Ridgewood May 9, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 9 Council halts plans for self-storage, pool concession by John Koster After hearing from Professional Planner Blaise Brancheau, the Ridgewood Council concurred with the Ridgewood Planning Board that plans for a highway business site would have to go back to the drawing board. “Self storage – it’s hard to limit the times,” Mayor Keith Killion said. “You could have people going in there at 2 o’clock where there are neighbors nearby – and there’s a noise factor.” The two lots near Route 17 South that are on a triangle bounded by the highway, Paramus Road, and Linwood Avenue were targeted as a highway commercial zone that included a number of uses. However, the planners and Brancheau concluded last week that self-storage, permitted by the proposed ordinance, should not be among the uses at the site. Brancheau, who appeared at the council work session, explained that the ordinance as revised would permit a self-storage warehouse at the location, and that this was not what the planning board had intended. The planners recommended that the amendment to Ordinance 3340 be withdrawn and revised to remove the self-storage option at that location. The council voted to defeat the revised ordinance that included the self-storage warehouse. New text will be considered for introduction at a subsequent meeting. In other business, the council tabled the acceptance of a contract for the food service concession at Graydon Pool because members – notably Deputy Mayor Thomas Riche – had some questions about cash flow from the food service operations, which had been strongly positive in the first years of the new century -- there was a $21,000 profit in 2005 -- but had dropped in recent years. “Something is wrong here,” Riche said. He added that, in 2004 and 2005, the Graydon food concession produced an operational fund surplus that could be used for village expenses, but that the numbers started dropping in 2006, and Ridgewood began footing part of the bill for the food service. “We’re dealing with taxes from the residents,” Riche said. He said he was reluctant to delay the council approval, but he added that he did not have the facts he felt he needed to approve the action. The special meeting at the May 2 council work session was called to approve a contract by council resolution in which a Mountainside firm called Please, LLC would guarantee $15,000 in revenue to Ridgewood in return for the concession. “The benefit to the village is $82,000,” Village Manager Ken Gabbert said. Signing the concession over to Please, LLC would eliminate a deficit that had reached $67,000 last year. “The numbers just don’t make sense,” Councilman Riche said. “Is it due to overstaffing?” Ridgewood Parks and Recreation Director Tim Cronin, who attended the meeting, said there are generally five people working at the concession stand, which opens at noon and remains open until 7 p.m. Cronin said their pay scale is based on the standard of $8.25 per hour. “I have listened to Deputy Mayor Riche’s comments and the money doesn’t add up to me either,” said Councilman Stephen Wellinghorst. (continued on page 21) The Ridgewood Police Department has charged a 20-year-old man with making a false police report. At 5 p.m. on April 27, the Ridgewood police patrol responded to the rear of Starbucks on East Ridgewood Avenue on a report of a robbery and assault. The 20year-old purported victim was interviewed by Detectives Peter Youngberg and Douglas Henky. During the interview, the man admitted that he made up the story. He was charged with filing a false police report and released on his own recognizance pending an appearance in Ridgewood Municipal Court. On the same day, at 9:45 p.m., Patrolman Kevin McKeon arrested a 43-yearold Ridgewood woman on an outstanding Village police charge man with making false report warrant for receiving stolen property. The warrant had been issued by the Hawthorne Municipal Court, and the woman was turned over to the Hawthorne Police Department. On April 26, a Maynard Court resident reported that unlocked vehicles had been entered and items were stolen. The matter is under investigation by the Ridgewood Detective Bureau. Ridgewood Police Chief John Ward has urged residents to lock their cars, even when citizens are parking vehicles in their own driveways, and to remove any valuables from vehicles. On April 25, a Stevens Avenue resident reported that a political sign had been stolen from her front yard. The matter is under investigation.