January 19, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 3 Ridgewood Contractor works on Habernickel property dam by John Koster A contractor retained by Ridgewood for $1 million is now working, despite the winter weather, to have a new dam in place and pond drainage completed on the stream that carries surface water to the Habernickel property pond and sluices it to Ho-Ho-Kus Brook, Saddle River, and points beyond. Mike Tereskiewicz was on hand last week to supervise workers from R. Verniri The Ridgewood Village Council has adopted a salary ordinance for police officers and seniors that initially provides a starting salary of $45,388 for newly hired patrolmen, and adds increments so a senior patrolman with eight years of successful service will earn $118,492. The ordinance was adopted unanimously at a special public meeting section tucked into what was otherwise a work session on Jan. 5. In 2012, the newly-adopted ordinance will provide a $48,307 starting salary for patrolmen, and a $126,114 maximum salary for patrolmen with eight years of experience. Sergeants, who generally have more than a decade of experience and a history of successful performance, start at $123,383 in the first half of 2011 and rise to $131,321 for the second half of 2012. Sergeants at the third step of the salary guide will receive $130,881 for the first six months of 2011 Village council adopts police salary ordinance and will receive $139,301 for the second half of 2012. Police lieutenants will start at $137,977 for the first half of 2011 and will rise to $157,088 for the second half of 2012. Police officers who certify as emergency medical technicians will receive incremental additions of $1,600 for each of their first two years as certified EMTs, $1,800 for the next two years, and $2,000 for subsequent years. Ridgewood also has the option of deducting up to $480 a year from each officer’s salary for medical insurance. The guide provides somewhat lower salaries for police hired after the beginning of 2010, but the pattern in recent years has been to reduce hiring due to the economy. The police officers hired most recently kept their jobs only after PBA members agreed to take a day’s furlough once a month rather than see the newer men fired. J. KOSTER Contractors and to take part in a press conference with Ridgewood Village Engineer Christopher Rutishauser and Council Member Bernadette Walsh. Rutishauser said the first material dredged from the pond and stream was black sludge, but the contractors later reached grayish clay, and the water flow is now clear. The new dam, Rutishauser said, would be made of gabions -- steel structures filled with stones – that would provide some drainage and would be less expensive and more environmentally sound than poured concrete. “It’s cheaper that way and we can provide a nice-looking view once the trees start to grow,” Rutishauser said. He said that the old footbridge, taken down due to drainage and construction issues, will be replaced by a new footbridge during a later phase of the construction, and this phase of the project will be completed by the spring or early summer. The smaller building on the Waldwick side of the property will shortly be demolished, he said, but the stables will be refurbished. The two residential houses on the property, which now provide revenue through rental to tenants, will be retained for the immediate future, but will probably be eliminated at a date not yet predicted. Plans call for as much parking as possible inside the site, reducing the impact on the upscale residential neighborhood on Hillcrest Avenue. “There have been no lights proposed, there have been no lighting fixtures planned, and there will be no lights installed,” Rutishauser said. New lighting at the Ridgewood High School field and Veterans Field has drawn concerns from some neighbors of those properties. He said that while some neighbors of the Habernickel property had objected to the handling of individual trees, there had been no serious objections to the progress on the plans to turn the nine-acre site into an athletic field on the flat pasture area and a passive landscaped and natural park on the sloping ground. “If the village had not purchased the property, it would have been sold for a development,” he said. ����������������������� ������������������� ��������������������� ������������� ����������������� �������������� ������������� ����������� ����������������� ����������������� � ���������� Winter specials available now for a limited time only. Call Robin at 973-636-7000 ������������������������� ��������������