Ho-Ho-Kus May 9, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 13 Officials: Emergency service was always available by Jennifer Crusco Ho-Ho-Kus officials have assured a concerned borough resident that public safety was never in jeopardy during the recent telephone outage. The event occurred on a Saturday morning, when Earthlink experienced a massive regional outage that stretched from Long Island (New York) to Warren County. A series of backups immediately took effect, officials said. Donna Cioffi expressed concern last week after learning that the police department’s phone system was recently down for approximately nine hours. In her e-mail to HoHo-Kus officials, Cioffi urged the borough to immediately address the functionality of the phone system. “It is one thing for there to be an ongoing phone problem at the (department of public works) and for the inadequate phone voicemail system at borough hall to continue year after year. It is, however, an egregious lack of concern for the public safety of Ho-Ho-Kus residents and places our police department in an extremely challenging and possibly dangerous situation,” Cioffi wrote. “Ridgewood just bought iPads for their council (to) use. The Borough of Ho-Ho-Kus is still using tin-cans-n-string to communicate…The residents and taxpayers of this town deserve an updated communication system and an accessible government and police department at all times.” Ho-Ho-Kus Borough Administrator Don Cirulli, who responded to the resident, recapped the situation. “It was an event entirely beyond our control. It was a power outage just as when lights go out. When such a thing happens, Ho-Ho-Kus has an emergency communications protocol involving multiple backup systems that go into effect immediately. We are never without communication of some type. No one is ever in jeopardy,” Cirulli wrote. “As for the specific major upgrading that I am having done to the Ho-Ho-Kus communications infrastructure for the first time in more than 10 years, it involves new wiring, hardware, and software for the fire department, ambulance corps, police department, department of public works, library, and borough hall.” Mayor Thomas Randall stated, “All the protocols were followed. We were able to continue service and no one was put in any danger.” He added that, during the phone outage, he attempted to call in, and found the system was working. “We continued service uninterrupted,” the mayor added. Borough employees (continued from page 7) the borough’s zoning officer. According to the governing body’s resolution, Phillips will replace Scorzelli, who resigned as zoning officer in early April. Cirulli said Scorzelli resigned this temporary position last month after approximately three years as zoning officer. He will remain the borough’s construction official. The administrator noted that, after the previous zoning officer left the post, borough employee Lori Hill had been training to take over the position, but died unexpectedly, leaving Scorzelli to carry out the zoning officer’s duties. Phillips is a land use planning consultant with over 25 years of experience in planning for the public and private sectors. In Cliffside Park and Bogota, she is responsible for reviewing development applications and for preparing planning documents. She is currently preparing a comprehensive master plan for the Borough of Cliffside Park. From October of 1992 through January of 2002, she was employed by Burgis Associates, Inc. as an associate planner. She has prepared zoning ordinances, housing plans, and redevelopment studies for various municipalities, and has reviewed development applications. She has also provided expert testimony on land use issues before various planning entities and in New Jersey Superior Court. Phillips was also a senior planner for the Bergen County Department of Planning and Economic Development. She is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in urban planning. Phillips also holds a professional planner’s license. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and of the American Planning Association. In 2007, she received certification from Rutgers University as a Master Gardener. She has completed the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s shade tree core training.