August 21, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 7 Ridgewood Residents announce fundraiser for Panama After a family trip to Panama in the summer of 2010, two young Ridgewood res- idents, Samantha and Sasha Nadel, decided to take action to help improve conditions at a school in Bahia Honda. “Our family went to an indigenous vil- lage in Panama in summer 2010 and 2011. The first time we went, we realized how bad the school conditions were,” recalled Samantha, a seventh grade student. “There were two small classrooms with children of a big age range -- from about seven to 13. It was dirty, and almost all of them didn’t have shoes. “When we got back to the U.S., we decided to collect sneakers that were in a pretty good shape, and bring them to Panama. We put a box in front of our house (continued on page 15) Left: Samantha Nadel. Center: Sasha Nadel. Right: Students looking for a pair of shoes. Joint garage has some support from both towns by John Koster Ridgewood Deputy Mayor Albert Puc- ciarelli said last week that Glen Rock had tentatively approved joint funding for a feasibility study of a possible Ridgewood- Glen Rock repair and maintenance garage for vehicles from both communities. “Glen Rock would join Ridgewood in the funding of a feasibility study,” Pucci- arelli said. Glen Rock Mayor John van Keuren con- firmed the day after Pucciarelli spoke that Glen Rock was interested in the concept and had approved money for a study of the joint garage. No specific amount was men- tioned. Pucciarelli also revealed tentative plans for a 66-unit group care home for older people to be constructed on the land within the borders of Glen Rock that are owned by Ridgewood, as is the sewer treatment plant. He said plans call for the same road to even- tually serve both the repair garage and the senior facility. “Both developments would have the same access to Prospect Street,” Pucciarelli said. Ridgewood officials had first begun to consider a new and expanded municipal garage to replace the existing garage on Chestnut Street when the leaking roof and the comparatively small size of the Chestnut Street unit raised questions about whether it should be renovated or replaced. No dates or dimensions for the tentative project have been decided. The Ridgewood Village Council also resolved to fund a wetlands mitigation plan at a cost of $71,500 for 0.11 acres. Ridgewood was apprised of the need by the New Jersey Department of Environmen- tal Protection that, as a result of the work the village had performed to restore the sanitary sewer in the Saddle River that was ripped out by Hurricane Irene, a wetlands mitigation plan was required. Ridgewood will now pay the $71,500 to an off-site miti- gation bank known as Pequannock Prop- erty Developers based on the suggestion of Carmen Pio Costa, president of Pine Brook 45 Properties.