Ridgewood February 22, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 3 Cleanup and repair bill will top $645,000 by John Koster The total bill for the cleanup after Hurricane Irene and the reconstruction of the ground floor of Ridgewood Village Hall will likely top $645,000. The ordinance to fund the restoration of a more floodresistant first floor is slated for adoption on March 14. The Ridgewood Village Council already paid $95,000 for the emergency interior demolition and sanitization of the ground floor. The area had been largely reconstructed at a cost in excess of $1 million after Tropical Storm Floyd flooded the police station once located on the building’s lower level. The demolition left the building structurally sound, but removed water-sodden sheetrock and damaged furniture and appurtenances, including a piano. Despite attempts to divert flood waters from HoHo-Kus Brook and keep the drains open, three to four feet of water roiled through the ground floor during Hurricane Irene, temporarily forcing the relocation of activities and offices, including the reception area for the four upper floors of the five-story building. The reception desk on the first floor is now functional again, but all office facilities are located on the second, third, fourth, and fifth floors above the high-water mark for what used to be called a 100-year flood. At the most recent public meeting, the council introduced an ordinance to appropriate $550,000 for the restoration of the lower level of the flood-prone building, including the installation of concrete block walls, wallboard, electrical and plumbing work, kitchen counters and sinks, and the labor involved, so public activities and recreation programs can be resumed when the repairs are completed. The plans have been discussed at previous council meetings. Council members noted that the restrooms on the ground floor, with floor drains and masonry walls, would only need to be hosed down and scrubbed to be restored to function, while those interior walls faced with sheetrock were ruined and had to be ripped out. Significant destruction was sustained by the long-awaited youth and senior center that was built into the 19992005 renovation that followed Tropical Storm Floyd. An interim flood between 1999 and 2011 also damaged the building’s ground floor, but not on the level of Tropical Storm Floyd or Hurricane Irene. Residents who are active with senior citizen and youth groups have urged the council to expedite the reconstruction. Ridgewood Mayor Keith Killion and the council members – resisting a suggestion that supposedly water-resistant sheetrock would be cheaper and faster than masonry walls – insisted that the job should be done in such a way as to minimize the damage from future inundations, now seen as inevitable. Ridgewood Village Engineer Christopher Rutishauser recently said that even the dredging of a sandbar in Ho-Ho-Kus Brook, which requires approval from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, would not eliminate the probability of future floods unless all the communities in the watershed ceased all impervious construction. The council has also voted an authorization to accept a U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Services Emergency Watershed Protection Grant for an amount not to exceed $312,800 to fund the removal of sandbars in Ho-Ho-Kus Brook caused by Hurricane Irene. The sandbar removal, discussed at a previous work session, will cover the length of the brook from the Ho-Ho-Kus border to the Glen Rock border and is expected to palliate, but not eliminate, flooding during heavy rains. Gabriel Donohue will present a concert of traditional and modern Irish folk music on Sunday, March 4 at 2 p.m. at the Ridgewood Public Library, 125 North Maple Avenue in Ridgewood. Donohue will sing and play the piano, guitar, whistle, and bodran (a small drum). The program includes a medley of Donohue to present Irish folk music Irish songs of rebellion, emigration, and transcendence of Irish and Irish-Amercan life from 1670 through contemporary life among Americans of Irish descent. The concert is sponsored by the Friends of the Ridgewood Library and donations will be requested at the door. Concert-goers are advised to arrive early for the best available seats.