Page 4 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • October 9, 2013 Allendale Resident urged to form sidewalk improvement group by John Koster A new resident who attended an Allendale Council meeting to urge the betterment of the borough’s sidewalks received an informed and sympathetic response from Mayor Vince Barra and the council. “We have all walkers up here on the council,” Mayor Barra told Jeff Laughman, who arrived in Allendale about six months ago with his wife and baby son. “Get a commit- tee together and we will meet with you as often as you want to explore all the possibilities.” Laughman had come to present a petition signed by about 30 neighbors and was taken aback by this response. “We’re not trying to blow you off by telling you to form a committee,” Barra told him. “We have great resources in this town, and all we have to do is mine (them).” Laughman had pointed out -- and members of the coun- cil agreed -- that some speed limits in Allendale were dan- gerously high and that some roads should be supplied with sidewalks. Barra agreed with most of Laughman’s obser- vations, but said he and the council were not hearing these concerns for the first time. The mayor said speed limits on county roads are controlled by Bergen County. While he concurred that some county road speed limits were high, it was difficult to get county officials to change them. As one example of dealing with bureaucracy, Barra said he and Councilwoman Elizabeth White had worked to obtain a $250,000 federal grant to replace sidewalks and the walks had finally been replaced in 2013. “The sidewalks are still wet,” Mayor Barra said. “It took us that long to get through the federal bureaucracy.” “The one thing learned was never to fill out another fed- eral application,” White joked. This protracted process, Mayor Barra said, had not deterred borough officials from trying to build or repair sidewalks, but he pointed out some practical obstacles that the borough had to consider. “We are using the schools as a hub and expanding out- ward,” the mayor said. “We wanted to have a sidewalk on Brookside Avenue, but we had trouble with the easements.” He explained that some neighbors were reluctant to give easements because those easements would reduce their lot sizes. He said some might not want to be responsible for shoveling snow off the walks. Barra pointed out that group action by committees could achieve substantial goals. He cited Orchard Commons, once targeted for unpopular condominiums until Council- man Jim Strauch organized residents to donate $1,000 per family to purchase the site. State and county sources also provided funding and Allendale was able to turn most of the site into a landscaped park, while one quadrant was used for special-needs housing that was constructed with outside funds at no cost to borough taxpayers. Laughman said he would consider forming a committee and working for improved sidewalks in Allendale.