Ridgewood October 5, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 7 Ridgewood Water Company rates could increase 5% by John Koster The Ridgewood Water Company could increase its water rates to customers in Glen Rock, Midland Park, Wyckoff, and Ridgewood by five percent if the initiative for a rate increase is approved by the Ridgewood Village Council in November. The proposed increase would bring the total increase since 2010 to 31 percent. Ridgewood Water Company officials assert that the prices for Ridgewood Water Company water remain comparable to other utilities in northern Bergen County and the water quality is superior. Wyckoff, Glen Rock, and Midland Park, have already taken the Ridgewood Water Company to court over the increases. Wyckoff, Glen Rock, and Midland Park have charged that Ridgewood used water rate money collected from the other three towns in the utility grid to pay for police and fire services along with the expenses of staffing and maintaining the water utility. Ridgewood Board of Education Trustee Charles Reilly has announced that he will be leaving the board shortly, in advance of the end of his term, which ends in 2013. A former president of the Ridgewood Board of Education and former president of the New Jersey School Boards Association, Reilly said he will retain his job as a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice AntiTrust Division in New York City, but will phase out his Charles Reilly resigns from school board board membership. Reilly agreed to run for the Ridgewood board in 2010 when not enough candidates filed to fill the ballot. He was a long-term former board member who served from 1990 to 2006, with four years as board president from 2001 to 2004, when he decided not to seek re-election. J. KOSTER Ridgewood officials have denied any legal improprieties and stated that the legal actions will merely cost both sides more taxpayer money. Water use by customers decreased in August due to heavy rainfall which made lawn watering unnecessary for many customers. A watering restriction had been in effect for most of the summer with odd-even regulations (those with odd-numbered addresses were permitted to water on odd-numbered days of the month; those with even-numbered addresses watered on even-numbered days of the month) and no sprinkler watering on Mondays. On Aug. 28, Hurricane Irene led to flooding on the first floor of the Ridgewood Village Hall. Residents have been invited to tour the first floor on Oct. 3 and then attend a special council meeting to discuss whether the first floor of the building should be written off as office space and relegated to functions, such as rest rooms, that would not be compromised by future flooding. The Ridgewood Tax Collector has completed mailing the final 2011/preliminary 2012 tax bills. Payments are due Nov. 1, 2011, Feb. 1, 2012, and May 1, 2012. Taxpayers who have not received a bill should con- Final 2011/preliminary 2012 tax bills in the mail tact the tax collector’s office at (201) 670-5500, extension 511. Office hours are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.ridgewoodnj.net.