June 8, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 5 Ho-Ho-Kus Concerned resident urges increase in police personnel by Jennifer Crusco Ho-Ho-Kus resident Carol Tyler recently expressed her concerns that the borough’s police department will not be offering the Junior Police Academy program this July. Addressing the council, Tyler said, “We could have raised the money; it’s about the bodies.” She said that, with the recent reduction in the department’s ranks, the police cannot run the popular program. “It’s a rite of passage,” she said of the academy. She told the council the borough needs one additional officer “immediately” and another one by winter. Tyler, who is currently the captain of the Ho-Ho-Kus Ambulance Corps, said when she writes the schedule for the corps, she needs 18 volunteers. The police department, which has generally had 16 officers, now has 14 officers, including everyone from the newest patrolman to the chief. Tyler asked how the borough would make up the loss of the program to the fifth grade students, and suggested a sixth grade camp be run in 2012. She added that the most important thing is to get two more people on the police department. “We can afford to pass the school budget. It’s astronomical and it passed with no problem at all,” Tyler said. She noted that there are legal limits on the number of hours police officers can work, and expressed concern about stretching those limits. Mayor Thomas Randall agreed that the academy is a great program for local students. However, he said the reason the academy was dropped this year was the lack of grant money. Tyler disagreed, saying manpower was the issue. Councilman Kevin Crossley said, “Part of it was manpower. That was the bottom line at the committee level.” Mayor Randall pointed out that the new mandates and caps are an adjustment for everyone, and the department now has two fewer people (due to two retirees who were not replaced). Councilman Kevin Shea suggested people might volunteer to run the program. Tyler responded that the results would not be the same if non-police personnel ran the academy. “We’re under a lot of limits,” Shea noted, asking if the police might be able to volunteer. Shea added that Police Chief John Wanamaker suggested the academy program be dropped for this year. “Because there’s no manpower,” Tyler responded. “The In honor of its 100th Anniversary, the Ho-Ho-Kus Volunteer Fire Department will hold a block party and antique fire apparatus muster on Saturday, June 25. This borough-wide celebration will be held from 5 to 10 p.m. in and around the center of Ho-Ho-Kus and will include food, drinks, activities, and live music. Orvil Court and portions of Warren and Sycamore avenues will be closed to vehicular traffic that night. In the event of rain, the anniversary celebration will be held Sunday, June 26 from 2 to 7 p.m. Local sponsors have helped support this event. Sponsorships were available at the gold, silver, bronze, and supporting levels. The names of the sponsors are being featured on the promotional banners for the event and will appear on the 100th Anniversary commemorative mugs. Gold sponsors include Freedom Bank, Ho-Ho-Kus Inn & Tavern, and Robert and Nancy Verkerk; silver sponsors include Loving Hands, Marron & Gildea, Radical Motors- Firefighters set anniversary party ports of New Jersey, and Downes Tree Service; and bronze sponsors include Sanzari Companies, Oritani Bank, TKL Printing, Newton T-shirts, Defiant Brewery, Tyco Animal Control Services, and the Ho-Ho-Kus Chamber of Commerce. Approximately 20 supporting sponsors have also provided funding for this event. The Ho-Ho-Kus Volunteer Fire Department was officially created on Nov. 23, 1911, with the adoption of a constitution and bylaws. On Valentine’s Day 1912, the department’s first firefighters received their badges. Plans for the construction of a firehouse received the council’s stamp of approval that June, and the building, which cost $2,000, officially opened in November. At the time, a telephone line installed in the fire chief’s home was the department’s method of communication. T he Ho -Ho -Kus Fi re Depa r t ment is st af fed by (continued on page 18) numbers don’t balance.” She again added her plea for additional police officers. “We hear you,” Councilman Crossley said. After the meeting, Chief Wanamaker said he had previously recommended that the council consider hiring another police officer to afford him more flexibility in scheduling, to permit his personnel to attend courses at the Law & Public Safety Academy, and to allow the department to run the Junior Police Academy. Chief Wanamaker said the borough must prepare for the future, as there are five officers who are now eligible for retirement and they could exercise that option at any time. When the decision was made to sideline this year’s program, Chief Wanamaker told Villadom TIMES that the officers who run the program, including Sean Leonard, Christopher Minchin, Anthony Balestrieri, and M Mosca, had tried to work on the situation from every angle, but could not resolve every issue. Chief Wanamaker gave credit to the officers who have run the program for trying to make it a reality, but said it was not financially responsible to commit to it this year. The academy program was launched in 2006, after then-Police Chief Gregory Kallenberg secured a grant. In previous years, funding has been provided by the Bergen County Municipal Alliance and the Policemen’s Benevolent Association. The first year the program ran, 15 cadets (boys and girls who had just finished the fifth grade) participated. Enrollment peaked in 2009, with 50 participants. 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