Village Council Meeting Minutes 20180411
A REGULAR PUBLIC MEETING OF THE VILLAGE COUNCIL OF THE VILLAGE OF RIDGEWOOD HELD IN THE SYDNEY V. STOLDT, JR. COURT ROOM OF THE RIDGEWOOD VILLAGE HALL, 131 NORTH MAPLE AVENUE, RIDGEWOD, NEW JERSEY ON APRIL 11, 2018 AT 8:00 P.M.
1.CALL TO ORDER – OPEN PUBLIC MEETINGS ACT – ROLL CALL – FLAG SALUTE
Mayor Knudsen called the meeting to order at 8:01 P.M. and read the Statement of Compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act. At roll call the following were present: Councilman Hache, Councilman Voigt, Councilwoman Walsh, and Mayor Knudsen. Also present were Heather Mailander, Village Manager/Village Clerk; and Matthew Rogers, Village Attorney. Deputy Mayor Sedon was absent.
Mayor Knudsen led those in attendance in the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag as well as in a Moment of Silence to honor the men and women serving our nation and our first responders and all those who suffer or are victims of senseless violence.
2.MAYOR’S COMMENTS
Mayor Knudsen stated that anyone present to comment on the Water Rate ordinances, to hold their comments until the Public Hearings for those ordinances, and their comments will be reflected on the record for those ordinances.
3.ACCEPTANCE OF FINANCIAL REPORTS
Mayor Knudsen moved the Bills, Claims, and Vouchers, and Statement of Funds on Hand as of March 31, 2018, be accepted as submitted. Councilman Voigt seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote
AYES: Councilmembers Hache, Voigt, Walsh, and Mayor Knudsen
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Deputy Mayor Sedon
ABSTAIN: None
4.APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Mayor Knudsen moved that the Village Council minutes of October 4, October 25, November 1, and December 6, 2017 and March 14, 2018 having been reviewed by the Village Council and now available in the Village Clerk’s Office be approved as submitted. Councilwoman Walsh seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote
AYES: Councilmembers Hache, Voigt, Walsh, and Mayor Knudsen
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Deputy Mayor Sedon
ABSTAIN: None
5. PROCLAMATIONS
A.PROCLAIM APRIL AS TREE PLANTING MONTH AND APRIL 27, 2018 AS ARBOR DAY
Mayor Knudsen read the following proclamation:
B.PROCLAIM APRIL 28, 2018 LAX DAY IN RIDGEWOOD
Councilman Hache read the following proclamation:
C.PROCLAIM MAY 6-12, 2018 NATIONAL DRINKING WATER WEEK
Councilwoman Walsh read the following proclamation:
D.PROCLAIM MAY AS BUILDING SAFETY MONTH
Councilman Voigt read the following proclamation:
E.PROCLAIM APRIL 1-21, 2018 DISTRACTED DRIVING CRACKDOWN
Councilman Walsh read the following proclamation:
6.COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC
Thomas Madigan, a Township Committeeman from Wyckoff, stated that he heard the proclamation that was just read proclaiming May 6-12, 2018 National Drinking Water Week, and he knows a lot of residents of his town are concerned about the drinking water from Ridgewood and the water quality. He stated that he was curious as to what proactive steps and programs are in place to improve the drinking water quality.
Beth Abbott, 828 Morningside Road, stated that she was present because of her involvement on the Community Center Advisory Board and Age Friendly Ridgewood to talk about the need for guest Wi-Fi in Village Hall. She has been in many meetings where having guest Wi-Fi would have made Facetiming someone easier as well as getting presentation materials through the internet easier. She added that there are numerous activities in the Community Center and the Village Hall where, for instance, accessing Spotify for music or Lyric for performances, or DJs using iPads in classes would be possible with guest Wi-Fi. She stated that Wi-Fi is something that people are becoming accustomed to, and it would make a big difference here in Village Hall and the Community Center.
Rurik Halaby, 374 Evergreen Place, stated that the Mayor allowed Russell Forenza to speak for four and half minutes at the last meeting when comments are supposed to be limited to three minutes. Mr. Halaby stated that he will now speak for a longer period of time. Mayor Knudsen stated that there was a limit of three minutes and that was what everybody would adhere to in making public comments.
Mr. Halaby stated that he had three documents that he would like to submit for the record as part of his presentation. One is the letter that Hans-Jurgen Lehmann wrote expressing his remorse at having voted for Ms. Knudsen in the last election, but to defend the Mayor he would also submit a piece prepared by one of the supporters, he redacted the name and telephone number of the writer to protect the person. Lastly, he submitted the editorial from today’s NorthJersey.com about nepotism, the subject of his comments. He believes it is imperative that Ridgewood pass an anti-nepotism ordinance because nepotism is corrupting and there is no room for it in Ridgewood.
Mr. Halaby added that concerning Russell Forenza’s comments at the last meeting, Mayor Knudsen stated that she tried to stop him, but Mr. Halaby watched the meeting and it appeared to him that the Mayor did not try to stop Mr. Forenza until almost five minutes had elapsed. Mayor Knudsen asked if Mr. Halaby could refrain from speaking about other members of the public. Mr. Halaby responded that he thought Mayor Knudsen could say that she made a mistake. Mr. Halaby gave his documents to Ms. Mailander and stated that again, an anti-nepotism ordinance was needed in Ridgewood, as this is not the Soviet Union, and nepotism is embarrassing.
Councilman Voigt addressed Mr. Halaby and stated that he was supportive of an anti-nepotism ordinance as he thought it would allay a lot of the concerns that he thinks the public has about nepotism and he thinks that it is something that the Village Council should consider. Councilman Voigt stated that he did not know whether it was possible to put it on a future work session agenda. He added that he didn’t know how the rest of the Village Council feels about that, but he thought it would put to bed an issue that a lot of people are concerned about. Councilman Voigt thinks it should be addressed by the Village Council, as it is their responsibility to figure it out. Mayor Knudsen stated that Councilman Voigt’s comments are noted.
Lorraine Reynolds, 550 Wyndemere Avenue, stated that the Village Council is doing a great job and she has no problem, adding that she doesn’t think there is any nepotism going on and that she loves the Village Police Department and Fire Department and the Village Council is doing a fabulous job. She added that she truly believes that having people on Police and Fire who live in town is a wonderful thing, and when she calls 9-1-1 she wants to know that the Police know what street she lives on and know where her home is. Ms. Reynolds added that she didn’t know anyone else who was concerned about nepotism, and she believes that it is a few people, making a lot of noise.
Melanie McWilliams, 431 Bogert Avenue, stated that she thought it was easy to get up during Public Comment and sling words like nepotism around. She stated that specifically she saw something that Councilman Voigt had posted on Facebook about how concerned he is about nepotism within the Village, a word that seems to be getting a lot of play currently even though it has absolutely no bearing whatsoever. Councilman Voigt’s concerns were the hiring and appointment of family members to town or school district positions. Ms. McWilliams added that was very careless, considering Councilman Voigt’s daughter holds a position through the Board of Education. Councilman Voigt stated that his daughter works in Glen Rock, which has nothing to do with Ridgewood. Mayor Knudsen called a point of order.
George Wolfson, 212 Steilen Avenue, stated that as a Tree Commissioner, he was happy to hear the first proclamation on Arbor Day, but that was not why he was present for Public Comment. Mr. Wolfson stated that he wanted to remind everyone that it is April and April is the month for Earth Day. The Earth Day Fair, is a fun day in Memorial Park at Van Neste Square, on Sunday, April 22, between 11:00 A.M. and 2:00 P.M. There will be a petting zoo again this year, a dog parade, a lot of exhibits with an environmental focus, and this year the special topic is ‘Let’s Recycle Right.’ He added that REAC and Sustainable Jersey are assisting the Department in putting forward information in terms of how to recycle right, and some of the issues that are coming now in terms of recycling and waste reduction. The State is planning on doing programs for waste reduction and food recycling between now and 2030, so Ridgewood wants to get ahead of the curve. The members of the Ridgewood Environmental Advisory Committee (REAC) are working with the Recycling Department and will be distributing all kinds of information to people so that they know exactly what Recycling Right means, and how they can accomplish waste reduction. REAC tries to stress the importance that recycling is not just an environmental issue, it also filters down to residents’ tax bills.
Mr. Wolfson stated that in discussions this week he learned that tipping fees for garbage is more than $600,000 per year, and food waste in and of itself is somewhere as high as 85-90% of that fee. He added that doing the math, residents can see that there is a chance for a substantial reduction in cost, but it is a learning process and is not just something that will take place automatically. Mr. Wolfson added that he hopes to educate people as to what other cities, states, and municipalities are doing in terms of recycling, in order to improve recycling efforts in the Village.
There were no additional public comments.
Mayor Knudsen stated that she was going to address some of the comments that were made, adding that her attorney was present and she was sure that at some point he would put together a legal memo pertaining to any alleged impropriety or nepotism. As a brief statement, Mayor Knudsen wanted to point out that the Village is a Civil Service Community and the Civil Service Commission of the State of New Jersey regulates the hiring of all Public Safety titles within this community. Mayor Knudsen stated that her sons took a Civil Service test in 2013 for the titles of Police Officer and Fire Fighter, a full year before she ever ran for Village Council. She stated that ordinances are not retroactive and as a rule Village Councils do not run around affirming or re-affirming ordinances, they amend ordinances. Mayor Knudsen stated that the nepotism issue is a lie and a fraud that is being perpetrated on the good people of the Village of Ridgewood as an election day grab. She added that we should expect more in the Village of Ridgewood, and demand better than this incivility and constant lying and manipulation of the truth, especially by sitting Councilmembers, and it should be absolutely unacceptable and intolerable. Mayor Knudsen stated that it was disgraceful to sit up on the dais with a member of the Village Council who would malign and defame Police Officers. She pointed out that the Village of Ridgewood has no jurisdiction over the residency requirements set forth by the New Jersey Statute in the New Jersey Administrative Code, and the Village Council has no jurisdiction to change the residency requirements for public safety titles.
Mayor Knudsen added that the Village Council is not the hiring authority as that would lie with the Village Manager. Everyone on a Civil Service list is qualified through a Civil Service test and then they go through a rigorous hiring process. The former Village Manager appropriately hired her sons in 2016 off of the 2013 promulgated Civil Service list, which the former Village Manager received before Mayor Knudsen was even elected. She added that this is a fraud, and the newspaper has received all of the documentation, but they refuse to amend their story. Mayor Knudsen stated that newspapers might be in the business of affirming, but Village Councils are in the business of amending. She stated that for the record, the ordinance at the center of the discussion is the allegation that she kept secret a public list and that she affirmed the residency requirement of 2014 in an ordinance that was actually being amended for the residency requirement on civilian positions and not public safety positions. It has incorrectly been alleged that Mayor Knudsen affirmed that residency requirement, to give her sons an advantage, who were already on the Civil Service list a year before the ordinance was introduced.
Mayor Knudsen stated that ordinances are not retroactive, and the Village Council does not reaffirm ordinances. She emphasized that for the record, when the State of New Jersey notified the Village of Ridgewood on December 29, 2014 that the ordinance amendment on residency requirements that the Village Council adopted in August 2014 was in violation of Civil Service rules for civilian positions, excluding Public Safety titles, the Village Council voted on another ordinance amendment on residency requirements on April 8, 2015 and at that time she voted no. Mayor Knudsen added that therefore, if the premise is that she voted yes and helped her sons in 2014, then the most current applicable ordinance occurring in 2015, she hurt her own kids. She added that it was a lie and a fraud. She urged residents not to believe what they have read. Mayor Knudsen added that the Village Council worked hard to get rid of the acrimony and to have a civil discourse and this is disgraceful. She emphasized that the Village of Ridgewood is a Civil Service community that adheres to State rules and regulations. Mayor Knudsen addressed Mr. Rogers and stated that he would prepare an official position statement on this matter, making everyone well aware that legally, any nepotism ordinance would put the Village in harm’s way.
Mr. Rogers asked when Mayor Knudsen wishes to have the official position statement. Mayor Knudsen responded she would like to have it at the next Village Council meeting. She added that she would advise that anyone who is running for Village Council, who purports to be an attorney, is both morally and ethically challenged to not have a modicum of interest in reading the law, before commenting on this subject.
7.MANAGERS REPORT
Village Manager Heather Mailander stated that the Village is continuing to pick up the storm debris and is currently in Area D, which is the last area that will be picked up. Yardwaste collection begins this upcoming Monday, April 16th. Ms. Mailander encouraged residents to please check their calendars for the areas scheduled for yardwaste collection, as it will not be picked up with the limbs and branches.
Shred Day took place last Saturday at the Graydon Pool parking lot. Ms. Mailander stated that this was a popular event and she is glad so many people took advantage of this free recycling service.
Ms. Mailander stated that regarding voter registration, next Tuesday, April 17th is the last day to register to vote for the May 8th Municipal Election which is the Village Council election. On April 17th from 8:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M., residents may register to vote in the Village Clerk’s office in Village Hall. From 4:30 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. there will be someone taking voter registrations in the lobby of the library. Ms. Mailander stated that as long as residents get their voter registration forms in to the person sitting in the Library lobby by 9:00 P.M. on April 17th they will be registered to vote for the Municipal Election. If a resident is already registered to vote they do not have to re-register, unless they have moved or changed their name.
Ms. Mailander stated that as Mr. Wolfson mentioned, Sunday, April 22nd is Earth Day and events will take place from 11:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. at Memorial Park at Van Neste Square.
Ms. Mailander added that another meeting was held today, which is held twice a year, with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the United States Environmental Protection Agency and Ridgewood Water. It was stated that great progress has been made by Ridgewood Water over the past four years. The USEPA indicated that at this point, they will no longer be participating in these meetings and they are handing it over to NJDEP. NJDEP will consult with the USEPA if necessary, but the USEPA recognizes the progress that has been made and feels that NJDEP can take over from here. Ms. Mailander stated that the USEPA has indicated that Ridgewood Water’s customers, its Board of Directors, and the Village as a whole should be very proud of all that has been accomplished thus far by Ridgewood Water. Ms. Mailander added that she has personally participated in four meetings with the USEPA and NJDEP and it is amazing what has been accomplished and she really wanted to congratulate Rich Calbi, the Director of Ridgewood Water, and his whole team, who have worked diligently to improve the water quality, to increase the viability of the water, and to provide clear clean water for all of its customers.
8.COUNCIL REPORTS
Planning Board – Councilman Voigt stated that the Planning Board met on April 3rd, where they approved the minor subdivision at 315 East Glen Avenue, which is the lot between Northern Parkway and Sterling Place. The lot was initially 42,000 square feet, and it was divided into two smaller lots, one at 25,000 square feet and one at 16,800 square feet. The vote was 4-3.
Bergen County League of Municipalities – Councilman Voigt attended the Bergen County League of Municipalities meeting in Councilwoman Walsh’s absence. He stated that they spoke about one of the bills going through the State Senate regarding Workers Compensation for the Fire Department as it relates to Fire Fighters who are in harm’s way and may contract conditions like cancer. Councilman Voigt stated that the Bergen League’s concern is that it may significantly increase the amount of Workers Compensation from the municipalities and they are leaning towards not wanting to support the bill.
Councilman Voigt stated that there was a presentation by a couple of Law Enforcement people, one was Mike Bruno, on the collaborative response graphics which relate to the safety and security of buildings, most especially with schools. They work with special software that is actually loaded onto mobile apps, where it helps First Responders know where the locations are in buildings. For example, if someone says they are in the bathroom on the first floor, the graphics on their mobile app would allow First Responders to understand where that is located in a building, as well as where the other First Responders are located in the building.
Councilman Voigt added that the presenters also talked about some of the simple fixes that could take place in municipal buildings to make them safer, which he is sure is already being addressed in the Village’s buildings. These include, updated policies and procedures, staff training and drills, camera systems, design features such as appropriate heights of information desks so people cannot jump over them, alarm systems such as panic buttons which the Village has, minimizing the number of entrances in a building, Police performing random walk-throughs on various buildings, proper signage, and employee badges with ID also seemed to help.
Councilman Voigt added that there was also a presentation by Sheriff Saudino who talked about the Bergen County SWAT team, which is a group of 60 Law Enforcement Officials who drive around 12 hours a day, 6 days a week in two fully-equipped Chevy Tahoes just in case there is any kind of emergency. Sheriff Saudino also spoke about the opioid epidemic in this area and some of the initiatives they have put in place, such as Helping Hands which helps individuals who go into areas where they can buy drugs. Once they return to Bergen County, Law Enforcement Officials will stop them and say they are under arrest but they allow them to go into rehab, instead of jail, which seems to help fairly dramatically. Councilman Voigt stated that there is a 74% success rate in getting people into rehab with Helping Hands.
Councilman Voigt added that Sheriff Saudino spoke about 25 people that were laid off from the Bergen County Police Force, which means there are less people working. Councilman Voigt is not sure how this will affect the Village of Ridgewood.
Fancy Nancy Tea Party – Mayor Knudsen stated that this morning, she attended the Fancy Nancy Tea Party at the Ridgewood Library with more than 100 youngsters decked out for the tea party, and it was absolutely delightful. The Library Director, Nancy Green, Robin Ritter of the Library staff, and everyone involved did a fantastic job and the kids had a blast. Mayor Knudsen stated that she had the opportunity to announce everyone during the fashion show. Fancy Nancy is a book series by author Jane O’Connor who was present to sign autographed copies of the book, for all of the kids who were so excited. Ms. O’Connor was dressed in lots of colors of fun and exciting boas. It was a delightful time for everyone.
9.ORDINANCES – RIDGEWOOD WATER
a.INTRODUCTION - #3642 – Water Utility Capital Ordinance ($1,317,000)
Mayor Knudsen moved the first reading of Ordinance 3642. Councilman Voigt seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote
AYES:Councilmembers Hache, Voigt, Walsh, and Mayor Knudsen
NAYS:None
ABSENT: Deputy Mayor Sedon
ABSTAIN: None
The Village Clerk read Ordinance 3642 by title:
A BOND ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR VARIOUS WATER UTILITY IMPROVEMENTS IN AND BY THE VILLAGE OF RIDGEWOOD, IN THE COUNTY OF BERGEN, NEW JERSEY, APPROPRIATING $1,317,000 THEREFOR AND AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF $1,317,000 BONDS OR NOTES OF THE VILLAGE TO FINANCE THE COST THEREOF.
Councilman Hache moved that Ordinance 3642 be adopted on first reading and that May 9, 2018 be fixed as the date for the hearing thereon. Councilman Voigt seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote
AYES:Councilmembers Hache, Voigt, Walsh, and Mayor Knudsen
NAYS:None
ABSENT: Deputy Mayor Sedon
ABSTAIN: None
b.PUBLIC HEARING - #3636 – Re-Establish Water Rates and Fees – 2010-2017
Mayor Knudsen moved the Village Clerk read Ordinance 3636 by title on second reading and that the public hearing thereon be opened. Councilwoman Walsh seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote
AYES:Councilmembers Hache, Voigt, Walsh, and Mayor Knudsen
NAYS:None
ABSENT: Deputy Mayor Sedon
ABSTAIN:None
The Village Clerk read Ordinance 3636 by title:
AN ORDINANCE OF THE VILLAGE OF RIDGEWOOD, IN THE COUNTY OF BERGEN, NEW JERSEY, AMENDING CHAPTER 269 OF THE RIDGEWOOD VILLAGE CODE, WATER, AND CODE CHAPTER 145, FEES, TO RE-ESTABLISH THE WATER RATES AND FEES FOR THE 2010 THROUGH 2017 CALENDAR YEARS.
Matt Rogers, Village Attorney, spoke at this time. He stated that he wanted to set some ground rules regarding the Public Hearing. Mr. Rogers stated that the Public Hearing was going to proceed as a Public Hearing, but because he thinks everyone is aware there was litigation involved and is still controlling certain aspects of this, he wants to make sure that everyone understands that this is a Public Hearing on an ordinance. It is not going to be a trial of the issues that are before the court, and it is not going to be a re-hash of some of the facts and the testimony that is before the court. He stated that for the purposes of the Public Hearing and in discussion he thinks the Plaintiff’s Counsel has had with the court, the Village is going to permit questions of the expert who was hired by the Village to conduct the Water Rate Study and are going to allow for comments to be made in regard to that.
Mr. Rogers stated that it may be possible that the plaintiffs in the litigation may have a rebuttal witness as an expert who in terms of timing and the allotment, the Village Council is not going to hold up this ordinance for a long time, but he certainly hopes that things get done properly and expediently. Mr. Rogers stated that the Village Council has a time limit of 45 minutes on the Public Hearing, which will include the time for the presentation by Howard Woods, the expert that was hired by the Village. The meeting is being carried to April 18th at 7:00 P.M. where that entire meeting is going to be dedicated just to the continued Public Hearing on this ordinance and ordinance 3637.
Mr. Rogers stated that the entire process is going to be videotaped, and there is a very good chance that the court is going to look at this at some later date, so in that regard, the Village Council expects that the proceedings will proceed in an orderly, civil fashion. Mr. Rogers stated that there should be no interruption of speakers when there is a person giving testimony, commenting or asking questions and individuals should refrain from any cat-calling or yelling out of the audience.
Tonight’s Public Hearing is going to be 45 minutes in length, including the presentation of Howard Woods, there will be time probably at the end of it for questions. The Village Council is not looking for an opening statement, as it will be conducted with the Village’s ordinance requirements which gives five minutes per speaker wishing to give their comments and when they are done, the next person will come up. It will be determined at the April 18th continued Public Hearing whether additional dates are required.
Mr. Rogers stated that the Village Council is ready to hear Mr. Woods’ testimony, adding that he should be sworn in before he begins.
Mayor Knudsen stated that the Village Council would be holding the Public Hearing on Ordinance 3636 this evening. Howard Woods, who performed the water rate study will speak first, and then there will be time for public comments or questions. The total time for the Public Hearing, including Mr. Woods’ presentation, will be 45 minutes this evening. The Public Hearing on Ordinance 3636 will be continued at a Special Public Meeting to be held in the Sydney V. Stoldt, Jr. Court Room of Village Hall, on April 18, 2018 at 7:00 P.M. The continued Public Hearing on Ordinance 3636 and Ordinance 3637 will be the only items on the April 18, 2018 agenda. The Public Hearing is now open.
At this point, Mayor Knudsen swore Mr. Woods in. Mr. Rogers asked if Mr. Woods would begin by giving his professional background and educational background.
Mr. Woods stated that his educational background is training in Civil Engineering. He has a Bachelors Degree and a Masters Degree in Civil Engineering from Villanova University, and has worked for 40 years in the water business. He worked for four years with the United States Environmental Protection Agency in Philadelphia, in Region 3, in the drinking water program, before moving to a consulting firm in Silver Spring, Maryland. A lot of the work that he did for the consulting firm was for government clients, the United States Navy was one of the clients that he did a fair amount of work for, in terms of utility system rehabilitation and long-range planning for utility systems.
Mr. Woods left the engineering firm in Maryland and went to work for New Jersey American Water Company, for 16 years. He was Senior Vice President of Operations for their Contract Operations Business when he resigned. In his role as Vice President of Operations, he worked on rates and revenues, and he was a witness before the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities in many of their rate cases and testified as an expert with respect to revenue requirements. Mr. Woods also spent some time working with American Water Works Company as their Director of Planning and in that role, he testified as an expert about rates and revenues for various operations of American Water Works around the country. He testified in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, and other States.
Mr. Woods stated that for the last 16 years, he has been working in his own consulting practice. A lot of the work that he does in that practice is rate related, here in New Jersey one of his larger clients is the Division of Rate Council which intervenes in utility rate proceedings. In his former life, when he worked for New Jersey American, he was the person that went to the Board of Public Utilities to explain how much money they needed, and now he is hired by Rate Council to tell his former employer and others they don’t really need that much money. Mr. Woods stated that he has been doing that work for about 16 years and his client list includes a number of public clients like the Village of Ridgewood. He has done planning studies, cost allocation studies and rate studies for numerous clients over those years.
Mr. Rogers asked if Mr. Woods could estimate for the Village Council how many times throughout the years he has been involved in conducting and preparing rate studies. Mr. Woods stated that he has conducted hundreds of rate studies. Mr. Rogers asked whether Mr. Woods had been accepted by BPU as an expert in that regard. Mr. Woods stated that he has testified as an expert witness before the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Services, the New York Public Service Commission, the Delaware Public Service Commission, and the Kentucky Public Service Commission.
Mr. Rogers stated that he could provide Mr. Woods’ resume to Plaintiff’s attorney. Mr. Woods stated that he does have a resume and that it was included in the initial rate study. Mr. Rogers stated that he had no further questions of Mr. Woods.
Mr. Woods stated that he assumes that most of the individuals present have seen the rate study. He has prepared a few slides to try and boil the numbers down to the principles that were used in this study. A good starting point is to explain why this rate study was performed. In 2010, 2011, and 2012, the Village Council adopted water rate ordinances which were subsequently challenged by Wyckoff, Glen Rock, and Midland Park. A complaint was filed in July of 2012 and almost five years later to the date, the court issued an order to the Village in July 2017 and remanded those three ordinances back to the Village Council to recalculate and re-establish. In addition to that, the Village has also asked Mr. Woods to take a look at the rates that were in effect from 2013-2016. Mr. Woods stated that in 2010 there was a 21% rate increase, in 2011 there was a 5% rate increase, in 2012 another 5% rate increase, and then 3% rate increases in both 2013 and 2014. There have not been any rate adjustments since that point in time.
Mr. Woods stated that he wanted to begin with the end in mind and go to the results of the study, after recalculating the revenue requirement, that is the cost of providing water service, and comparing that to the revenues that were generated with the rates that were in effect in each of those years, what he found was very close agreement. There were some differences that he will explain with respect to how costs are allocated to the water utility and what makes up the revenue requirement, but the end result is that the budgeted revenue requirement for the Village water utility and the actual revenues that were generated by rates in effect during those years closely agree.
Mr. Woods stated that as a result of those findings, he developed three recommendations in the initial study and reaffirmed those in the supplemental study that covered 2013-2016. First and foremost, going forward in terms of budgeting and looking at additional rate issues in the future, a new series of allocation factors that he developed in the initial study should be used to set new rates. With respect to the rates in 2010-2014, and the rate adjustments that were adopted by the Village Council at that time, his recommendation is not to change those rates, to reaffirm the rates and keep them in place. Finally, Mr. Woods noticed in looking at the structure of the fixed service charges, which are the monthly fixed fees that are charged to each of the customers, it doesn’t conform to industry norms in terms of the relative magnitude of those charges from one meter size to the next. He recommended that in a future rate setting proceeding, the Village should consider restructuring the fixed service charges to be more consistent with what they see in the industry.
Mr. Woods stated that the background of all of this, in terms of determining what the rates are for a water utility like the Ridgewood water utility, can be found in the Manual of Standard Water Supply Practice, written by the American Water Works Association, entitled “Principles of Water Rates, Fees, and Charges.” He relied on this manual in developing the various calculations and analyzing the rates that were in effect for the periods in question. In order to do so, Mr. Woods acquired the detailed budgets from the Village that included both the budget amounts and the actual expenses on a line by line basis. There are about 1,100 line items in the Village’s consolidated budget, so it was a fairly large amount of data for these eight years.
Mr. Woods stated that he also looked at 2009-2012, and the actual expenses that were incurred in that period of time to develop a normalized level of expense for each of those individual line items and that normalized level of expense forms the basis of the allocations that he developed. Mr. Woods also interviewed the Village of Ridgewood staff, as he wanted to find out how the water utility works, and how it interacts with other elements of the Village. He stated that the Village does not have a free-standing water utility, it is something that’s part and parcel of the Village operations. Ridgewood Water is not a separate water utility such as Suez New Jersey or New Jersey American Water. Ridgewood Water is essentially an enterprise operation for the water utility that is effectively a department of the Village of Ridgewood. That allows the Village of Ridgewood to take advantage of certain things that a free-standing entity would not be able to take advantage of, including shared services that provide services to the Village generally and the water utility can be done once, rather than independently by other organizations. Mr. Woods stated that he spent a little bit of time interviewing the staff to try and understand what those interactions might be, what services might be provided from various Village functions to the water utility, and also asked if there were any functions that the water utility provided back to the Village in order to reallocate those expenses back.
Mr. Woods stated that the next step after accumulating all of that data was to reverse all of the Village allocations, in the Village budgets where actual expenses have been allocated, like a portion of the Village Manager’s Office for example, and a portion of the garage and maintenance service for the vehicles of the water utility. After reversing the Village allocations, he was left with three free-standing cost centers: the Village generally, the water utility, and the parking authority. In those cost centers the only thing that remained were direct charges that they paid for out of their own budgets which allowed Mr. Woods to identify all of the direct expenses. For example, the water utility purchases chemicals for water treatment and that doesn’t have any impact on any other function in the Village. They purchase power to run their pumps, those are individually metered, they get their own bill from the power utility and there is no allocation of a power bill to the water utility. On the Village side, there are certain things that belong to the Village that don’t really have anything to do with the water utility. For example, recycling does not have anything to do with the water utility. The Water Pollution Control Facility, with the exception of a shared construction yard, is really free-standing and it has very little interaction with the water utility.
Mr. Woods added that there are, however, several shared services and those are the costs that need to be allocated between the Village, the water utility, and the parking authority. He developed from those detailed budgets and the actual expenses in particular, fourteen distinct allocation factors to allocate each one of those 1,100 line items between the Village, the water utility, and the parking authority. Some of those allocation factors recognize that there are functions that are only specific to one of those three functions, things like the recycling functions 100% of the cost of that is allocated to the Village. On the other hand, there are direct expenses of the water utility that don’t cross over to either the parking authority or to the Village, such as the power bill, chemicals, maintenance of the water lines, and maintenance of storage tanks, which have nothing to do with any other aspect of the Village operations or the parking authority, so those costs were all assigned directly and at 100% cost to the water utility.
Mr. Woods stated that there are shared services, labor and materials in particular, the Village Manager’s office takes care of personnel, including hiring, and disciplinary measures, for the water utility so there is a cost involved in those functions that need to be assigned to water. A portion of Village Hall is occupied by the water utility, so some costs associated with Village Hall operations should be allocated to the water utility. Generally, protective services, such as Police, Fire, and Emergency Management Services, provide some services to the water utility and they need to be allocated so he developed allocation factors independently to do that. The vehicles that are used by the water utility are maintained by the Village’s garage, and the maintenance work is done there, so those costs need to be segregated and assigned to the water utility. Mr. Woods added that there are a host of other things like insurance for the assets that the Village owns, employee benefits, and things like that which are paid for through the Village but need to be allocated as a legitimate cost of service of providing water.
Mr. Woods stated that once that was done, the fourteen allocation factors were applied over 1,100 individual line items in the budget and reallocated back to the water utility and to the parking authority. On average, what he found over this period of time is that the allocated expenses tended to run around $3 million to $3.2 million per year, which represents about 25% -26% of the water utility cost of service. The other 74% is made up of all of the other direct expenses that are associated only with the water utility. Mr. Woods stated that to look at this in a different way, by looking at the Village budget and how much was allocated out to parking and to the water utility, on a recalculated basis, he found that about 6.8% of the Village budget is functionally allocated out to the water utility. That means that 93% of the budget stays put with the Village, and a fraction of 1% is allocated to the parking authority.
Mr. Woods stated that looking at what the Village had allocated in their budgets to the water utility versus the recalculated amounts, what he found is that in 2010 and 2011 the allocations from the Village to the water utility were higher than what he calculated. However, in the subsequent years 2011-2016 they were lower than what he calculated. On average, over the entire period it is his conclusion that the Village under allocated Village expenses to the water utility by an average of $244,000 per year. The allocations are only part of the story, but he thinks there is contention over how much of the Village budget winds up in someone’s water bill.
Mr. Woods added that he also looked at the water utility as a whole, by looking at the budget expenses, which were recalculated using the AWWA methods and the standard practice in the industry to determine what the budgeted revenue requirement should be in each one of these years. For the period of 2010-2012, the water rate ordinances which were remanded back to the Village to reconsider, for those three years, the cost of providing service was not actually met by the revenues that were collected. There was a shortfall of approximately $429,000; for that three-year period, that’s only 1.2%, which is a good approximation. For the period of 2013-2016 there was also a shortage of $404,000, or 0.73%. Again, there is very good correlation between the revenues generated at the rates the Village had adopted over these years, and the restated and recalculated revenue requirement for the water utility.
Mr. Woods stated that budgets aren’t the end of the story. How the budgets conform to the actual expenses recorded for the water utility, shows that in the first two years, there is a very close approximation between the budgeted level of expense and the actual level of expense. Then after 2011, there was some improvement where cost controls by the water utility helped keep the actual expenses under budget, which is where it should be. Mr. Woods stated that the budget should be at an adequate level that allows the work to get done and then perform against that budget in a way that shows some cost savings, which is seen in the data.
Mr. Woods stated that if he compares the actual expenses recalculated to the revenues at actual rates what he sees is a slightly different picture but still the same. In 2010-2012 the revenues collected for that period exceeded the actual revenue requirement by $314,000 which is less than 1% for that three-year period. Because of this, and the correlation with the budget, that is the foundation of his recommendation that the rates shouldn’t be changed because the difference is small. Therefore, there is no need to go back and institute new rates for the periods from 2010 forward and rebill all of the customers based on those new rates, because the Village is very close with the rates which were charged during those years.
Mr. Woods stated that in the later years, because the water utility is showing that they are able to control the expenses against budget, surplus increased. He pointed out that again, these are all restated revenue requirement numbers, not the actual audited results that the Village has. It is showing that if these numbers were restated, the water utility would have generated about a $3 million surplus for the years 2013 through 2016. Again, that is largely due to good performance by the water utility in controlling expenses and also has a lot to do with variations in the water use that is clearly weather driven. Mr. Woods stated that what he has seen in the actual revenues that have been recorded in the audits is that there could easily be a million dollar swing in revenues from one year to the next. Although it seems like a lot of money, it is only 8% of revenues and is an amount that can easily be accounted by variations in water use that are weather related/weather driven.
Mr. Woods stated that with that he would conclude, and if there were any questions he would be happy to do his best to try and answer the questions. Mr. Rogers addressed Mayor Knudsen to see whether she wanted to open now for questions from the Village Council or because of the limited time tonight allow comments/questions from the public. Mayor Knudsen stated that she was going to call up by name in order the people who signed in. Councilwoman Walsh stated that several people had signed in to speak, but if they didn’t intend to speak but had put their name down just as a matter of attendance to let the Village Council know.
Harry Shortway, Mayor of Midland Park, did not wish to make any public comment.
Mayor Bruce Packer, Glen Rock, stated that there is a Council meeting going on in Glen Rock, and this is the first time he is missing a Council meeting in his three years as Mayor because he thought it was very important to speak on behalf of his constituents, who are Ridgewood Water ratepayers. He stated that implied within some of his comments are some questions, but he asked that he be allowed to speak tonight and the questions can be answered at the meeting on April 18, 2018. Mayor Packer stated that he also will speak about the trial, as he didn’t know what the format was going to be, but it is nothing controversial.
Mayor Packer stated that last summer, after a long trial, a Judge invalidated the historical Ridgewood Water rate increase ordinances that the Village is looking to replace this evening. The Judge further ordered the Village to establish and recalculate rates in a manner that is consistent with the court’s findings. He stated that the court found that those rate increases in ordinance 3636 were arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable. Further it was proven that several million dollars that should have been appropriated to the Ridgewood general municipal budgets of the contested years were incorrectly allocated to the Ridgewood Water budgets and that has further inflated the Ridgewood Water rate increases.
Mayor Packer stated that one would think that excluding all of the inappropriately allocated items would at the very least reduce any indicated increase. It appears that for every dollar that was being excluded, assuming consistency with the opinion of the Judge, there was another dollar to be added back, as somehow the exact same numbers are being re-established that were invalidated. So, the Village Council is considering reinstating rates that the Judge determined were arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable. Mayor Packer stated that another point of confusion for him is that the rate study claims to validate the 21% rate increase from 2009 to 2010, yet 2009 is not included in the rate study. He would like to see the logic of this study applied to 2009, in order to understand why the rates needed to increase by such a large amount in the first place. To completely change methodologies from one year to the next with no regard or reconciliation of material differences and results is to him a little irresponsible.
Mayor Packer stated that this methodology relies heavily on a long series of allocation factors, as Mr. Woods mentioned, because 25%-30% of the costs associated with the utility need to be allocated as they represent items that are not unique to the utility. One factor allocates expenses based on the ratio of the floor space for Ridgewood Water to the entirety of Village Hall. This presumes that every square foot of Village Hall has an equal value in the budget. He wondered if the cost per square foot to operate the Police Department is the same as the cost per square foot to operate any other part of Village Hall. He would like to know if the DPW expenses were included or excluded from this equation.
Mayor Packer stated that another factor allocates the cost of the central garage, based on the weight and number of vehicles per department. He stated that the factor for Ridgewood Water vehicles is actually 50% higher than that for Police vehicles, which implies that the budget for repairs and maintenance for Ridgewood Water vehicles is 50% higher than that for Police vehicles, which doesn’t make sense to him. Then there is the factor to allocate the cost of Village administrative and general functions which really uses the allocations from all of the previous factors and says that 19% of all costs should be allocated to the water utility. He challenged the Village Council to make a list of the top ten essential functions that they could think of on a day to day basis in Ridgewood and objectively consider how much time each one relates to Ridgewood Water and whether the average is 20%.
Mayor Packer stated that if the Village Council approved the ordinance based on this study, he supposed they agree with all of these assumptions and will be able to answer all of these questions for him and the ratepayers. He asked the Village Council to not be so cavalier as to ignore the Judge, the three municipalities in which the majority of their ratepayers reside, most of which have no idea that this hearing is even happening, and not to ignore what he believes are the obvious flaws in the current rate study. He stated that he hopes that the Village Council will vote against this ordinance, and partner with neighboring municipalities ensuring that a fair and impartial study is done that is in line with the orders and the findings of the Judge.
Mayor Knudsen questioned if Mr. Rogers wanted to respond. Mr. Rogers stated that he didn’t think that the Council would have any answers to that at this time, however he did have a couple of comments. Mr. Rogers stated again that he didn’t want to get into the litigation aspect of it, but he knows that some comments were made, and it is certainly acceptable that Mayor Packer can make them, but the Judge’s order invalidated the ordinances, it did not invalidate the water rates. The Judge felt that there wasn’t a proper basis and the information that was there in terms of the hearings that were held on those ordinances at the time to sustain or engender a vote of the rates that were made in those ordinances, so that was why it was arbitrary and capricious. Mr. Rogers stated that it was hard to say that there was anything that was done at the time that things were proven or not proven when the court rejected the testimony of the Plaintiff’s expert with regard to the litigation. It isn’t as if the court accepted that testimony because it was rejected, the court said that the ordinances did not have the proper basis when they were adopted and enough factual information to make the determination that was made. Mr. Rogers stated that there wasn’t enough information when these ordinances were originally adopted, so this rate study is going to provide that information to the court. The plaintiffs in the litigation have asked for the chance to provide their own expert, and the Village will give them that chance. Mr. Rogers concluded by saying the other questions/comments pertain to the rate study.
Mr. Woods stated that the allocation factors that were used in the water rate study were developed using industry standard techniques, following the guidance that is in the American Water Works Association Manual. The revenue requirement, or the cost of running the water utility, was calculated independently for each year, and there is no sort of pyramiding from one year to the next for this calculation. Mr. Woods added that in doing this work, he knows the Village had asked him to take a look at additional years, 2013-2016, and the reason was because the 2013 rates were actually multipliers of the 2012 rates, since a 3% increase was applied to the rates that were in effect. He did not do that in this study. Instead, he calculated the actual cost of providing water utility service for each additional year, using those standard techniques, so there is really no need to go back and do 2009. In fact, what he is looking at are the revenues that the rates for 2010 actually generated relative to the cost of providing service in that year. Mr. Woods stated that he really didn’t care what happened in 2009, he can look at it for Mayor Packer if he would like, but it won’t change the outcome for 2010 or any of the subsequent years.
Bob Sansone, Midland Park, did not wish to make any public comment.
Gregory Reid, Sills, Cummis, and Gross, Counsel for the Plaintiff class of ratepayers in the ongoing litigation, stated that he would be brief as he didn’t feel tonight was the appropriate place to litigate these issues since there would be another opportunity for that, as ordered by the court. He stated that he assumed the Village Council was aware Mr. Rogers just said that the Village would try to give plaintiffs the opportunity to respond with an expert. However, it has been ordered by the Judge that the plaintiffs be given the opportunity to respond with an expert. The Judge entered an order that the plaintiffs would be given a reasonable amount of time to have an expert prepare a report. Mr. Rogers stated that was all he was referring to, a reasonable amount of time. Mr. Reid stated that next week is not a reasonable amount of time. In fact, the Village’s own lawyer in court on that day made it clear that they would not be given an infinite amount of time, but as much time as they needed to offer a rebuttal to a report that it took the Village eight months to provide to them. The Plaintiffs didn’t get Mr. Woods’ report until eight months after the trial, so he wondered why the Village is in a rush now, especially when what the Village is proposing to do is quite literally not do anything. If the end game is to adopt an ordinance that rubber stamps the failed litigation position, in order to get to a point where the Village is not going to pay a refund, the final vote on these ordinances can be done in a month or in two months. There is no reason to do it next week, unless the Village is opposed to permitting a full record to be developed. Again, he doesn’t think tonight is the proper time to really get into the details of Mr. Woods’ report, but he would just ask how many millions of dollars in surplus did Mr. Woods permit Ridgewood to transfer to its general budget out of the water utility.
Mr. Woods stated that the amount that’s included in the revenue requirement each year is what’s allowed by statute and that’s 5% of the total amount of the utility, it works out to about $450,000-$500,000 a year. Mr. Reid stated this would be several million dollars over the span of the years he covered. Mr. Woods agreed, and stated it is a very small percent of the total budget for the water utility. Mr. Reid questioned if Mr. Woods was made aware that the statute allowing 5% of the total amount of the utility that he’s referencing, was an issue in the litigation and that Ridgewood conceded that they did not transfer surpluses according to that statute.
Mr. Woods stated that he knew what his experience had been for the last 40 years testifying before the Board of Public Utilities when municipal systems like the Village of Ridgewood were regulated with respect to rates to the Board, that 5% was allowed as a surrogate for rate of return on equity which a municipal system does not have. It was a way that the Board of Public Utilities found to compensate municipal utilities for the risk that they take in owning and operating a municipal water utility. Mr. Woods stated that he thinks that the statute is pretty clear, the practice in applying that statute before the Board was very clear and it allows 5% of the total to be transferred and that’s what he included in the budget. Mr. Reid stated that this issue will not be litigated, but if it’s found that there’s no legal basis to use that statute, that’s another several million dollars that needs to come back to the ratepayers. Mr. Woods stated that he doubted that conclusion could be reached given the Boards practice in regulating these types of utilities.
Mr. Reid questioned if Mr. Woods noticed that in the last couple of years, the Village started moving a lot of money into a Capital Projects Fund which they had never done before. Mr. Woods stated that he did. Mr. Reid asked if that was all included, no judgement on whether or not that was appropriate or not in reaching a conclusion that it all basically worked out to a wash. Mr. Woods stated that he has not looked at the Village’s Capital Plans, but what he can tell Mr. Reid with his experience in water utilities is that many utilities, and he’s assuming that Ridgewood Water is one of them, are facing some fairly significant capital requirements for replacement of infrastructure that is well beyond its useful service life. So the fact that the Village was allocating dollars to a Capital Reserve Fund for future capital improvements was consistent with what he has seen elsewhere and throughout the industry. Mr. Reid questioned if he had any details of any of those capital projects in the budget. Mr. Woods stated that he didn’t look, as it wasn’t his charge.
Mr. Reid stated that this is the type of thing the Plaintiffs have retained an expert to go through, someone who is more qualified than he is in addressing these issues, and they demand the opportunity later than April 18th because that’s unreasonable for their expert to appear and to be heard on these issues. Mr. Rogers appealed to the Village Council and stated that to allay their fears, his concern was that this other expert’s report should not be dragged out and presented in June or July. Mr. Rogers directed his comment to Mr. Reid and stated that as the court said, the Plaintiffs had plenty of time to find an expert and he doesn’t know who their expert is, or if they’ve even retained one, but if they represent that they have done so and they can give the Village a timeline, they can certainly try and work that out. The interest here is to try and make sure that they get that opportunity but the Village is not going to sit around until June to wait for that to happen, because the Village does not want this to drag out too long.
Mr. Reid stated that they have no interest in dragging this on any longer than it needs to be, but they do have a strong interest in making sure that the ratepayers are heard and have an adequate opportunity to respond and that will not happen if the Village proceeds next week. Mr. Rogers stated that the Village is going to proceed next week, and people can come and comment and ask Mr. Woods questions as he would be here next week, that can certainly take place. If the Village can get an indication at some point along the line when Mr. Reid is going to have the expert ready then the Village can make adjustments, but this must be completed soon. Mr. Rogers stated that Mr. Reid’s counsel on this has argued that the Village has delayed from the Judge’s order the amount of time it has taken to get this before the Council, so they were pushing it as well. The Village wants to move it along and not let it wait. The Village is attempting to try to work it out together, but at the same time it just can’t take forever to happen.
Mr. Reid stated that his last question was, assuming the Village was right in that the ordinance as proposed is what the Village is going to adopt, what difference it makes if it happens next week or May or June in order to develop a full record. Nothing is happening. Mr. Rogers stated that he didn’t think the Village went along that line of thinking. The thinking is that there is a public hearing on an ordinance at this point in time, it is going to proceed given the constraints the litigation has placed on it and given the fact that the Village is going to try to give the Plaintiffs the opportunity to get their expert in to present a report. However, the Village needs some indication of when that’s going to be ready. He can’t say that there’s a definitive date right now, but what he is trying to explain to Mr. Reid is that the Village is not just going to sit back and let it happen forever. Mr. Reid stated that was understood, and he was happy to do that. He just wanted to make it crystal clear that next week cannot possibly be the endpoint. Mr. Rogers agreed that next week will not be the end point.
Mayor Knudsen questioned Mr. Reid for the record whether they had already retained an expert. Mr. Reid stated that they had. Mayor Knudsen questioned how far along the expert was in the process of preparing a report. Mr. Reid stated that he couldn’t speculate. Mayor Knudsen questioned when the expert was retained. Mr. Reid stated that he did not know the exact date, but it is since they received the final reports, on March 8th or March 9th, so within the last month. Mayor Knudsen stated that within the last month, presumably the expert has at least some work accomplished and they would be able to give a firm date as to when the expert might conclude their study. It would just seem reasonable that they must have a timeline. Mr. Reid stated sure, and they would work with the Village on the timeline, and he can talk with the Village counsel about figuring something out that is reasonable and acceptable for everyone, but the expert has previous commitments and April is not realistic.
Timothy Shanley, a Wyckoff Committeeman, stated that he sits on the Township Committee as an elected official and he was here on the behalf of his constituents who are ratepayers of Ridgewood Water. He stated that he wanted to remind the Council that they all have a fiduciary responsibility to Ridgewood Water’s customers, which are Midland Park, Glen Rock, Wyckoff and Ridgewood customers. He was present when the Judge issued the order about the hearing, she expected it was going to be a full hearing, subject to cross examination by their experts and attorneys, and that there would be ample time provided. At no time during that discussion was April 18th listed or even April 11th listed as the date for the public hearing. Mr. Rogers stated that April 11th was known because the Plaintiff’s counsel tried to enjoin the Village from proceeding tonight, so Mr. Shanley knew about the April 11th date.
Mr. Shanley stated that April 11th was going to be the second reading, which is today, which they did know, but at that hearing it was specifically referenced that there was not expected to be a vote tonight and that the hearing would continue as long as it needed to in order to establish a full record. This is because the Judge said if this is not done, she would expect an Order to Show Cause on her desk the next day and she didn’t want that. Mr. Shanley stated that the Judge specifically said that she thought it had to be a full hearing and there has to be a record, she was not going to enjoin it until she looked at the record and if she didn’t have a full record, then she had a problem. She also requested that everyone meet and try to have a mediation again with Judge Doyne, which Mr. Shanley thinks is an appropriate thing. He thinks that sitting down and trying to resolve this should be pursued, instead of trying to have a full-blown hearing and wasting money on a rate study.
Mr. Rogers stated that the Village spent a lot of time and a lot of money sitting down with thee Plaintiffs in mediation and he didn’t think they should try to go there because of what occurred at the previous mediation. Mr. Shanley stated that he has only been a Committeeman for two years as he was appointed to fill Kevin Rooney’s seat and then he won re-election for a one-year term, so he is new to it. He doesn’t know who was involved in that before, but he thinks Judge Friscia again said that everyone should sit down with Judge Doyne again and try to resolve this. He knows that the Village counsel from McManimon, Scotland and Baumann was supposed to come back and talk to the Village about that and he hasn’t heard anything about that.
Mr. Shanley directed his comment to Mayor Knudsen and stated that the one thing she did mention earlier about the ordinance, ordinances are not retroactive, well right here we are at a retroactive ordinance regarding 2010-2017 rates which was given back to the Village by Judge Friscia. Mayor Knudsen pointed out that it was by court order. Mr. Shanley stated that he is saying that he didn’t think that the Village has ever had a retroactive rate change. Mr. Woods stated that he would absolutely like to comment on that and the answer was absolutely no, the practice that Mr. Shanley will see with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and other utility regulatory commissions is that they eschew retroactive rate making and no one does it ever. Mr. Shanley stated that this is something that is an odd-ball and really probably shouldn’t have happened and might be grounds for what Judge Friscia did for the appeal but they won’t get into that now. Mr. Shanley reminded the Village Council that they have a fiduciary duty, if they are considering shifting backs costs from the revenues from the water utility to the Village, they have to consider the ratepayers from Ridgewood, which obviously would benefit from it. They also have to consider the ratepayers from Wyckoff, Midland Park and Glen Rock as well, because the Village Council also has a fiduciary responsibility to them.
Ms. Mailander stated that they were just about at time and it was up to the Village Council if they would like to continue. There was agreement to continue as there were two more people on the list.
Thomas Madigan, Wyckoff, stated that he was a Township Committeeman, and if he was hearing it correctly this evening, the recommendation is that the rates don’t need to be changed. He asked how the Village explains the millions of dollars of surplus that have been generated since 2010. He is concerned that this is really nothing more than a sham.
Mr. Woods stated that if they focus in on the three years in which the rate resolutions were remanded back to the Village, whether they look at the budget level of expenses or the actual expenses compared to the revenues that were generated, with the rates in effect for those three years, everything conforms fairly well. On a budget basis the Village should have actually had a shortfall with the fact that it controls expenses below budget, it turns that shortfall into a slight surplus but it is less than 1% of the revenue requirement for those three years. After 2012, looking at the difference between budget and actual expenses, he sees a growing spread and he doesn’t take that as a negative. This shows that the Village’s established water utility budget, relative to the rates that were in effect, was fair and reasonable. The water utility established the budget that fairly puts the revenue requirement for the water utility in the context of the rates that have to be charged. Those rates were charged, and while those rates were charged the employees who run the water utility were able to control expenses and they shouldn’t be punished for that, because that’s what you want them to do.
Mr. Woods stated that the exercise of setting rates is not like what is being done this evening. When setting rates for a utility, there is the benefit of historical expenses that lead to what’s commonly referred to as a test period or a test year, where one attempts to understand what the actual expenses of running the utility are. In looking forward, one of the things which must be understood is what the billing determinants are going to be. This includes how many gallons of water are going to be sold with respect to the water utility, how many fixed service charges are going to be billed for 5/8-inch meters or 4-inch meters. So, that exercise is not in arrears, we never get to look back and understand what a fully historical period was and then set rates, because there are expenses that are prospective, that have to be controlled.
A municipal water utility has to be self-liquidating. Mr. Woods stated that a private water utility can actually lose money for their shareholders and that does happen from time to time. However, a municipal water utility has a different standard. However, a municipal water utility must be self-liquidating, the rates have to be set at a level that reasonably allows the municipal water utility to recover the cost from the full cost of running the water utility. Mr. Woods stated that in the Village’s case, because it has a water department which is an enterprise fund that the Village runs, the fact is that there are shared services. The Village doesn’t force the water utility to go out and have its own purchasing department and hire its own people to do that and incur its own cost. Instead, some of the Village Manager’s time and some of her staff’s time is given to the water utility. Mr. Woods stated that this all factors into how the Village has budgeted and what its actual performance has been. He stated that if he looked at the later years, the surpluses are due to two factors. The first is good performance in controlling expenses against the budget, and the second is variability of demand and water sales.
Mr. Woods stated that if he takes apart the budget on revenues and takes a look at where the money comes from, he finds that miscellaneous charges are very small, about 2% of the total revenue budget. Another 18% comes from fixed service charges, which is the quarterly fixed service charge that is applied to each 5/8-inch meter or 2-inch meter. The balance of it is volumetric sales, so if there was a nice, hot, dry year, where most of the residential customers are using water to fill swimming pools, water their lawns, and do other things that are recreational in nature, the Village will generate a lot of income. In round numbers, roughly 80% of the revenue is tied to volumetric sales, so if there are more sales, more revenue is realized. In looking at the actual revenues that were collected, Mr. Woods stated that it is not unreasonable to see a million-dollar swing in revenues from one year to the next, simply because it was hot and dry one year and wet and cool the next year.
Mr. Woods stated that he wished he had the opportunity to look at 2017, when he did the supplemental study 2017 wasn’t over, but he knows for a fact that a lot of other water utilities in New Jersey had a real tough year with revenues in 2017 because of a decline in weather-related demands, and there were some big downward changes in revenues because of that.
Mayor Knudsen moved the Public Hearing on Ordinance 3636 be continued to April 18, 2018 at 7:00 P.M. Councilwoman Walsh seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote
AYES:Councilmembers Hache, Voigt, Walsh, and Mayor Knudsen
NAYS:None
ABSENT: Deputy Mayor Sedon
ABSTAIN: None
Mr. Rogers stated that he would just ask that Mr. Woods bring back his slide presentation for next week in case someone would like to refer to it and thanked him for coming tonight.
c.PUBLIC HEARING - #3637 – Amend Water Rates and Fees - 2018
Mayor Knudsen moved the Clerk read ordinance 3637 by title on second reading and that the public hearing thereon be opened. Councilman Voigt seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote
AYES:Councilmembers Hache, Voigt, Walsh, and Mayor Knudsen
NAYS:None
ABSENT: Deputy Mayor Sedon
ABSTAIN:None
The Village Clerk read Ordinance 3637 by title:
AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND CHAPTER 145 OF THE CODE OF THE VILLAGE OF RIDGEWOOD, FEES, AT SECTION 145-6, “ENUMERATION OF FEES RELATING TO CODE CHAPTERS.”
Mayor Knudsen stated that the Village Council will be holding the Public Hearing on Ordinance 3637 this evening, and will limit the time for this Public Hearing to a total of 15 minutes. The Public Hearing on Ordinance 3637 will be continued at a Special Public Meeting to be held in the Sydney V. Stoldt Jr. Court Room of Village Hall, on April 18, 2018 at 7:00 P.M. The continued Public Hearing on Ordinance 3636 and Ordinance 3637 will be the only items on the April 18, 2018 agenda. The Public Hearing is now open.
There were no comments from the public.
Mayor Knudsen moved that that the Public Hearing on Ordinance 3637 be continued to April 18, 2018 at 7:00 P.M. Councilman Voigt seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote
AYES:Councilmembers Hache, Voigt, Walsh, and Mayor Knudsen
NAYS:None
ABSENT: Deputy Mayor Sedon
ABSTAIN:None
10.RESOLUTIONS – RIDGEWOOD WATER
THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTIONS, NUMBERED 18-109 THROUGH 18-112, WERE ADOPTED BY A CONSENT AGENDA WITH ONE VOTE BY THE VILLAGE COUNCIL, AND WERE READ BY TITLE ONLY:
11.ORDINANCES
a. INTRODUCTION - #3643 – Establish a CAP Bank
Mayor Knudsen moved the first reading of Ordinance 3643. Councilwoman Walsh seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote
AYES: Councilmembers Hache, Voigt, Walsh, and Mayor Knudsen
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Deputy Mayor Sedon
ABSTAIN: None
The Village Clerk read Ordinance 3643 by title:
CALENDAR YEAR 2018 ORDINANCE TO EXCEED THE MUNICIPAL BUDGET APPROPRIATION LIMITS AND TO ESTABLISH A CAP BANK (N.J.S.A. 40A: 4-45.14).
Councilman Hache moved that Ordinance 3643 be adopted on first reading and that May 9, 2018 be fixed as the date for the hearing thereon. Councilwoman Walsh seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote
AYES: Councilmembers Hache, Voigt, Walsh, and Mayor Knudsen
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Deputy Mayor Sedon
ABSTAIN: None
b. INTRODUCTION - #3644 – General Capital Ordinance ($4,948,000)
Mayor Knudsen moved the first reading of Ordinance 3644. Councilman Voigt seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote
AYES: Councilmembers Hache, Voigt, Walsh, and Mayor Knudsen
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Deputy Mayor Sedon
ABSTAIN: None
The Village Clerk read Ordinance 3644 by title:
BOND ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR VARIOUS CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS IN AND BY THE VILLAGE OF RIDGEWOOD, IN THE COUNTY OF BERGEN, NEW JERSEY, APPROPRIATING $4,948,000 THEREFOR AND AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF $4,698,000 BONDS OR NOTES OF THE VILLAGE TO FINANCE PART OF THE COST THEREOF.
Councilman Hache moved that Ordinance 3644 be adopted on first reading and that May 9, 2018 be fixed as the date for the hearing thereon. Councilman Voigt seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote
AYES: Councilmembers Hache, Voigt, Walsh, and Mayor Knudsen
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Deputy Mayor Sedon
ABSTAIN: None
c. INTRODUCTION - #3645 – Increase Fees for Corrections to Vital Records
Mayor Knudsen moved the first reading of Ordinance 3645. Councilwoman Walsh seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote
AYES: Councilmembers Hache, Voigt, Walsh, and Mayor Knudsen
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Deputy Mayor Sedon
ABSTAIN: None
The Village Clerk read Ordinance 3645 by title:
AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND CHAPTER 145-4 OF THE CODE OF THE VILLAGE OF RIDGEWOOD ENTITLED “DEPARTMENTAL FEES” AND CHAPTER 145-5 OF THE CODE OF THE VILLAGE OF RIDGEWOOD ENTITLED “GENERAL FEES” TO AMEND THE FEES CHARGED BY THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT.
Councilman Voigt moved that Ordinance 3645 be adopted on first reading and that May 9, 2018 be fixed as the date for the hearing thereon. Councilwoman Walsh seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote
AYES: Councilmembers Hache, Voigt, Walsh, and Mayor Knudsen
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Deputy Mayor Sedon
ABSTAIN: None
d. PUBLIC HEARING - #3638 – Amend Chapter 212 – Parks and Recreation – Establish Rules and Regulations for Seasonal Skatepark
Mayor Knudsen moved the reading of Ordinance 3638 by title on second reading and that the Public Hearing thereon be opened. Councilwoman Walsh seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote
AYES: Councilmembers Hache, Voigt, Walsh, and Mayor Knudsen
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Deputy Mayor Sedon
ABSTAIN: None
The Village Clerk read Ordinance 3638 by title:
AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND CHAPTER 212 OF THE CODE OF THE VILLAGE OF RIDGEWOOD, PARKS AND RECREATION AREAS, AT ARTICLE X, SECTION 212-31, “SKATE PARK USE RULES AND REGULATIONS.”
Mayor Knudsen announced that the Public Hearing was open. There were no comments from the public, and Mayor Knudsen moved that the Public Hearing be closed. Councilwoman Walsh seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote
AYES: Councilmembers Hache, Voigt, Walsh, and Mayor Knudsen
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Deputy Mayor Sedon
ABSTAIN: None
Councilman Hache moved that Ordinance 3638 be adopted on second reading and final publication as required by law. Councilwoman Walsh seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote
AYES: Councilmembers Hache, Voigt, Walsh, and Mayor Knudsen
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Deputy Mayor Sedon
ABSTAIN: None
e. PUBLIC HEARING - #3640 – Establish Policies for Use of Level One Rooms – Village Hall
Mayor Knudsen moved the reading of Ordinance 3640 by title on second reading and that the Public Hearing thereon be opened. Councilman Voigt seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote
AYES: Councilmembers Hache, Voigt, Walsh, and Mayor Knudsen
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Deputy Mayor Sedon
ABSTAIN: None
The Village Clerk read Ordinance 3640 by title:
AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND CHAPTER 212 OF THE CODE OF THE VILLAGE OF RIDGEWOOD, PARKS AND RECREATION AREAS, AT ARTICLE IX SECTION 212-31, “USE OF VILLAGE FACILITIES – VILLAGE HALL MEETING ROOMS.”
Mayor Knudsen announced that the Public Hearing was open. There were no comments from the public, and Mayor Knudsen moved that the Public Hearing be closed. Councilman Hache seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote
AYES: Councilmembers Hache, Voigt, Walsh, and Mayor Knudsen
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Deputy Mayor Sedon
ABSTAIN: None
Councilwoman Walsh moved that Ordinance 3640 be adopted on second reading and final publication as required by law. Councilman Voigt seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote
AYES: Councilmembers Hache, Voigt, Walsh, and Mayor Knudsen
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Deputy Mayor Sedon
ABSTAIN: None
f. PUBLIC HEARING - #3641 – Amend Chapter 145 – Fees – Fees for Use of Level One Rooms – Village Hall
Mayor Knudsen moved the reading of Ordinance 3641 by title on second reading and that the public hearing thereon be opened. Councilman Hache seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote
AYES: Councilmembers Hache, Voigt, Walsh, and Mayor Knudsen
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Deputy Mayor Sedon
ABSTAIN: None
The Village Clerk read Ordinance 3641 by title:
AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND CHAPTER 145 OF THE CODE OF THE VILLAGE OF RIDGEWOOD, FEES, AT SECTION 145-6, “ENUMERATION OF FEES RELATING TO CODE CHAPTERS.”
Mayor Knudsen announced that the Public Hearing was open. There were no comments from the public, and Mayor Knudsen moved that the Public Hearing be closed. Councilman Hache seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote
AYES: Councilmembers Hache, Voigt, Walsh, and Mayor Knudsen
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Deputy Mayor Sedon
ABSTAIN: None
Councilwoman Walsh moved that Ordinance 3641 be adopted on second reading and final publication as required by law. Councilman Hache seconded the motion.
Roll Call Vote
AYES: Councilmembers Hache, Voigt, Walsh, and Mayor Knudsen
NAYS: None
ABSENT: Deputy Mayor Sedon
ABSTAIN: None
12.2018 BUDGET INTRODUCTION
a. Budget Message
Ms. Mailander stated that at this time she was inviting Robert Rooney, Chief Financial Officer, and Stephen Sanzari, Treasurer, to come forward.
Ms. Mailander stated that there were some handouts on the sides for the public and they tried to make the presentation font as big as possible so everyone could see the presentation on the monitors. Ms. Mailander stated that they would go through various general topics. The Budget process itself begins in October, there are several rounds of internal reviews that are held with the Department Directors with the CFO and the Treasurer, the objective was to provide the best possible numbers and various alternatives to the Village Council. Emphasis was on operating efficiencies as well as customer service improvement, investment in people, process and technology. Ms. Mailander stated that after that the Departments met with herself, the CFO, and the Treasurer, and they brought the budgets closer to what they wanted and needed and then the CFO and Treasurer met with the Department Directors one more time for the big Departments to try to get the budget down to the most efficient possible.
Ms. Mailander stated that the Budget Reviews with the Village Council were designed to elevate the dialogue to include strategic, as well as daily operations, and operating budgets as well as capital budgets were discussed for the Village water utility, parking utility, and the public library. Various sessions were held with the Village Council, there were three Friday night meetings and one Wednesday night meeting. All of the Department Directors and many Supervisors were here presenting their Budgets. The final Budget meeting proposed the general, water utility and parking utility Capital Budgets, in addition to the general, water utility, and parking utility operating budgets and they determined the proposed municipal tax rate.
Ms. Mailander stated that 2017 accomplishments and highlights include: the fact that the Village won the Innovation in Governance Award for Excellence in outsourcing the Crossing Guards; received Silver Certification from Sustainable Jersey; filled three available firefighter positions; replaced the 1989 fire pumper; obtained Safety and Health Recognition program status for the Fire Department; completed a new Police scheduling system; completed Police accreditation requirements; filled two positions in the Police Department up to the staffing levels they were prior to the six Police retirements in 2016; enhanced Graydon facilities; enhanced the Village website; finalized the E-ticket program which has made a huge difference in the Municipal Court; adopted aggressive Capital Budget to replace failing trucks and vehicles; Building Department streamlined process for zoning applications and issuance of permits; promoted a part-time IT person to full time who is using most of her time in the Police Department getting the new vehicles outfitted and fulfilling various requests for the Police Department; Office of Emergency Management completed a lightning detection system upgrade; improved the OEM emergency communication database; enhanced IT systems to fiber network, Wi-Fi access points, voicemail system, PC users, and spatial data logic which is our Municipality in a Box; settled the Blue Collar, White Collar and Supervisory Union Contracts; began contract discussions with the Police Department; updated a digital radio system; implemented the Estate Cards Reward Program; hired a grant writer; serviced 3.125 miles of roads; planted 117 trees; reestablished in-house maintenance for the Village vehicles, this is important because at one point the Village was outsourcing a lot of maintenance for the vehicles and by bringing it back in house with experienced mechanics once again, it has saved the Village money; enhanced the CBD aesthetic with various things such as plantings, banners and snowflakes.
Ms. Mailander stated that in Ridgewood Water in 2017, the installation of corrosion control systems was completed; rehabilitated the aqueduct storage tank field; began new Capital Improvement Plan; hosted public forums on conservation; completed USEPA Administrative Order and Groundwater Under the Direct Influence of Surface Water monitoring programs; secured a tenant for cell tower lease; and identified solution to reduce sodium hypochlorite costs.
2018 goals include: the fact that the Village is establishing shared services agreements with the Ridgewood Board of Education and Washington Township for vehicle maintenance and repairs; attempt to establish credit card usage for the Municipal Court and the Health Department where this can be done at the window in addition to currently being able to do it online; document IT policy and usage; update the design and content of the OEM website; hire a full time person to support the water IT system; negotiate both the Police and Fire contracts this year; select a design for the new parking garage on Hudson Street; partner with Bergen County for the upgraded traffic signals and intersections; upgrade HVAC and security system at Village Hall; hoping to start hosting e-ticket platform for other municipalities; developing School Resource Officer program with the Board of Education; resurface tennis courts and returning them to service; replacing the turf field at Maple Park and returning that field to service and being able to use it for summer camps as well as various sport groups; resurfacing approximately 7.5 miles of roads; enhance the sound system in the court room; replace public safety vehicles and equipment; update the SCADA system at the Water Pollution Control Facility; and the Village introduced the Burbio app.
2018 Water goals include: enhance communications on public education about conservation; enact new ordinances for all uses; continue compliance with all USEPA and NJDEP orders; restructure customer service and public relations within the Water Department; complete the construction of the Carr Treatment Facility; improve infrastructure; complete Suez water quality study; perform Passaic Valley Water Commission water quality study to assess feasibility for water purchases; create a coalition of municipal utilities which goes hand in hand with hiring the lobbyist for Ridgewood Water to coordinate Village efforts to participate in decisions affecting water quality.
2018 Risks in the General Budget include: negotiations for the new Police union contracts; defensive tax appeals and appraisal costs; Police overtime; stabilizing the infrastructure; one-time revenues.
2018 Risks in the Water Department include: weather conditions; stabilizing infrastructure; compliance with new water quality regulations.
Ms. Mailander stated that in the meeting that was held today with the NJDEP and the USEPA they were saying that things are changing almost weekly, and even NJDEP is amazed by the changes that are taking place and the amount that has to be measured of some contaminants, down to such minute particles.
Ms. Mailander stated that at this point she would turn it over to Mr. Rooney, the Village’s Chief Financial Officer.
Mr. Rooney stated that 2018 has some contractual obligations that are included in the 2018 Proposed Budget. Salaries are approximately $19.2 million based upon contractual commitments, a pension of $3.7 million based upon billing that was received from Trenton, health insurance is almost $6.8 million and terminal leave is approximately $400,000. These obligations represent almost 60% of the Village’s Operating Budget of 2018.
Mr. Rooney stated that there are also some unfunded liabilities that do not appear on any financial statements because of the structure that New Jersey has the Village complete for reporting. There are compensated absences of approximately $6.6 million, retirement expense for three confirmed retirees that started in 2017-2019 of almost $556,000. A terminal leave trust fund has been established to put money away to compensate for some retirees in the future.
Mr. Rooney stated that the proposed Operating Budget is $50.1 million, the net General Capital Budget is $7.2 million, and they are proposing a 0.99% municipal tax increase for this year which results in a $78 annual increase on an average assessed home valued at $700,637.00. Estimated outstanding debt for bonds and notes has declined from $39.8 million to $35.7 million, and the proposed Operating Budget for General is up 1.93% from the prior year.
Mr. Rooney displayed a chart that shows the total appropriations and the sources for funding those appropriations through surplus anticipated; miscellaneous revenues received from delinquent taxes, and amount to be raised which is comprised of the municipal and the public library tax. On a home valued at a little over $700,000 the tax for 2018 will be approximately $4,241 as opposed to the 2017 year which was $4,163. The Municipal portion is split up by about 0.04 and the library portion is up 0.03.
Mr. Rooney displayed a slide that showed the revenue changes from what was budgeted in 2017, what was realized in 2017, where there was excess in deficits and what is recommended for 2018. Under the surplus anticipated, the amount is going to be increased by approximately $100,000; miscellaneous revenues are up approximately $668,000; receipts from delinquent taxes there is a reduction based upon the statutory calculation and the amount to be raised is up approximately $543,000.
Mr. Rooney stated that the components of the revenue fluctuations are decreases in the parking surplus that has been anticipated in the past, and local revenues that are down about $101,000 for a total estimated decrease of $401,000. The Village has made up for that and surpassed that by increasing the Anticipated General Fund balance by $100,000. Revenues from the Building Department were very good in 2017 allowing them to increase it by $107,000. There were some reserves that can be utilized for debt service and flood that the Village has accumulated at approximately $288,000. There are recycling trust funds that the Village has been holding to be used for helping balance the Budget by $150,000. Mr. Rooney stated that fines and costs are up $223,000 and sewage plant discharge fees of $62,500. Interest on investments, as a result of the prepaid taxes that were able to be invested, brings the Village increase to $1,070,000 for a net increase of $668,000 over last year.
Mr. Rooney presented a comparison of surplus balances that the Village has had since 2012, it was slightly down in 2017 in the surplus balance; however, the Village came back and has the balance where it can now anticipate another $100,000 to surplus. The result is that there is approximately $1.3 million in surplus, which is greater than the surplus figure in 2017.
Mr. Rooney displayed a summary of the appropriations in the current fund which is broken down by inside the CAP, outside the CAP, capital improvement, debt service, deferred charges, and the reserve for uncollected taxes. Gross debt for bonds and notes has declined from $39.8 million to $35.7 million which is projected at the end of 2018. The Capital Budget contains several categories which they are asking the Village Council to approve, street paving has the second largest of $2.3 million, $2.4 million for other infrastructure and equipment, purchase of vehicles is $1.2 million, IT is $200,000, Public Safety $308,000, and a Capital Budget which is proposed for the library which is $125,000.
Mr. Rooney stated that Ridgewood Water surplus anticipated has declined by approximately $845,000, rents are down approximately $163,000. Miscellaneous is up considerably, offset by cell tower usage, fire hydrant services, and a new cell tower arrangement that the Village has in place which they will ask local government to approve to use in this year’s budget. Total revenue overall is up 1.2%.
Mr. Rooney displayed a summary of the water utility operating appropriations. The total increase over last year is represented by $109,000, which is primarily $608,000 in operating expenses. Capital improvement has been reduced $525,000, debt service is up $17,000, statutory expenses are up $3,500 and surplus sent to the General Budget of $5,000.
Mr. Rooney stated that the proposed water Capital Budget, which is constituted by $4.3 million in wells and treatment, $135,000 for supplied transfer and booster improvements, $355,000 in SCADA network security, and $130,000 in equipment and vehicles.
Mr. Rooney stated that parking utility surplus is down approximately $289,000. Parking meter revenue is up $38,000, interest is flat, and the total revenue anticipated is down approximately $251,000. Appropriations show a reduction in surplus to the General Budget by approximately $300,000. The appropriation decrease is due to salary and wages being increased for another parking enforcement officer. Debt service is down $5,500, statutory is up $23,000 and the surplus to the General Budget is down $300,000.
At this time Mr. Rooney opened for questions. Councilman Voigt questioned if the Council could get a copy of the presentation. He also questioned why the parking utility was down a fair amount from last year and what it would be attributed to. Mr. Rooney stated that the Village has maximized the surplus from the parking utility to the General Budget, which was used to pay back past meter shortages, so now it is starting to break even. That is the reason for the last of funds being brought over to the General Fund. Councilman Voigt questioned if any of this was related to things like mobile apps like ParkMobile. Mr. Rooney stated that ParkMobile contributed slightly to it. Councilman Voigt agreed, stating that it was something like 14%, a very small amount of the revenues.
Councilwoman Walsh stated that she was always appreciative of all of the work that Mr. Rooney does, as it obviously starts back in October and even the process that the Village Council is involved in is lengthy and laborious. She thinks that in going through the Budget process and going through the numbers, the Council is already thinking about next year, as Mr. Rooney is as well, and she thinks that probably is the best practice that Ridgewood has been exhibiting. She asked Mr. Rooney what he would say, in terms of everything that he has presented, is going to be the real big challenge out of the challenges that he listed. Mr. Rooney stated that every year he brings to the attention of Council any one-time revenues that they have, so a couple of the reserves that they are using they won’t have the ability to use anymore unless they generate some during the year through the revenue stream. On a positive note, the Village Municipal Court fines and costs, and the UCC building code is doing very well and looking forward to the multi-family developments that are coming up in the Village, which should generate a significant amount of revenue in the UCC area. Mr. Rooney stated that he thinks in the fines and costs, the E-ticket process that the Village now employs has allowed processing to be so much more efficient and the revenues are received very timely, as opposed to having to wait for court decisions. Mr. Rooney stated that he thinks that with the one-time revenues, and the ability to offset that with some extended revenue, the Village will be okay.
Councilman Hache stated that he was very happy with the way that the budget process is handled and he thinks that the Department Directors have shown a lot of professionalism in how they went through the arduous process and a lot of tough decisions had to be made. He thinks there is no question to the commitment and the effort that was put into delivering this budget and he knows that a lot of tough decisions had to be made, but he thinks they made the right ones.
Mayor Knudsen thanked Mr. Rooney and stated that she thinks it is a really great process and she thinks everyone puts their time, energy, and effort into it and it really is a great outcome. Mr. Rooney thanked the Council for their support.
Ms. Mailander stated that she wanted to thank Mr. Rooney and Mr. Sanzari for all of their work as they start the budget process during the summer, when the budget sheets are given out to the various departments. By July 2018, they will probably have the budget sheets out for the 2019 budget. She stated that she also wanted to thank all of the Department Directors who really did their best to bring the budget down to a realistic number and agree to additional cuts. The Department Directors also all worked together to decide what kind of Capital Purchases would be made and they decided amongst themselves if they could wait another year for something, which is a great collaborative process. Ms. Mailander stated that she thinks it is a very fair tax increase of 0.99%, and the fact that it is under a 1% tax rate increase is amazing. She hopes that the residents are happy that the municipal tax rate is low, because the overall tax rate is made up of the municipal tax rate, the Board of Education tax rate, and the County tax rate, and all of that combined creates a resident’s actual taxes. She thanked all of the Councilmembers for their dedication in coming to the meetings on Friday nights in the winter, and she thanked them for their ability to help the Village present a budget at the 0.99% tax rate, which is the right thing for the residents.
Mayor Knudsen thanked Ms. Mailander and stated that the meetings were held late on several Friday nights during the winter.
b. RESOLUTION
THE FOLLOWING BUDGET RESOLUTION, NUMBERED 18-11, WAS CONSIDERED SEPARATELY AND READ IN FULL:
13.RESOLUTIONS
THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTIONS, NUMBERED 18-114 THROUGH 18-136, WERE ADOPTED BY A CONSENT AGENDA WITH ONE VOTE BY THE VILLAGE COUNCIL, AND WERE READ BY TITLE ONLY:
THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTIONS, NUMBERED 18-137 THROUGH 18-138, WERE CONSIDERED SEPARATELY AND READ IN FULL:
Prior to the vote on Resolution 18-37, Councilman Voigt stated that he understood that Jan Phillips has not been reappointed to the Community Relations Advisory Board, and he wanted to say that she has been a vital part of that committee for probably two decades, mainly serving as the Chair, and he personally wanted to thank her for bringing issues to the Council’s attention that they normally wouldn’t hear about. He wanted to thank her for being a conduit for inclusiveness in the Village community, and his hope is that she continues to participate in the Community Relations Advisory Board as a resident of the community.
Mayor Knudsen added that she thought Councilman Voigt had an appropriate recognition and she thanked Jan Phillips for her service and the Village Council will always have the opportunity to revisit appointments in the future.
14.COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC
Boyd Loving, 342 South Irving Street, stated that on January 3rd of this year he brought attention to what he felt was a life hazard that was on North Maple Avenue just north of Glen Avenue. His understanding after receiving some correspondence that he got via OPRA was that the homeowner had been advised to correct the situation. Mr. Rutishauser, in his memo to the Village Manager, indicated that the situation might not be able to be corrected until warm weather set in, because some concrete work may have been required. Mr. Loving said it is now April 11th, and he passed by that location yesterday on his way back from Ho-Ho-Kus, and he noticed that conditions remain the same. Warmer weather is arriving and he is hoping that the homeowner is reminded that that this is a life safety hazard because somebody could exit the roadway there and wind up in the Ho-Ho-Kus Brook. He would like the Village to take prompt action on getting this situation improved.
Siobhan Crann Winograd, 274 Ivy Place, stated that it was off topic, but she came to talk about parking in the garage because she was slightly dismayed with some of the previous comments that the Council hadn’t built a case to build the garage. After the meeting she went home and her kids asked the next day what the meeting had been about and she said parking, and they said they have been talking about that for a long time.
Ms. Winograd stated that the people who recently purchased her parent’s house had redone the bathroom, and in the bathroom wall they found a time capsule that her mother had written to the future owners.
Ms. Winograd stated that her kids were saying that she talks about parking so much, and ironically in the time capsule her mom had taken the time to go over local issues, national issues, and written a letter to her future self. It talked about how things were, how long the commute was, what things cost, what the issues were, schools, and one of the issues was how long the commute was from Ridgewood to New York which is still the same. Issues in town were parking and kindergarten, and she thought it is interesting that parking is still an issue. Ms. Winograd stated that with that her kids said that if she wanted to go and tell her story she should go and tell some of the facts that were in the time capsule. She thinks that the Village Council has made a great case for the parking garage; however, she thinks that the community and history have made a better one.
Ms. Winograd stated that she is 45 years old, and the time capsule was written before she was born, so it has been a lifetime of discussing the topic of parking. Her kids are already sick of it, and they are only 12 and 14. At some point during her elementary school years, the Village actually purchased Tom Hillman’s lot, for a parking garage and something went wrong and they didn’t build it. In 1980, she was the student rep and at that point, they were pulling parking off the street and she had to come and speak about how the Village needed parking. It ended with her in tears, and discussing a deficit of parking where the community leader walked her out of the room and said to relax, that it was just parking, there was plenty of it.
Ms. Winograd stated that later that year, a young lawyer named Albert Pucciarelli came to the high school and helped the students negotiate a lot from First Presbyterian Church to deal with student parking at the high school. In 1990 or 1992, she and her grandmother sat and watched as the Fire House on Hudson Street was demolished to make way for more parking. She has vivid memories of her grandmother going to Mount Carmel every day, and she had to pick her grandmother up because she couldn’t drive anymore. Ms. Winograd indicated that her grandmother literally cried when they knocked down the Hudson Street Fire House. At some point between College and Graduate School, there was the whole proposal by Ben and Jerrys and the Town Garage which got unbelievably complicated, and something went terribly wrong with the transaction, so they never built anything there.
Ms. Winograd stated that during the time that she moved back to the Village, crosswalks and setbacks further reduced parking. In 2010, she heard about the parking lot proposal in the Cottage Place lot, between the GAP store and Gilsenan Realty, which she loved and fully supported. It was defeated, because the Village didn’t receive the super majority vote for the bond ordinance to build it. In 2009 or 2010 she went to Orchard School as a parent and joined the Stop, Look, and Wave initiative to be thrown into an obsession of parking, and Councilwoman Walsh was also part of that. She stated that 21 pedestrians had been hit by cars in Ridgewood in that year, which is a huge number. Ms. Winograd began to realize that parking wasn’t just an issue for cars, it was a serious issue for pedestrians. Traffic, by definition, needs movement, which was really beginning to trickle over into the pedestrian side.
In 2014, Albert Pucciarelli, called her and said they were having parking meetings and were going to build the garage and she said she was in. The same adult who walked her out of this room and told her to relax because it was just parking, picked up all her issues and studies and said pick any of them. This conversation has been going on for a long time. She pointed out that the Village has knocked down buildings and fought with each other, this has been going on for 45 years, and she thinks that even if the Village Council did a moderate job of the case, and she thinks they have done a good job with the parking, history indicates the Village needs a parking garage. A parking garage will benefit not just the shoppers and the diners and business owners, it will also benefit the pedestrians and the commuters and the general welfare. She thinks that when they have these discussions, they need to speak with the community as a whole. She concluded by stating, overall what the Village has lost most is the opportunity to improve the parking situation.
Saurabh Dani, 390 Bedford Road, stated that he wanted to comment on one thing that was related to budget, Ms. Mailander stated that in Village Hall, different departments negotiated and gave away some of the capital projects to other departments to balance the budget. He said that the Board of Education allocates each of their departments up to 2% and they come up with their 2% budget increases. He hopes that the Village also adopts this practice, because it means that taxpayers are only seeing a small increase of 2%-3% every year.
Mr. Dani stated that he wasn’t planning to comment on parking, but there was a comment about the garage and he recently learned two facts that he wanted to state. The first is that he met with one of the store owners in the CBD a few days ago who is in a building closer to the train station. The store owner told Mr. Dani that there are two parts in the CBD. The store owner explained that when the old CBD was built, years ago, there was no ordinance or requirement to build parking, so these stores are built to the total buildable area. The stores that were built later have parking behind them. Therefore, there is parking in certain parts of the CBD. So whenever it is stated that Ridgewood doesn’t have parking, the reality is that only a few stores have lack of parking because when they were built, parking was not required to be provided. If these store owners in the older part of the CBD are fighting for parking, it would really help if they showed some goodwill and put some down payment towards a parking garage.
The other fact that he learned from the Ridgewood Guild and Chamber of Commerce members is that many of the Ridgewood Guild members don’t want rents to be increased. Every time there is talk that rateables will go up and taxes will go up by building a garage, there are a lot of store owners who will get hurt if rents go up. Therefore, not everybody in the CBD wants rateables to go up, as some store owners want the rents to stay low, so they can continue to afford them. He stated that he was not speaking against the garage, but was just stating two specific facts one about rent and one about where the parking shortage is located, in the older part of the CBD.
There were no additional public comments.
15.RESOLUTION TO GO INTO CLOSED SESSION
Ms. Mailander read Resolution #18-139 to go into Closed Session as follows:
16.ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to come before the Village Council, on a motion by Councilman Hache, seconded by Councilman Voigt, and carried unanimously by voice vote, the Village Council’s Regular Public Meeting was adjourned at 10:20 P.M.
_________________________________
Susan Knudsen
Mayor
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Heather A. Mailander
Village Manager/Village Clerk
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