Page 8 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • March 26, 2014 Franklin Lakes Borough decides to continue using fire sirens by Frank J. McMahon Franklin Lakes will continue to use pole-mounted fire sirens. This decision was reached after a discussion at the bor- ough council’s work session earlier this month. At that time, Borough Administrator Gregory Hart pointed out that, during the borough’s budget discussions, the use of wireless fire sirens was suggested, but he learned that a wireless system would cost $600 per month for the phone wire and a one-time expense of $13,000. Hart pointed out that, during that discussion, the ques- tion arose as to whether the borough even needs fire sirens. He advised the council that seven of the 12 towns surveyed revealed that four are using sirens, while three of the seven towns are not. Fire Chief Ryan Dodd advised in a letter to the coun- cil that all of the towns surrounding the borough, such as Oakland, Wyckoff, Midland Park, Wayne, Pompton Lakes, and North Haledon use sirens. He said the siren must remain in operation until a viable alternative solu- tion is available. “It is a tool utilized for our safety and the safety of our citizens,” Dodd said. “There will be unintended conse- quences if the siren is shut down without improving our ability to administer the department and emergency noti- fication systems.” He added, “The borough needs sirens as the last resource for alerting firefighters. Some cell phones do not operate in sections of town due sporadic service coverage and the current text message notification system has delays, and there are times that notifications are not sent. “In addition, pagers don’t always operate due to the town’s topography or the paging system is malfunction- ing.” Dodd stated that every effort must be made to ensure first responders are notified because public safety is the fire department’s priority. He pointed out that the sirens are currently silenced or restricted from nightfall until dawn and that concession was made to address the con- cerns of a few citizens. “The siren is a communal affirmation that the Bor- ough of Franklin Lakes is sending help,” Dodd said. “The siren is the sound of hope and affirmation that help is on the way. During the most tragic moments people remem- ber during a structure fire, motor vehicle entrapment or water rescue, day or night, is that sirens mean help is on the way.” Dodd claims that the one minute and thirty second siren cycle is not an unnecessary burden on the public while the siren is a call to service. Councilwoman Paulette agreed with Dodd, saying the use of sirens has been limited with no sirens at night unless there is an actual fire, and the number of cycles of the sirens has been cut back. Ramsey said the pole- mounted siren alerts her that a fire truck may be coming down the road. “It’s a warning and it would be a mistake to get rid of the sirens,” Ramsey said. Bivona pointed out, however, that it is the fire engine and the blue lights in the firefighters’ vehicles that get people’s attention and most firefighters do not work or live in the borough. “The siren is not going off when the fire truck is coming down the street,” he said. “By the time the fire- fighters get to the firehouse, the siren shuts off.” He acknowledged, however, that the fire department wants the fire sirens and it is the opinion of the fire chief that technology has not moved forward enough to elimi- nate the need for sirens. Bivona said he disagrees with those opinions and he pointed out that half of the borough’s sirens do not work and yet there is no problem getting the firefighters in place. He also pointed out that the ambulance corps does not use sirens. Bivona agreed, however, to keep using the sirens for now and Hart said it was not cost effective to go to a wire- less siren system. In Mahwah, two neighbors of two township firehouses complained about the use of fire sirens next to their homes in 2006. A dispute with the township and fire depart- ment officials extended over a period of four years during which time the fire department’s pagers were tested to see if they could replace the use of sirens, and a lawsuit was filed against the township when it was decided they could not replace the sirens. During the dispute, a pole holding one of the fire sirens was cut down by vandals in the middle of the night over the Memorial Day weekend and a firefighter was sus- pended for inappropriate behavior after he noticed that one of the neighbors had security cameras installed on his property. Ultimately, the dispute ended up in Superior Court in 2007 and a trial was held in July 2008. In September 2008, a Superior Court judge dismissed the neighbor’s lawsuit and ruled that the sirens could continue. That ruling was sent to the Appellate Division of Supe- rior Court by the neighbors but, in March 2010, an Appel- late Court panel of judges affirmed the lower court’s ruling that the township could continue using sirens. Citing several court decisions in similar siren cases which upheld the use of sirens, the Appellate Court panel of judges found that the sirens serve as an effective backup system to the pager system, and other available backup technologies such as reverse 911 and text messag- ing were not proven to be viable alternatives. Therefore, the panel found that municipality did not act in a palpably unreasonable manner in maintaining the siren system. Ridgewood Water (continued from page 3) set down the matter for full briefing and argument on the merits tells me that it is very interested in its outcome,” Fiorenzo said. He explained that even in the 10 to 15 percent of cases the court agrees to hear, it summarily makes its decision based on the motion papers submitted. The three towns’ litigation contends that Ridgewood owes Wyckoff $1,640,492, Glen Rock $1,049,165, and Midland Park $619,635 in over-billed water fees that were not necessary to cover expenses of the Ridgewood Water Utility. Fiorenzo said Ridgewood also owes its own resident water customers a reported $2,475,300 because a substantial amount of the money collected in the form of water bills was used for departments outside the water company operation. He said the money was used by Ridgewood to cover police and fire depart- ment salaries and other expenses not related to water supply. As the principal attorney for the three municipalities, Fiorenzo had argued that water rate increases of 26 percent in 2010 followed by a five percent rate increase in 2011 were not justified by the needs of the water company for water operations, but rather by the needs of the Ridgewood municipal government to cover other bud- getary items. Fiorenzo said that forensic accounting had uncovered such improper expenses as $2,413,737 for health insurance, $645,362 for the Ridgewood Police Department, $570,374 in municipal attorney fees, $435,995 for engineering, $189,864 for the police and paid firefighters’ retirement system, $180,600 for the fire department, and $29,996 for the consolidated police and firefighters’ retirement system, for a total of $4,465,928 for Ridgewood municipal expenses paid for by water bill fees, but not related to supplying water to customers in Ridgewood, Glen Rock, Midland Park, and Wyckoff. Fiorenzo said the Appellate Court hear- ing will be held at the end of April, with a decision likely in 30 to 60 days afterward.