Page 6 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • October 17, 2012 Ridgewood Council introduces updated leaf pickup ordinance by John Koster The leaf removal policy ordinance, which had been tabled for review, has been revised and introduced by the Ridgewood Council. The adoption hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 24. However, the same partisans who blocked the ordinance and sent it back to the drawing board at the previous public meeting -- Boyd and Anne Loving, Roger Wiegand, and John Capurso -- last week joined by George Williams and Leonard Eisen -- said that even as revised, the ordinance did not seem to make sense in practical terms. “I think you’re on the right track,” Capurso told the council. “I agree with your intent. I don’t agree with the execution.” “There’s a point to keeping drains clear,” Williams said. “There’s a point in picking up branches when they can be dangerous... What sense does it make to keep leaves out of a non-dangerous place? This ordinance is absolutely nutty....What it’s going to do is to make it impossible for certain people to comply with all of the issues.” Most residents who spoke said they understood the need to keep leaves out of catch basins and branches out of the piled leaves, but they said they had problems with the idea that keeping the leaves out for more than seven days in areas where they do not cause problems justified summonses and fines. “What happens when a vacuum truck comes by when the homeowner has the leaves in bags?” Eisen asked. “Whether they’re bagged leaves or loose leaves, they’re all going to get picked up,” Village Manager Ken Gabbert said. Gabbert explained that the ordinance, if adopted Oct. 24, would allow seven days for pickup in whichever one of the four designated areas was scheduled for pickup. Leaves already bagged would be picked up by the same skip-loaders that collect leaves in piles. “If the leaves are out there at the street at the pickup period, we will address the leaves in that area. If the leaves are out after the pickup period then the residents will get a notice to remove the leaves until the next pick-up period,” he said. The New York Giants have selected Ridgewood High School Football Coach Chuck Johnson as the Lou Rettino High School Football Coach of the Week. Coach Johnson received a certificate of recognition signed by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Giants Head Coach Tom Coughlin. A $1,000 check will be granted to the Maroons football program. Johnson was acknowledged by a stadium announcement when the Giants hosted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Ridgewood High School won the Lou Molino All-Sports Banner for the Freedom Division of the Big North Conference for the third consecutive year. The 1,449 RHS students captured eight league, five county, six state sectional, and two state group championships. The county wins were garnered by the girls’ teams and the state victories by the boys and girls lacrosse teams. Johnson is Coach of Week The ordinance now provides that the sidewalks, rather than the streets, of a number of designated major roads be kept clear of raked leaves. The following streets would be affected: North Monroe Avenue, East Glen Avenue, West Glen Avenue, North Maple Avenue, South Maple Avenue, North Van Dien Avenue, North Pleasant Avenue, South Pleasant Avenue, Ackerman Avenue, Lincoln Avenue, Godwin Avenue, Linwood Avenue, and East Ridgewood Avenue. The intent of the ordinance is to keep children and other pedestrians from walking in the street on busy roads because of leaf-cluttered sidewalks. Fines continue to reach $200 to $1,000. Penalties also include a possible 40 hours of community service for second offenders. Many residents still seemed unconvinced that the ordinance was the answer to Ridgewood’s leaf problems. The impetus, as Mayor Paul Aronsohn said, may have come at least in part from the October 2011 snowstorm that dropped trees and branches onto electric lines, cutting off electricity and telephone service in Ridgewood and a number of other northwest Bergen County towns for five to seven days. Coach Chuck Johnson