May 8, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 21 Eagle candidate, long-time resident address council (continued from page 3) Ridgewood resident whose husband is a lifetime resident, spoke to the council on another project related to trees. She urged the council to follow through on a tentative proposal that municipal funds be used to repair sidewalk slabs disrupted by the roots of municipal shade trees. “The new town tree is lifting our sidewalk, which we paid the township to put in,” Goodman said. “Years ago this didn’t happen. None of it fell to the homeowners’ cost.” She added that some of the new shade trees often snapped during snow storms and plunged entire neighborhoods into darkness through power failures because of the way in which they were planted. “These new trees are weak. They’re not strong,” Goodman said. “Only the roots are strong.” Commenting on one of the trees near hear home, she said, “It looked like a weeping willow with the snow on it, but branches snapped off from the weight., Goodman said it was unfair for Ridgewood to charge residents for their own sidewalk replacement when the damage was being done by shade tree planting by the local government and not by private homeowners. “It doesn’t seem fair on the face of it, but this is a complicated issue,” said Mayor Aronsohn. Aronsohn said the council would discuss the matter later in the work session. However, he agreed that the matter should be discussed at a future meeting after Councilwoman Walsh suggested that Councilwoman Gwen Hauck, one of the members involved in the prior discussion of this issue, was not present at last week’s work session and should be allowed a chance for input.