November 17, 2010 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 7 Ridgewood Village council defeats salary ordinances by John Koster The Ridgewood Village Council defeated two longdebated salary ordinances at last week’s public meeting, and sent the management salary ordinance and the nonunion salary ordinance back to the drawing board. Mayor Keith Killion and Deputy Mayor Thomas Riche said as they were headed for a closed session that the wording of the ordinances had not been quite right. Riche said that amounts and verbiage might be considered. The defeated ordinances would have provided a two percent across-the-board increase to the Ridgewood’s upper level officials and stipends for the members of the council, professionals not on the regular payroll, and parttime and summer employees. Salaries were provided in ranges. Maximum salaries provided, but not necessarily paid, included $190,000 for the village manager’s position, $165,862 for the director of operations, $128,872 for the director of building operations. $171,500 for the police chief, $163,897 for the police captain, and $150,000 for the fire chief. The defeated non-union salary ordinance would have provided a $5,000 maximum stipend for the mayor and a $3,000 stipend for each council member. Stipulated salaries for executive assistants were generally in the high $60,000 range. At previous hearings of the two ordinances, which have been before council four times, resident Boyd Loving urged that the ordinance be reworked to make it explicit that some job titles carried on the ordinances had been vacated by retirement. The draft before the council last week reflected that the chief financial officer and the fire director had retired. The chief financial officer’s maximum salary was $165,000 and the fire director’s maximum salary was $169,500. The position of deputy fire chief, eliminated from the roster, would have conveyed a maximum salary of $159,747. Resident Leonard Eisen had said at a previous meeting that it was morally irresponsible to keep passing along two percent raises to highly paid people in senior posi- tions while junior police officers had been threatened with dismissal and office workers in the lower-pay brackets had been laid off. Water rate hike (continued from page 3) Water Company apparently regarded the new water tank as a done deal, since objections by Wyckoff residents who had collected a substantial amount of money and hired an attorney appeared to have halted plans for the new tank several years ago. Gabbert said that Wyckoff’s argument that customers outside Ridgewood are actually paying a higher rate than Ridgewood residents has no merit, but that the matter would be decided by the courts over the next few years. Wyckoff had alleged -- and a Glen Rock official tacitly concurred -- that Ridgewood was using money from Wyckoff, Glen Rock, and Midland Park to pay Ridgewood employees, including police officers, who were not directly involved in delivering water to customers outside Ridgewood. The recent closed meeting was described by Gabbert as very constructive. “The elected officials and administrators had very good questions, and the discussion went beyond just the increase,” Gabbert said. Wyckoff and Glen Rock officials, speaking after the meeting, were concerned that a financial professional who has worked with both Glen Rock and Wyckoff was not permitted to speak, and Wyckoff Mayor Boonstra said he felt that the three member towns had been “stonewalled.” Wyckoff initiated the legal action against the Ridgewood Water Company alone, after Glen Rock and Midland Park initially declined to join in, but both of those municipalities have since come on board. The Holidays can be a difficult time, and we would like to help by making available the booklet: Experiencing the Holidays and Special Occasions Without a Loved One Anyone can obtain a copy at Feeney’s or at: The Glen Rock Library The Ho-Ho-Kus Library The Ridgewood Library Grief and the Holidays 232 Franklin Ave., Ridgewood, NJ • 201-444-7650 “A Proud Member of the Carriage Funeral Service Network” David B. Feeney, Manager, CFSP, CPC • NJ Lic. No. 3482 Ginny Sanzo. CFSP, CPC • NJ Lic. No. 4553 www.feeneyfuneralhome.com