Page 8 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • February 8, 2012 Ho-Ho-Kus Administrator forwards recommendations to county by Jennifer Crusco Last week, Ho-Ho-Kus Borough Administrator Don Cirulli provided a list of flood mitigation recommendations to Bergen County Freeholder John Driscoll, who has established a Flood Advisory Council to gather information from the county’s municipalities. Cirulli noted that the flood mitigation recommendations were developed by the Ho-Ho-Kus Office of Emergency Management, the Ho-Ho-Kus Department of Public Works, and Planning Board Chairman John Hanlon, who directs the production of the borough’s master plan. The first recommendation involves “de-snagging” the Saddle River from the border of the Borough of Saddle River south to Bogert Road in Ho-Ho-Kus. “The river is full of very large trees and heavy tree debris,” Cirulli wrote in his letter to Driscoll. “By desnagging the river, the water will slow in the main channel during heavy rains. This will reduce the flooding of homes, the ongoing destruction of Hollywood Avenue (a county road), and damage to the Borough of Ho-Ho-Kus’ sewer system.” Cirulli recommended that, after working on the Saddle River, the county could repair Hollywood Avenue. The administrator said Hollywood Avenue needs to be rebuilt from West Saddle River Road to East Saddle River Road. The administrator’s letter also includes a recommendation that the county clean the Zabriski Brook culverts located on Sheridan Avenue, Sycamore Avenue, Elmwood Avenue, Lakewood Avenue, Warren Avenue, Sherwood Road, and East Franklin Turnpike. “These culverts are causing serious backups and flooding of homes near the Zabriski Brook,” Cirulli explained. A fourth recommendation involves removal of the rocks from the Ho-Ho-Kus Brook from the Warren Avenue Bridge south to the Nauset Lane area. According to Cirulli, “This will reduce both the overflow and the violent turbulence that are causing the constant erosion of the county’s Maple Avenue Bridge, as well as the erosion and flooding of some other properties along the brook.” The borough’s officials are also calling for the replacement of the Maple Avenue Bridge. “The County of Bergen informed the Borough of HoHo-Kus some 25 years ago that the Maple Avenue Bridge was a problem and that the County of Bergen was going to replace it ‘immediately,’” the administrator told Driscoll. Cirulli added, “The bridge’s opening is too small for the volume of water that passes beneath it. As it is, this bridge adds to the constant flooding of three county roads. It also is causing erosion to several buildings, the land around the bridge, and to the bridge itself.” The final recommendation concerns the cleaning and maintenance of the water detention system built under Route 17 for the Saddle River’s tributary #1. Cirulli said work on this system, which is located on Route 17 North just north of Hollywood Avenue, is approximately 11 years overdue. “The natural detention systems in the area started to stress because this manmade system is lacking attention,” the administrator said. “We hope that you will have success with this project since our municipality certainly could use some help from the county,” Cirulli concluded. Stanley Kober, program manager for the Ho-Ho-Kus Community Emergency Response Team, welcomes members of the community to learn how to better prepare for the threats of terrorism, disasters, public health issues, and events at home, work, or on vacation, by signing up for CERT training. “Community Emergency Response Team, or CERT, is a concept developed in 1985 by the Los Angeles Fire Department,” Kober explained. “They recognized that citizens would very likely be on their own during the early stages of Ho-Ho-Kus Police Chief John Wanamaker (standing at right front) instructs some CERT a catastrophic disaster. members about the importance of personal safety during day and night operations. Accordingly, the LAFD decided that some basic training in disaster survival and and several foreign countries currently use the CERT rescue skills would be necessary to improve the ability of system. “In Bergen County alone there are well over 2,000 citizens to survive until emergency personnel could arrive. Thus, teams were created to provide vital services in the CERT members -- the largest in New Jersey,” he added. This spring, the basic CERT training course will be absence of emergency responders.” CERT became a widespread effort after the Sept. 11, offered on Wednesdays at the Bergen County Law & Public (continued on page 20) 2001 terrorist attacks. Kober noted that almost every state CERT program welcomes new recruits