April 18, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 9 Franklin Lakes Saddle Ridge water tank gains planners’ approval by Frank J. McMahon United Water NJ’s plans to construct a six million gallon concrete and steel water tank have been approved by the Franklin Lakes Planning Board. The tank will be constructed in the ground on approximately three acres of Bergen County parkland at the Saddle Ridge Riding Center on the Campgaw Mountain Reservation. The new tank will increase water pressure at the houses in the area located west of Route 287 and will provide water and fire protection service to the riding center at the end of Shadow Ridge Road. The facility is also expected to improve system-wide pressure on summer mornings when many Franklin Lakes homes have lawn sprinklers running, and will help United Water improve water service throughout the entire northwest Bergen County area, according to Richard Henning, United Water’s senior vice president of communications. The existing water tank on Cottonwood Drive, which can hold up to 1.5 million gallons, will operate in harmony with the new tank to be located in the park, according to Henning. United Water claims the elevation of the property where the tank will be located is ideal because ther tank can be operated by gravity so the water will not have to be pumped out to the company’s customers. In addition, it will be the most failsafe mode of operation, quietest operation, and will use the least amount of energy. The circular tank will be about 200 feet in diameter and be partially below ground with a domed roof. The site will be fenced and there will be remote mounted cameras to observe the site. A gate to the site will be located on the easement north of the riding center access road, but the tank will not inhibit or change the access to the riding center. The 97.7-acre Saddle Ridge Riding Center property is located in the borough’s A-130 residential zone and is owned by Bergen County. United Water acquired the threeacre portion of the Green Acres property as a result of a diversion easement whereby the county will acquire 13.9 acres of land at the south end of the borough on Omaha Way in compensation. The project will involve the installation of a 24-inch diameter pipe up Shadow Ridge Road to the site. The clearing of the site will include blasting the extensive rock formation under the surface of the ground and removing (continued on page 17)