August 10,2018
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, according to the Village Manager Heather Mailander , many issued have be raised on social media about the Healthbarn lease at Habernickel Park .
During Wednesday night Mangers report Mailander said the number of visitors at Healthbarn does not exceed the fire code . The types and sizes of the buses are allowed under the lease , and Healthbarn reports quarterly on the number , size and number of people on the buses to the Village .
During the first quarter of 2018 there were 23 schools trips to Healthbarn , 95% used one small bus one field trip had 2 small buses and one field trip had 3 small buses with 10-12 students on each bus . Larger buses park at Graydon Pool parking lot , small vans can park at Habernickel .
Mailander went on to say that Healthbarn is not using space beyond the lease ,in fact part of the teaching garden has space for Ridgewood community gardens . No one sleeps at Healthbarn , if a vehicle is parked over night ,it means that the director of Healthbarn has taken mass transit home or to a conference . Three parking spaces are allocated to the tenant . The village does allow consumption of alcohol in public parks for various events with a one day liquor license . The Chef’s events at Healthbarn often involve the patrons bring there own booze .
Healthbarn is a sanctioned program under Ridgewood parks and recreation and is supervised by that department and also inspected by the Village Health Department . Healthbarn is sanctioned by Green Acres .
The Chef’s events at Healthbarn often involve the patrons bring there own booze .
Does the Village insure that all parties including the Village have insurance to cover any intoxicated guest ? The Village does stand to be named to any lawsuits for action of intoxicated persons action will be allowing to consume alcohol on Village property ?
Village Manager Heather Mailander was LESS THAN FORTHCOMING with her remarks. More to follow.
If you believe what Heather said on Wednesday night, then I have a bridge I can sell you for $1.
Come on, Heather was completely scripted and it was all lies. And Mayor Zucchini sat there and let it happen. Disgusting
She can replace Huckabee Sanders as official liar to the public. Stop attempting to smooth this over and get Antine out of there.
Wow BOOZE in a neighborhood park, drinking in the garden right next to the plays cape. Can baseball patrons bring coolers too. Why not as long as the Village manager says it okay for booze in the park let’s all go party there. . What a joke
I thought this was a healthy living business. Now booze is healthy living. I wonder what is actually growing in that garden
Seems it is no longer educational \ recreational it is a rental hall for ALL types of parties including liquor based dinners. What ever brings in the almighty dollar for the business the village seems to support over its tax payers.
On many occasions Healthbarn has more then 1 large school bus coming in for field trips all the while other programs are going on. With all the cameras around the house and parking lot I am sure Heather can see them. So should we assume she doesn’t know the difference between small and large buses? What about the charted buses that seem to come 2X a year? Playing it dumb doesn’t really work when your talking about a neighborhoods quality of life!!! Saying a employee lives in the neighborhood is a huge stretch too. what’s wrong is the fact that the Village Manager seems to be protecting Healthbarn not the tax payers who pays her? Did Heather come and collect her zucchini for protecting Healthbarn? Does any village employee want the house across the street from them turned into a for profit business? Because that’s what happened in our neighborhood so lying to everyone is seriously criminal!!!!!
Does healthbarn get a permit for each evening event Is there a charge for this. What is fire code. I have been in the park this spring and have seen 2 large school buses on several occasions along with campers
Do they have police available to insure the safety of the neighborhood since Heather is allowing a healthy life style business in a park to be a drunken frat party.
Why would Heather the oh so intelligent village manager use the first quarter report to report on. Isn’t the issue large buses for field trips that do not happen regularly in winter months ( jan-feb- march). Maybe she was smoking Ramon’s free zucchini but come on and use your brain lady! The spring-summer and fall is what you should be looking at!!!
Oh boy the shit is going to hit the fan now. This is going to get a bit ugly. Typical Ridgewood dirty business. Why is the Village of Ridgewood always making extremely bad decisions. This shits been going on for us extremely long time.
Liar, liar, pant suit on fire.
That place has become a money pit
This was another Sonenfeld disaster
Heather gave her report. Many of the snarky comments are baseless accusations. Go to a council meeting and prove your point. If you come up with one full size bus you will look silly.
The neighbors still have not gotten over the fact that a large tract of property was sold and developed. I still wish that it was developed into townhouses. But it wasn’t and I have moved on.
Those poor people who live there. I would be so upset if this was in my neighborhood
Park used Green Acres money and may NEVER be legally used for private business, much less real estate development. Almost surely breaking the law right now. Any attorneys living in that neighborhood might consider taking it to court.
I would like to see a copy of the lease and actually see what is permitted. Heather needs to take a daily trip at different times of the day instead of believing what Stacey tells her. And since her lease clearly does not have a clause permitting evening drinking parties (How does THAT connect with teaching children healthy living?) Do they pay for permits? Provide insurance to cover uses outside of their original lease? She may have a good idea for a business but not on town owned property. We provide every possible service to her free of charge. If it was not located there she would have to pay for water, electricity for outside lights as well as inside the house, grounds upkeep, etc, etc. All of this she gets for free. We need some camera toting people to photograph the buses, town workers doing everything on her property, and evening parties. I always thought Heather was astute and intelligent but she seems to have been brainwashed by someone on this subject!
Whoever wrote try to come up with one large bus must live SO far away from Hillcrest rd and healthbarn That person should take a ride from his/her cushy area and check out what goes on there. Ignorant people are the biggest problem like the commenter above
Why are we paying Heather Mailander nearly $200,000 per year (yes, you read that correctly!). We have a CIVIL *SERVANT* earning nearly a quarter of a million dollars per year. THAT is criminal!