here and things are starting to green up in Ridgewood. With the warmer weather around the corner, preparations are being made for the return of the Pedestrian Plaza in our central business district beginning June 3. The Village is looking forward to a summer of welcoming families to Ridgewood Avenue to enjoy our local restaurants and shops, bringing foot traffic to the heart of our community.
2023 Budget
We just finished up the 2023 Municipal Budget, which is one of the toughest financial situations we’ve experienced in recent history. For the past two years, our bottom line was supported by millions of dollars in state and federal grant money. No longer. In our first post-pandemic budget year, municipalities nationwide were faced with record setting inflation brought on by supply chain issues. Of particular concern was the dramatic increase in health insurance premiums that topped 20%
Nonetheless, the Council is expanding its reach in shared services arrangements to generate additional revenue. Recently, the Village purchased a styrofoam densifier that reduces our trash disposal fees. Just as importantly, we have already entered into shared services agreements with other towns that pay us to take their styrofoam. We, in turn, re-sell the densified styrofoam to vendors that turn it into picture frame molding and other consumer products.
Schedler Park
There has been considerable feedback given at Council meetings about the progress and future direction of the Schedler property. The reality is that this project has languished since 2009, with budgetary outlays of nearly $6 million. Our community deserves a park that everyone can enjoy and serves the needs of all residents – not just those who live in close proximity.
As someone who lives across the street from a school and recreational field, I understand the concerns about traffic. But Ridgewood is a family-oriented town and we all share the responsibility to ensure our children have a safe field to use even in the wake of heavy rainstorms that continue to flood many of our low lying fields. The plan approved by the Council achieves three key objectives: 1) preserves the historic house; 2) provides active and passive recreation for residents of all ages; 3) provides a multi-purpose field located on higher ground that all of our residents can utilize.
Ridgewood Water
PFAs are chemicals that have been infiltrating water systems worldwide since the 1950’s. These chemicals are part of our everyday life and can be found in an unlimited number of consumer products, including our clothing, carpeting, food packaging and dental floss, to name just a few. National water quality standards are changing – the NJDEP began regulating PFAs in 2019. The proposed federal EPA guidelines are even more stringent. But Ridgewood is ahead of the curve. With our decision to start permanent remediation of PFAs, we will have drinking water that is well below the national requirements currently being proposed.
As we make progress on the treatment plants, we need everyone’s help over the summer months. Additional water use for lawns and other landscaping puts a strain on our supply that requires wells with less desirable levels of PFAs to be used. To avoid this, we are asking that all residents and businesses work together in minimizing water usage from May through October. Our Green Team and water utility will be sharing more information about programs like “No Mow May” that encourage less water usage and have ecological benefits for our community.
As always, I invite you to share your ideas and suggestions with me at any time. Please come to a Council meeting (whether in-person or virtually), stop by a Council Coffee or reach out to me at pvagianos@ridgewoodnj.net.
Paul Vagianos
Mayor
201/670-5500
so every council member is leading by example and participating in “no mow may”?
I guess not
So stupid.
May is the month where grass grows the fastest. It needs to be cut every 5-6 days.
If you don’t cut for 31 days your grass will be a foot tall and 45 minute cutting job becomes a 5 hour cutting job. And a trip to the Sharp Shop to get your mower serviced.
Higher ground !
Hilarious.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pee-wee%27s_Playhouse
He heard not one word that the hundreds of citizens said snd wrote against his expansion of the field, artificial turf, etc. He is really a horrible person.
He doesn’t care.
He knows he will be reelected, because we are:
RICH and STUPID
How is the pedestrian plaza being financed?
Taxpayers. That’s why he is raising your taxes by 6 percent this year. But I guess that’s worth it since you can now eat food in the middle of the street sometimes.
HIS FOOD.
This stinks of corruption.
Plain and simple.
20% increase in healthcare premiums is indicative of a nationwide catastrophic problem that is exploding and will have to come to a head and be addressed. This cannot be sustained.
not to worry.
We’ll keep paying for the illegals and the freeloaders, because we are:
RICH and STUPID
This Village Council does not care about anyone in Ridgewood. They really don’t. If they did, they would see that they are making a colossal mess out of things (all 4 except for Lorraine). How they can be so dumb and play monopoly with people’s money is beyond shocking and it is unfair for them to use their own political agendas with taxpayer dollars. There are fields that literally no one plays on. They are not flooded, but yet this is the excuse given. There are a ton of safety problems in this Village that residents speak about week after week and they want to put a bandaid on that. But tell the sports community that they might get a field and watch out, they are like flies at a barbeque because all they care about is a large recreational field, when hundreds of residents oppose it due to health and safety issues in that community. How does this make sense? How is it ethical?
CORRECT.
They DO NOT CARE, because they know they wil get reelected, because we are
RICH and STUPID
These guys (Paul, Pam, Siobahn and Evan) are the worst Village Council members ever. They lie all of the time, and there is zero transparency in any of their dealings and then they are taking money and placing it in projects that further push their agenda. Siobahn’s husband is a bigtime soccer lover and people say she wants the new field for some team they want to start. Then there is numb nuts Evan who doesn’t even come prepared to meetings and has zero clue what is going on, but as part of the voting block just goes along with the other 3, Paul has made promises around town, so he needs to ensure that they 4 stay in line and Pam just goes along with whatever the other ones vote on. They leave Lorraine out of the mix of probably most conversations that everyone assumes are held privately. Heather M (mgr/clerk), Chris R (Engineer and Dir of DPW) and Matt R (Council attorney) are all rubber stamps for whatever the VC wants to do. There should be a giant house cleaning exercise done to ensure that these guys get out and soon. Recall Paul and Can Pam cannot happen soon enough! We also need to add Sionara Siobahn and Eliminate Evan!
How’s that recall Drive going? Hahahaha….
RICH and STUPID
that’s our motto.
that’s our identity.
Embrace it.
To all those who voted for any of the 4, congratulations on your extreme gullibility and shallowness. Especially those from the Schedler neighborhood. Now I have become a supporter of this council and want to see how low they will take this town. I hope it happens fast. The election consequences need to be felt fast and hard so maybe next time our gullible neighbors can use some critical thinking. Either way the faster we fail the better.
Thank you Mayor Vagianos for your determined approach to completing your agenda and for fulfilling your voters expectations.
Handbags’ lives matter!
Ha. All those invites to Winograds house for a campaign session, made to feel special and then were lied too all night. They took home lawn signs!! Would any admit they attended?
What a liar! He put aside that extra 3% tax increase for his pet projects like shedler and blaming it on inflation.
60% of cost is employee costs and those did not go up by 5%.
It’s the money being spent on CBD which benefits his own businesses is causing the tax increase. Including the additional police expense for his CBD projects.
Heard a rumor their pal at the Y will facilitate converting the site to high density housing
There have been two elections in recent history that turned the entire direction of this town.
The first was when Gwenn Hauck edged Keith Killion out be 6 (or 9?) votes. This gave Aronsohn his majority.
The second was when Paul Vagianos beat Melanie Hooban. This was a huge HUGE mistake for Ridgewood. Now Vagianos is running wild.
Votes matter people.
Melanie would have won if Laurie Weber had not decimated her with the big lie.
Hooban is a train wreck. Come on.
They know it.
They DON’T CARE.
They KNOW they will get reelected, because we are
RICH and STUPID>
For those who are saying to themselves @well I don’t live anywhere near Schedler, so it doesn’t bother me,” just remember, your neighborhood could be next. This council is crazy!
If you live near Hawes School, stay awake. Your neighborhood is next in the bullseye!
Paul is a man on fire from an ego perspective. His ego is out of control and he is trying to pretend that he is compassionate and wants to hear everyone’s public comments at the meetings. I call BS. But just wait if he thinks he can get beyond Ridgewood because he will almost bankrupt this place! Then what?
Pay to play, people. Get it. Follow the money then you will understand what the agenda is for the not so fabulous 4 majority block. Do you ever notice that they never deviate. What does that tell you?
At one of the council meetings someone got up to say that this council was obsessed with the large turf field, which everyone knows is inappropriate given the location at Schedler and I thought “Well that might be a big of a stretch” now I agree!
Valley Hospital neighborhoods should take notice.
No doubt
That is going to happen and that neighborhood will wish they just expanded the hospital on site.
The people who live near Habernickel have flagged major issues with Healthbarn going rogue and not adhering to protocol and posted hours, doing parties outside of the hours stated. This is outrageous given Ridgewood doesn’t benefit in any way and they want to do the same thing at Schedler which is the wrong location for any of their events that Siobahn calls “Community good will”. How are private birthday parties and events part of community good will outside of stated working hours. Who is getting a kickback?
Paul says that he lives across the street from a ballfield. This is malarky. first of all, the main road near his home is a wide 2 lane road unlike West Saddle River Road where cars speed at high speeds coming off of the Route 17 highway right near the proposed entrance to “Schedler Park”, what a joke this is not a park at all. Again Mayor Paul, lies, lies and more lies. When will you stop?
PFAS is everywhere. That is why Ridgewood is in the middle of a lawsuit and has implemented a plan to clean up the water. https://whyy.org/articles/n-j-towns-sue-makers-of-forever-chemicals-saying-companies-must-pay-for-cleanup/
All the while, putting turf at Schedler right near people’s private well water.
Ridgewood is great at greenwashing.. it is where we pretend to be green like no mow may and Green Ridgewood, Sustainable NJ and then turn around and do the opposite by voting to level 7 acres of trees for a ballfield just to make the sport families happy! You just cannot make this stuff up!
While fields in town are not used. Scam
RICH and STUPID
Any of this getting through ?
So advocating for a regulation artificial turf field with the other 3 bozos is the worst financial decision for Ridgewood that can be made. First of all, there are existing fields, that are not being used, then we need to consider that turf fields are upwards of half a million dollars and must be repaired frequently and replaced every 10 years. How is this better than just putting down and easily maintaining grass? Where is this money coming from? Especially when the Village cannot afford to hire cops (only 1 will be hired out of the 5 requested by Chief of Police)? Coupled with the fact that there was a scare at the high school recently where safety should be the first priority. I do not understand!
How soon can this guy be voted out. He is going to bankrupt this village.
NEVER.
And he Knows it.
He knows he will be reelected, because we are:
RICH and STUPID
As long as everybody in Ridgewood keeps drinking the Kool-Aid they’ll keep doing what they’ve been doing for 50+ years. It’s no longer a village it’s just a town.. funny how Wyckoff and Franklin Lakes don’t have these issues!
Wyckoff and Franklin Lakes are not
RICH and STUPID
like we are…
This guy is so full of himself, he really is a P_S
lori what ever he name is and is and was a big Paul Aronsohn KISS A$$, she spied on people for Aronsohn
The village is so miss managed . And why are we paying full time employees to fill in for seasonal employees. That is a big pay difference.
Not to smart. Why would they do that. Ok then let the supervisors go and pitch in ,
They could use some exercise.
Or just maybe they can’t even do that job.
Prove it to all of us.
I wounder if anyone on the board of Valley Hospital contributed to their election campaign ?
Of course they did.
Hundreds of people signed petitions against the over development of the Schedler historic property and against the large turf field. Many residents from all areas of Ridgewood came out to the public hearing to object to filing the grant to the County for additional funding and to object to the potential purchase of the property at 510 WSR Road and yet this goes completely unacknowledged. There was only 1 person who was in favor of the property acquisition (I will be you can guess who that was).
The budget started with furloughs, remember. Then tons of Ridgewood Village staff showed up at the meetings and all of a sudden they found the money. They also found a little treasure trove for Schedler, not disclosed to the public as well as the possible land acquisition. Paul also brought the historical consultant in to meet with the Village Engineer and Heather the Manager last November, so the wheels were already in motion. The way of doing things that continually lack transparency and leave the citizens guessing is beyond unethical. Censoring his Mayoral Facebook page and the list goes on and on. The hits just keep coming.
When people in the Schedler neighborhood or even the kids playing on the field once built, at Schedler Park, get sick, please revert back to the April 12th opinion presented by Scott Muller, Head of RBSA, who took the time to shed some light on the narrative that we are not putting our kids at risk by installing a medium size turf field directly on Route 17. He started by addressing the particles and pollution from Rt. 17 in relation to asthma and the respiratory functions of kids and said “C’mon now, we are not living in Los Angeles, with bumper to bumper traffic and long idling cars”. He is SURE that the residents of this area who have had kids play in their backyards, so there is no difference between having a field there and not having a field there (not sure what this means, but whatever). The guy is so steadfast in his ridiculous argument about turf and continues talking and says “believe it or not, artificial turf and PFAs have been around since 1964, so don’t you think that something so diabolical as artificial turf causing cancer or defects in children or adults, don’t’ you think the government would have pulled the product by now.” I guess Scott doesn’t read the newspaper and doesn’t know that places like Boston have banned the use of artificial turf and there will be a groundswell of other locations, joining the ranks as it has been proven to have detrimental health impacts. I guess Scott didn’t read the medical reports proving that PFAS cause cancer and that these are forever chemicals. I guess Scott lives in a bubble and doesn’t realize that cigarettes cause cancer but yet they can still be sold in stores. Why has the government not pulled those off of the shelves? Great argument, Scott. The fact that people like you and our Mayor are so steadfast in your argument that you have lost side of who you are as a human being, or maybe not? One can only hope that your day job pays you well enough becaue obviously logic and reason are not your strong suits.
they are both really stupid