Ridgewood March 13, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 5 Future of Chestnut Street fleet garage to be studied by John Koster Ridgewood Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli has been named as chairman, and so far the only member, of a group that will study the possible closing of the municipal fleet garage on Chestnut Street for eventual replacement by either a new garage -- possibly within the borders of Glen Rock -- or by some sort of Ridgewood-based ratable. One possible location for a new and improved fleet garage would be the land owned by Ridgewood within the municipal borders of Glen Rock on Prospect Street. This site is now used for the Village of Ridgewood Water Pollution Control and Ridgewood Signal Department. This location is highly tentative since the study has just been authorized. The Ridgewood Village Council and Mayor Paul Aronsohn approved the appointment at last week’s work session, a week after Puciarelli had commented on the condition of the existing Chestnut Street fleet garage and said that developers might be interested in buying the land. The possibility of building a new municipal fleet garage at the same location will be one of the options explored. Ridgewood Village Manager Ken Gabbert is also exploring the concept of shared services for vehicle repair for the mutual advantage of Ridgewood and whichever other community shares the services. Pucciarelli, who is an engineer and a member of the Ridgewood Planning Board, had pointed out that the existing fleet garage has roof trusses in the ceiling that limit access by larger vehicles, the lack of back door bays restricts traffic flow, and the roof leaks. Boyd Loving, a resident who frequently speaks at council meetings, asked where a new Ridgewood garage might be constructed if the existing garage is razed and the site is sold. Pucciarelli said that two likely locations would be the salt shed on Franklin Turnpike in Ridgewood and the water pollution and signal department facility on Prospect Street in Glen Rock, located on land owned by the Village of Ridgewood. If the Chestnut Street site were to be sold for private development, Pucciarelli said it could accommodate retail space, multi-family housing, or single-family housing once the planning board had devised a change of zoning and the council voted the zone change in the Ridgewood Master Plan into law. Ridgewood Planning Board members are now weighing proposals for four distinct multi-family units in the center of the village, notably along the railroad right of way. Many residents have expressed concern about over-crowding in the schools and about the traffic situation. Ridgewood’s five major intersections received an “F” rating from John Jahr, a hired traffic consultant who reported that rating late last year. The Ridgewood Police Department arrested five teenagers with what appeared to be LSD and handed them over to the custody of their parents on March 1. Ridgewood Police Department Patrolman Joseph Youngberg reportedly spotted a suspicious car on Hillcrest Road on March 1 at 7:30 and investigated. The driver of the car was a juvenile without a driver’s license, and a search reportedly turned up a substantial quantity of LSD, a drug known to cause hallucinations that can recur unexpectedly Village police arrest five teens with substance believed to be LSD in users. In an unrelated incident on March 2, an East Ridgewood Avenue resident reported graffiti on the wall of his building. On March 3, a Lakeview Drive resident reported that her purse had been stolen at a Knights of Columbus event. A burglary with no visible signs of forcible entry was separately reported March 3 at a home on Knollwood Road.