Area March 20, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 3 Glen Rock, Ridgewood cautious of 911 proposal by John Koster Glen Rock and Ridgewood will be taking a wait-andsee approach to Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan’s plan for a monolithic 911 dispatch service. “I think we already have a dispatch system that produces excellent results, and we’re taking a wait-and-see attitude as far as any changes in a system that seems to be working, and we won’t do anything to disturb that service,” Glen Rock Mayor John van Keuren said after he and Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronsohn conferred with Donovan last week. Mayor van Keuren -- with Glen Rock Borough Administrator Lenora Benjamin and Glen Rock Police Chief Fred Stahman in complete agreement -- made it clear he was speaking for Glen Rock and not for Ridgewood. However, Mayor Aronsohn substantially agreed with van Keuren at last week’s Ridgewood Village Council meeting. The service, as Donovan outlined it, would eventually cover all of Bergen County’s 70 municipalities, with one comprehensive 911 dispatch run out of a county facility in the Township of Mahwah. Mayor Aronson, describing a meeting he and Mayor van Keuren had attended with Donovan, was especially concerned about County Executive Donovan’s statement that the transfer of dispatch services to a county-run location in Mahwah could be done at no cost to Ridgewood’s taxpayers. He admitted to a certain skepticism at the idea that the Bergen County dispatch service could be done at no cost to Ridgewood and said at last week’s council meeting that he had asked Donovan if it would be necessary to hire extra personnel, and how those extra staff members would be paid. Aronsohn said he and van Keuren had asked most of the questions at the meeting with Donovan, and that he personally was not ready to commit to the plan until he had a lot more information. Ridgewood resident Boyd Loving thanked Mayor Aronsohn for his cautious attitude toward regionalized dispatch. “Perhaps what (Donovan) should have said was that there would be no additional charges,” Loving said. He said that Ridgewood’s question should be what priorities a county dispatch service would have in terms of response to Ridgewood and what Ridgewood would gain from joining such a service -- with increased Bergen County tax bills as an anticipated immediate consequence. Essentially, both mayors concurred that the matter should be thoroughly examined before either of them could make a decision. “Running a dispatch system is a very complicated arrangement and it takes a long time to determine that it fits the situation and provides for the public safety,” van Keuren added. “We would never do anything to disrupt a facility that protects all our residents, because safety of our residents has to be our Number One concern at all times.” The Academy of Our Lady School will host a Ladies’ Night Out on April 12. The event will be held at 7 p.m. at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish Center at 1 Passaic Street in Ridgewood. This event is an evening of dinner and prizes. Tickets are $45 for the buffet dinner and dessert. Participants should bring their own beverages. Over 100 prize baskets will be given away. There will also be a live auction. Ladies’ Night Out slated for April Proceeds will benefit the Monsignor Holmes Tuition Assistance Program, the school’s needs-based scholarship fund. Merchandise, services, and ad donations are welcome. Academy of Our Lady is supported by the parishes of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Ridgewood and Saint Catharine Church in Glen Rock. For additional information about this event, e-mail lisaciancarelli@gmail.com or alugo0311@gmail.com.