Ridgewood July 18, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 3 Village manager: Water restrictions unrelated to fine by John Koster A low water reserve has been cited as the rationale for the Ridgewood Water Company’s cutback to Stage II watering restrictions. Village officials asserted that the more stringent regulations are unrelated to the $38,000 fine the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection leveled against Ridgewood based on excessive water use in 2010. “It doesn’t relate to the fine and it never would,” Ridgewood Village Manager Ken Gabbert said at last week’s Ridgewood Council meeting. “We have to make sure we have water to pump in case of fires. That’s it.” Ridgewood is appealing the recently reported state DEP fine, but would provide no further details. The Stage II watering policy means that Ridgewood Water Company customers may not water their lawns on Monday, when the system catches up from anticipated heavy weekend water use. Residents whose homes have odd-numbered addresses may sprinkle their lawns with in-ground or portable sprinklers on odd-numbered days of the month. Residents whose homes have even-numbered addresses may use sprinklers on even-numbered days. The use of hand-held houses is permitted Tuesday through Saturday. Violators face a $50 fine for watering outside the permitted schedule. “Adherence to alternate day irrigation helps reduce the peaks in demand that reduce storage reserves,” Gabbert wrote in a public letter. “Water in store is vital for maintaining pressure in the system and for fighting fires. Low storage tank reserves are the principal reason for the imposition of more stringent restrictions.” Ridgewood Water Company Director Frank Moritz con- firmed, outside the council meeting, that the DEP state fine had nothing to do with the Stage II restrictions Ridgewood announced during the second week of July. “The fine had nothing to do with it,” Moritz said. The Ridgewood Water Company and Ridgewood are now being sued by the other three communities served by Ridgewood Water -- Glen Rock, Midland Park, and Wyckoff -- for water rate increases that Glen Rock, Midland Park, and Wyckoff say are untenable. Ridgewood recently increased the water rate for all four towns an additional two percent. The three towns outside Ridgewood charge that Ridgewood has used money collected from the water fees to pay salaries for Ridgewood public employees who have nothing to do with water service. Ridgewood officials have said that the charges are without merit, but have declined to discuss them in detail due to pending litigation.