Villadom Times Weekly Newpaper Online-March 9, 2011 Issue

March 9, 2010 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 7 Ridgewood Bombace: Water pressure puts high school at risk by John Koster Former Ridgewood Fire Chief James Bombace recently told the village council that low water pressure in several Ridgewood fire hydrants would put Ridgewood High School at serious risk in case of a large fire because the water pressure wouldn’t support effective fire suppression by Ridgewood’s firefighters. “The adequate gallons-per-minute is not even close should Ridgewood High School have a substantial fire,” the former chief said last week at the council work session. Bombace said the recommended water pressure for the hydrant at Heermance Place on front of Ridgewood High School is 4,500 gallons per minute. A flow test done on March 18, 1988 for insurance purposes showed that the hydrant capacity was 4,090 gallons per minute. A test on Nov. 12, 2008 showed that the hydrant pressure had dropped to 950 gallons per minute. Another hydrant that concerned Bombace is the one located at East Glen Avenue near Van Emburgh Avenue. That hydrant, he said, needed 2,250 gallons per minute, but the 1988 test showed 1,310 gallons per minute, and the 2008 test showed 850 gallons per minute. The hydrant is at the driveway of the Glen School, which accommodates Ridgewood’s special needs students. On April 30, 2009, when Bombace was fire chief, he followed up on the tests from the previous year with the help of Steven Florence of the Ridgewood Water Company, and confirmed that the 2008 tests were substantially accurate and that Ridgewood water pressure had fallen drastically from 1988 to 2008. Across the board, the gallons-per-minute tests showed that most of the hydrants -- East Glen was always low enough to be a consistent exception -- were close to ade- quate in 1988 but about half where they should have been by 2008. Moritz, who was on hand at the meeting, confirmed for the council that he and his staff had investigated and that Bombace’s figures were substantially accurate and water pressure had fallen significantly between 1988 and 2008 and appeared to be low at present. Moritz said his crews were checking to see if any valves had been shut down or reversed. “If we find everything open we may have to lay some more pipes,” Moritz said. “Is this a safety issue?” Council member Paul Aronsohn asked. “Yes, there can be,” Bombace said. Moritz added that it was also an insurance issue. “We could lose points for having a lower flow,” Moritz said. Library fees (continued from page 4) $110 for the first two hours (and $50 for each additional hour) for Ridgewood-based non-profit groups, $160 for two hours and $75 for each additional hour for outside non-profit groups, and $220 for profit-oriented groups, with each additional hour costing $105. Smaller rooms with 80, 30, 20, 16, or 12 seats may also be reserved in advance and paid for at much more affordable prices. Library-sponsored programs of classical, popular and ethnic music and re-enactor impressions of historic figures will continue unabated. Tutoring and business table passes may be obtained from the reference desk on the second floor. Staffers say the table pass system has already produced some revenue and has kept the part of the library reserved for silent reading or computer use quieter. The policy of charging library patrons from outside Ridgewood $1 an hour for computer use has also produced some revenue. J. KOSTER But STILL can’t lose that Tummy or Cellulite? Call me about VelaShape A NEW Nonsurgical method of Fat reduction and body contouring • Non-invasive • No Anesthesia • No Downtime Beverly Dunn, MD Waldwick, NJ • 201-445-0032 TM Dieting? Working Out? Virgo Boutique Fun & Fashionable Women’s Clothing & Accessories at M-Sat 9-5:30 LOW PRICES 8 Franklin Ave. Ridgewood • 201-444-2060 UP WINTER SALE TO 50% OFF Recently relocated from NYC Bring this ad in for 15% off any non-sale items 2-23-11 kathy/janine VirgoBoutique2x2(2-23-11) 2 x 2” ��