December 12, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 5 Ridgewood Girl Scouts question administrator, village council by John Koster A group of Ridgewood Girl Scouts asked some pointed questions of the Ridgewood Village Council and Administrator Ken Gabbert at last week’s work session, but both sides were smiling. “How many houses are there in Ridgewood?” one Girl Scout asked from the lectern. “Eight thousand four hundred eight-five and a half,” Administrator Gabbert replied, not exactly in round figures. “How many pizza shops are there in Ridgewood?” another Girl Scout asked. “I’ll have to refer that question to the Chamber of Commerce,” Gabbert said. He added that more were always welcome. One Girl Scout asked if the council could install an elevator in the Travell School so that students with broken legs or other mobility issues could negotiate the school more easily. Girl Scouts from Troop 99 were Amanda Hamel, Anna Dort, Kylie McVey, Olivia Wright, Sage Tyrell, Sarah Policano, Grace Duffy, and Emma Sardy. (Not pictured: Gabriella Tretola.) The village council and the board of education maintain autonomous budgets and the council does not direct school spending. However, Ridgewood Board of Education President Sheila Brogan, who was in the audience with Superintendent of Schools Daniel Fishbein, chimed in that the school administrators attempt to locate students with temporary or permanent mobility problems on the ground floors of the schools. The girls -- Amanda Hamel, Anna Dort, Kylie McVey, Olivia Wright, Sage Tyrell, Sarah Policano, Gabriella Tretola, Grace Duffy, and Emma Sardy -- are members of Troop 99 at the Travell School. They had attended the first part of the work session as part of a civics project with the Girl Schools. The girls also urged that residents donate for relief for the victims of Hurricane Sandy.