November 9, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 5 Wyckoff Town wins safety award by John Koster Wyckoff has won the highest award for traffic safety from the American Automobile Association’s North Jersey chapter as one of only 10 municipalities in Bergen, Passaic, and Hudson counties to have received the honor this year. The announcement was made at the last Wyckoff Township Committee meeting. The 2011 award marked the seventh time in eight years that Wyckoff had captured the top award from AAA, which recognized significant effort by the Wyckoff Police Department and the support of the Wyckoff Township Committee in promoting traffic safety through enforcement and education. In other business, the Wyckoff Township Committee adopted two ordinances to accept a total of $90,000 to improvements to public property with funds from Bergen County. Wyckoff voted to accept a $75,000 Bergen County Community Development Block Grant to construct an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant automatic opening door at the front entrance of Wyckoff Memorial Town Hall and to improve the landing at the entrance, an improvement scheduled to start in the spring. The governing body has also voted to accept a $15,000 Bergen County Open Space Municipal Park Improvement and Development Grant to construct a brick paver pathway at the Gardens of Wyckoff Nature Sanctuary at Crescent Avenue. This project is also slated to commence in the spring of 2012. Wyckoff has applied to both Bergen County grant programs a number of times in the past and has received funding for a number of local projects. The grants were accepted in the midst of coping with the aftermath of what was described as the worst power failure in municipal history, with several members of the township committee and the township administrator bereft of electric and home telephone connections nearly a week after the Oct. 29 snowstorm. Wyckoff officials praised the performance of the police and emergency services, but said they felt they had not received adequate crews from Public Service Electric & Gas. Power had been restored to most of the township at press time. The Wyckoff Department of Public Works has begun its curbside collection of tree branches that fell during the Oct. 29 snowstorm. The collection will be performed in the sequence of leaf collection/ voting districts. Cleanup in district one began Nov. 4. In order to facilitate the process, residents are asked to cut the branches into lengths no greater than four feet. Residents are reminded not to include firewood or tree logs over six inches in diameter. Branch collection under way Residents are urged not to intermingle leaves and branches. Residents may also transport their branches to the recycling center at 476 West Main Street or contract with a private tree or landscaping company. For details, residents should refer to the home page of www.wyckoff-nj.com for updates. Residents may register at this site to receive updates directly to a home computer or a Smart phone e-mail address.