Ridgewood April 4, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 3 Mayor issues firm ‘no’ on firehouse cell tower by John Koster Ridgewood Mayor Keith Killion offered the public a firm negative view on the proliferation of cellular telephone towers in Ridgewood at last week’s work session. “I don’t want anyone to think this is being done to isolate the firehouse so that a cell tower can be put there,” Mayor Killion said of a public hearing to amend Ridgewood’s zoning map. “If it is proposed to put a cell tower on a firehouse, I will vote against it.” He added, “I will not vote for a cell tower in the Village of Ridgewood. It’s a quality of life issue…I’m not going to vote for it and a lot of council people are not going to vote for it.” The question came up when Councilman Paul Aronsohn asked if a zoning change, being considered for approval at the March 28 session, would have any implications for the West Glen Avenue firehouse. Janet Fricke, assistant to the village manager, said it would not. The change, she explained, was to simplify the continuing flow of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Green Acres funds to Ridgewood to continue payments on the Habernickel property, now being converted into a mixed sports field and passive park with a mixture of state and local funds. Specifically, the change of zoning separated the West Glen Avenue firehouse from the existing open space and tennis courts nearby so the two tracts would be distinct and separate. The official statement, read over and formally endorsed at a special public meeting convened during the work session, states: “The firehouse is not recreational or open space and should be removed from the ROSI (Recreation and Open Space Inventory). This can be accomplished by splitting the existing lot into two separate lots and creating a new lot for the firehouse since it is not appropriate for recreational or open space pursuits. The existing open space and tennis courts would become the second lot, and would remain on the ROSI.” “It just puts it in a different lot,” Fricke explained in basic terms. The council understood and endorsed the change, particularly after Fricke said that Green Acres had already handed Ridgewood $2 million for the 10-acre Habernickel tract. “We’re always looking for a little bit more,” Mayor Killion said. Mayor Killion also told two residents who spoke, and several other audience members, that no hours for the operation of Graydon Pool had been established and that he believed the decision to open the pool at 3 p.m. rather than at 10 a.m. on June week- days was not official – and might never become official. Resident Jamie Cariddi asked Mayor Killion and the council to reconsider what she, and the other young parents present, thought was a firm decision to delay the opening of Graydon Pool until 3 p.m. for 13 weekdays in June after the pool is officially open. “We’re going to investigate whoever made this decision and see the logic behind it,” Killion said. “This body didn’t make this decision. We’re going to look into it.” The parents with young children were concerned not only for their own summer (continued on page 11)