Ridgewood September 9, 2009 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 5 Graydon plans still unsettled; attorney requests papers by John Koster An attorney has requested access to government documents, including those relating to Graydon Pool and to the Schedler property. The Aug. 26 request for government documents was filed by Ridgewood-based attorney David L. Rutherford on behalf of Marcia Ringel and Suzanne Kelly, co-chairs of the Preserve Graydon Coalition. Besides the full Ridgewood Pool Project report, Rutherford asked for all data related to the Schedler site, a second-growth woodland sector of Ridgewood located on the opposite side of Route 17. The Ridgewood Village Council still hopes to attract members of the Preserve Graydon Coalition to join members of the Ridgewood Pool Project to a meeting. “We’re hoping that they will reconsider and join us at the next scheduled meeting,” Interim Village Manager Heather Mailander said after the Preserve Graydon Coalition rejected an initiative from Councilman Patrick Mancuso to join a study group with the goal of filing a pool plan that is acceptable to all involved. The Ridgewood Pool Project supports plans for a $10 million multi-pool complex, which were drawn up after a plan for a $13.9 million multi-pool complex was rejected by neighbors and other residents. Ridgewood residents are polarized over the issue of whether to rebuild the pool into a complex of adult and children’s concrete pools -- “a water park,” according to opponents – or to leave the lakelike, sand-bottomed pool intact and try to improve the water quality. Some residents say that the water is chemically acceptable, but causes aesthetic problems because it is so cloudy. Ralph Smith of the DEP Pesticide Control Program recently gave the pool a conditional approval, but said the status quo could not go on indefinitely. “The department still recommends, however, that Graydon be replaced with a bona fide swimming pool in the future,” Smith wrote to Ridgewood in a recent letter. Fix Graydon Now calls for support at meeting Leaders of a group called Fix Graydon Now are calling for a massive turnout at the Sept. 9 Ridgewood Council meeting when the governing body is expected to formalize plans to receive contractors’ proposals for a renovation of the municipal pool. “It is imperative that we continue our efforts to not let all the progress slide…our voices must continue to be heard loud and clear!” said Melissa Maloney and Leigh Warren, spokespersons for the group, which claims to represent over 1,600 residents. The leaders, who support the initiative to rebuild Graydon Pool, are asking that everyone come to the Sept. 9 council meeting with their family and friends. The group will assemble at Veterans Field North at the corner of Linwood Avenue and Maple Avenue at 6:30 p.m. for a march on Ridgewood Village Hall. Members are requested to wear blue shirts and to make and carry creative signs to dramatize the need for a new Graydon Pool. “There is power in numbers, and we must pack that courtroom to reassure the council that they are on the right track and shouldn’t let PGC (The Preserve Graydon Coalition) hurt the progress that’s already been made,” the group’s statement says. Fix Graydon Now members say the attempts to continue treating Graydon’s water are expensive and a waste of time. The opposing group, Preserve Graydon Coalition, has argued that the treatments have greatly improved the water quality at the pool – long plagued by dwindling membership – and have also argued that a project to build formal concrete pools could result in an expensive eyesore. Residents have spoken for both points (continued on page 6) TIME TO PLANT ������ �������� ����������� FREE y Deliver ����� �������� ���������� ����� ������ Fall is for Planting 25%Off ALL TREES & SHRUBS through Sept. 2009 with this ad �������������� ���������������������������� ������������� �������������������������� Professional ����������������������������� Landscape PROPANE Design 201-444-9995 • OPEN 7 DAYS 9AM–6PM ������������������������������������������������������������������