January 27,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood failed to send elected representatives to a mediation session Wednesday January 8th that was an effort to settle the long running class-action lawsuit against Ridgewood Water .Ridgewood Water is a public water utility owned by the village of Ridgewood , which services Ridgewood ,Wyckoff, Midland Park, and Glen Rock.
The class action lawsuit was filed against Ridgewood Water in Superior Court by Wyckoff officials in 2010, with the municipalities of Glen Rock and Midland Park joining the action as plaintiffs a year later.
The municipalities claim that Ridgewood Water artificially inflated its costs by commingling funds with the village budget and the utility raised its rates in 2010 by 21 percent and another 5 percent in 2011 and 2012. In total in the past 7 years rates have increased 37% which the plaintiffs called , “unlawful” and “excessive”.
The suit also contends the rate hikes were approved in an ordinance adopted by the village council, and characterizing these increases as “arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable and, accordingly, should be declared invalid and unenforceable.”
The suit also suggests Ridgewood officials conceived of the fee increases as a way to offset the village’s annual municipal budget using the utility to offset non related expenses .
In a more recent press release the plaintiffs called the rate increase a Village of Ridgewood scheme and that the Village transferred wholly unrelated operating costs to Ridgewood Water and used the rate increase to in-effect subsidize Ridgewood Tax payers with Wyckoff, Midland Park, and Glen Rock rate payers.
This action seeks millions in refunds for customers in all three towns. Refunds paid for by Ridgewood tax payers. While in the past the Mayor seemed to suggest confidence in the resolution of this law suit . The Ridgewood blog has continued to warn over and over that the Village faced significant liabilities due to Ridgewood Water in both billing actions ,infrastructure and water quality.
A long term plan for either disposal of the utility or a financing major strategic upgrade is long over due .
Nice going Mayor. You couldn’t make to the mediation session. Thats right you won’t be here when its settled so what do you care.
Why didn’t they send the Hotel Attorney to the mediation? Oh thats right he has a day job.
Why not send Gwemn after all she has experience. She one of our representatives for the Valley Hospital suit and she doesn’t have a day job.
I observed countless vehicles emblazoned with the Ridgewood Water emblem engaged in snow removal activities on Ridgewood streets following last week’s blizzard. So it appears as though there is some merit to the lawsuit.
The hope is that if we ignore this lawsuit, it will simply go away.
Village Manager mentioned during Jan 13th council meeting, that this year she plans to fix Ridgewood Water like she fixed the building department last year. For building department, she increased the permit prices by over 50%. So, Ridgewood Water consumers should be ready for a rate hike.
thats right 816..and now your gonna pay for it. cant wait for this to hit the fan and all those nice checks to the residents of other towns have to get sent out…then your screwed.
Not showing up for a mediation should bode well in the judges eyes when this case goes to court. I guess the 3 Amigos were to busy formulation their talking point for the garage so they can Drill Down on this project for Civility Sake.
816am your right there are water dept vehicles involved in the plowing operation
It was also recently reported that the Village’s new code enforcement officer (Ms. Tracey Jeffrey) was observed on South Monroe Street driving a vehicle with Rigewood Water logo emblazoned on the door. However, I suppose that the argument could be used that enforcement of the leaf pick up rules impacts water quality.