Ridgewood October 17, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 3 Funds approved for ramp at Graydon Pool by John Koster The Ridgewood Council has voted to use a total of $95,000 in Bergen County and village funds for a handicapped access ramp at Graydon Pool, but has yet to decide on a design. Handicapped residents and supporters split on the ramp in concept. Some said it would be wonderful to increase access to the lake-like municipal swimming pool to chair-bound swimmers, while others disapproved the ramp as unaesthetic. “There’s very few things that bring a smile to my daughter’s face, but swimming is one of them,” the father of a handicapped swimmer said. “I really strongly feel this ramp is not the way to go,” another resident disagreed. “Do you really think is ramp is going to solve the problem? I really think we’re rushing into this.” Some ramp proponents did not like what they assumed the ramp would look like, but no formal design has ever reached the council. Councilwoman Bernadette Walsh said the concept, as she understood it, is for a ramp with an L-turn that would take a chair-bound swimmer into the water, leveled out at two feet. “The ramp looks good to me, but I’m not in a wheelchair,” Walsh said, adding that her mother actually was in a wheelchair. “I have trouble giving village money to something we don’t have a concept on.” Mayor Paul Aronsohn said a detailed concept would be available, with the advice of Ridgewood Village Engineer Christopher Rutishauser, before the council voted to approve the ramp as a specific design. “There will be another vote on the part of the council whether to accept this par- ticular option,” Mayor Aronsohn said. Ridgewood Village Manager Ken Gabbert said it might be possible to come up with a better design, and that the vote before the council last week was simply whether to accept $55,000 from Bergen County funds and add $40,000 from Ridgewood’s own capital expense fund. Aronsohn and Walsh agreed to disagree as to whether the funding should be postponed for another two weeks, or whether to vote the funding and approve the concept after plans for all options were available. The Village of Ridgewood has announced the dedication and opening of its newest park, The Irene Habernickel Family Park. The public is invited to join Mayor Paul Aronsohn and the Ridgewood Village Council as they celebrate on Sunday, Oct. 21. The dedication will be held rain or shine. The event will begin with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 3 p.m. Festivities will include a nature scavenger hunt, guided walking tours by the Ridgewood Wildscape Association, hot air balloon rides for Habernickel Park to be dedicated $10 per person, and a special photography exhibit and book signing by Doug Goodell and Jim Wright, authors of “Duck Enough to Fly.” The day will also feature live music and refreshments. The 10-acre park, which provides a natural wildlife setting and an area for passive and active recreational needs, is located at 1037 Hillcrest Road in Ridgewood. For more information, or if special accommodations are needed, call (201) 670-5560