November 13, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 5 Wyckoff Official opening of Russell Farms Park announced by John Koster Wyckoff’s Russell Farms Park will have its official opening at 10 a.m. on Nov. 16. The public is invited. The park is located at the corner of Russell and Sicomac ave- nues and has been in informal use for some weeks. Purchased with a combination of Bergen County and local funds, Russell Farms was formerly a fruit orchard with a farm stand. At one time, the property was targeted for residential development as townhouses, then as large single-family homes. Ulti- mately, the land was sold to the township after the Department of Environmental Protection certified that contamination caused by pesticides had been removed. County grants and local department of public works labor were used to adapt Amazing Grace! Students and parents from Grace Nursery School in Wyckoff sponsored a baking goods collection to benefit Emmanuel Cancer Foundation’s Midland Park outreach center. Non-per- ishable baking goods like flour, sugar, chocolate chips, and boxed mixes were just some of the items donated. ‘Encouraging our children to give to others’ is a motto at Grace, where children are never too young to learn about giving and caring for others. ECF is a not-for- profit public foundation established in 1983 to help preserve the quality of life for any New Jersey family whose child has been diagnosed with cancer. Baked goods were also donated to Oasis along with over 20 Halloween costumes. the former orchard to a site for quiet rec- reational activities as economically as pos- sible. In October, the township commit- tee adopted an ordinance to use $20,000 from the Bergen County Open Space Park Improvement Grant Program for improve- ments to Russell Farms. The grant will fur- ther construction of a new wood structure for the pump house, replacement of a fence along the property line adjacent to the fire- house property, and the installation of Bel- gian block curbing along Russell Avenue to alleviate a drainage washout at the park entrance, and to provide a gazebo and park signs. Last week, the Wyckoff Township Committee approved two ordinances that affect dogs being walked within the new park and other areas within Wyckoff. Both items were adopted without comment at a Nov. 4 meeting, which was scheduled for a Monday to avoid a conflict with the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 5. “Dogs which are properly and legally licensed and registered may be walked by a person competent to properly manage and control the actions of said dog, only if such dog is securely confined and controlled by an adequate leash not more than 10 feet long,” one of the ordinances states. In addition to Russell Farms, leashed dogs may be walked at Wyckoff Commu- nity Park, including the parking lot but not including the recreation fields; the outdoor areas of the Larkin House; and the paved and improved portions of the public right of way for the Memorial Field Complex from Woodland Avenue to the intersection of Demarest Avenue and Jeffer Court. Dog walkers are expected to bring their own bags and dispose of dog waste. The second ordinance repeats the defi- nition of a properly leashed dog as a dog “securely confined and controlled by an adequate leash not more than 10 feet long and by a person competent to prop- erly manage and control the actions of the dog.” The Wyckoff Township Committee introduced both of these ordinances in October after a Doberman pinscher run- ning at large attacked a golden retriever in Russell Farms Park. Smoking in the park is forbidden, but will be permitted in cars parked in the adjacent lot. Cigarette butts must be car- ried away by the smokers.