August 3, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 5 Ramsey Ramsey Mayor Christopher Botta plans to form a committee to help guide the borough now that the council has rejected all three bids for the borough’s water and sewer system. The council passed a resolution to reject all three bids last week because some bids were deemed defective and some were not in the range of bid options in terms of price or components. Mayor Botta indicated that some bids were missing information and some bidders did not bid on both the sewer and the water assets. Ramsey received the following bids: Aqua New Jersey, $13 million; United Water, $11,000,001; and Middlesex Water, $10 million. “In conjunction with the Ramsey Water Board, we determined to reject all bids,” Botta said. The mayor noted that the committee, which will be named in the near future, will include members of the borough’s water board, council members, and residents. The committee will review the borough’s options, including a Bids rejected; committee will review next step new round of bidding that might include some or part of the original specifications. Botta acknowledged that the potential sale of the water and sewer system assets would be a long and involved process. The key element of the sale, a November referendum that would have asked borough voters to weigh in on the issue, cannot proceed this year. Botta explained that, in order to have the referendum this fall, the wording of the question would have to have been sent to the borough clerk by Aug. 19. “The problems that led us to seek bids still exist and must be addressed,” Botta said. “We’re looking forward to working with the committee to do that.” The borough decided to pursue bids for the potential sale of Ramsey’s public water and sewer system assets earlier this year. Ramsey has been faced with rising costs associated with keeping up with water standards, which have become increasingly stringent in recent years. Borough officials previously reported that the compo- nents of the bid consisted of the sewer and water infrastructure, including the wells, the physical assets, and the licenses and permits that the municipality owns for the water/sewer system. If the bids had been deemed acceptable and if the related referendum had been approved, borough officials had planned to use the lions’ share of the net proceeds to pay off existing municipal debt and to stabilize municipal taxes over an extended period of time. The borough was attempting to avoid the cost and uncertainty of future capital expenditures and environmental unknowns while stabilizing municipal taxes for the foreseeable future. For That Special Event At 3:10 a.m. on July 12, Officer Mike Parise conducted a motor vehicle stop on Route 17 South for a vehicle failure to keep right. At the conclusion of the stop, the driver, a Beltsville, Maryland man, was arrested for traffic warrants. At 8:55 a.m. the same day, the Ramsey Police Department was advised that there was stolen property in a vehicle parked at a Route 17 North hotel. Patrolman Anthony Fiore conducted an investigation that led to the arrest of a 37-year-old Ramsey man and a 35-year-old Suffern, New York man for receiving stolen property. On July 15 at 7:51 p.m., Patrolman Casey Hines responded to a Route 17 North hotel to serve an arrest warrant. During the service of the warrant, a 49-year-old Ramsey man was arrested for crack cocaine drug paraphernalia. ��� Borough Police Department Report At 2:17 a.m. on July 16, Officer Parise conducted a motor vehicle stop for speeding on Route 17 South. During the stop, an odor of an alcoholic beverage was detected from the driver. At the conclusion of field sobriety testing, a 25-year-old Washington Township man was arrested for driving while intoxicated. On July 19 at 12:48 p.m., Officer Craig Weber was dispatched to Main Street to investigate a motor vehicle crash. The driver of one vehicle produced a fraudulent insurance card. A 55-year-old Hillsdale man was arrested for forgery. A 25-year-old Ramsey man presented himself to the Ramsey Police Department on July 20 to satisfy a criminal warrant. Officer Hines processed the arrest. ��������������� ��������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������������������������� �������������������������� ������ ���� �������������������������������� ��������������� ������������ See our website for coupons-������������������������ �������������������������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������� ���������������������