Forget the Atkins Diet.
Up to 300 people munched on pasta, sausage and cake at the Beautification Committee dinner Saturday, which raised $3,500.
Created in 2006, the role of the bipartisan Beautification Committee is to preserve and improve the town’s aesthetic look through ongoing service projects.
The Beautification Committee will use the funds, coupled with a $1,500 Applebee’s donation, to place a large welcome sign along Livingston Street at the New York border.
Designed by students Joseph Mancini and Weili Png, the two were presented with plaques at the dinner, according to fundraising volunteer Paul Bazela.
"The kids did a nice job on it and I was very happy with the turnout," said Beautification Committee co-chairman Rich Scaglione.
The unveiling of the 4-foot by 6-foot sign is slated for the end of May, said the co-chairman.
Scaglione then said that the committee will try "to work on new things" for future projects, such as landscaping under the streetscape plan.
"It’s our town and our time to keep [Northvale] nice and pretty," he added.
The borough is finalizing the purchase of the five-acre piece of property on Ruckman Road, which the Flamm Estate owns.
Councilman John Kashwick said attorneys on both sides are finalizing the contract and "once we get the signed contract we can announce the outcome, when the closing is and the purchase price."
The borough has received a $500,000 Bergen County Open Space grant for acquisition of this property, but Kashwick would not comment on the final purchase price.
The property, predominately wetlands, would not be developed, said Kashwick. Instead it would be maintained as open space and a "buffer" for the downtown area that would help with water retention during floods.
"And if it’s possible a trail [could be made] on the eastern side of the piece along the stream connecting to the major center," he said, adding the feasibility of that had not yet been researched.
Dr. Beth Ravit of Rutgers Environmental Research Clinic said that 3.5 acres of the purchased property are wetlands. She added that maintaining the land in a natural state is "really important in terms of treating water to improve water quality and [for] flood water storage."
"That property is holding a lot of standing water so it’s a wetland that’s able to hold that water and slowly release it. A C1 [Department of Environmental Protection classified] stream flowing through it drains into the reservoir," Ravit said.
Kashwick expects the contract to be finalized within the next two weeks.
E-mail: wilde@northjersey.com or call 201-894-6706
Northvale
Borough awarded $127,000 in grants
A generator outside Borough Hall, $45,000. Funding for senior programs, $56,239. Wheelchair accessible bathrooms at the American Legion, $27,458.
The borough obtained approval for three grants totaling nearly $127,000 from the Northern Valley Regional Community Development Committee.
Northern Valley towns submitted grant applications that totaled almost $870,000. Available funds for community development grants were limited to $517,000, according to Mayor John Hogan.
"To walk out not with one, not two, but three grants is amazing," said the mayor.
The borough awaits final approval from the Bergen County Freeholders, although Hogan called the process "a formality."
Pursued for the past 20 years, Hogan said that the generator request would assist the town during emergencies. He said that without a generator the police and those evacuated to the McGuire Senior Center would go without electricity during a power outage.
"Considering we’re one of the smaller towns in New Jersey, this was a phenomenal result," said the mayor.
— Sophia Gonzalez
Closter
All day summer camp plans put on hold
The idea of increasing the Closter summer recreation program to a full day camp has been put off until the summer of 2009, Closter Recreation Director Jim Oettinger said.
The standard program, which is free and runs from 9:30 a.m. to noon at Memorial Park, will continue. At a cost of $400 for residents and $500 for non-residents, expanding the hours to mirror what Tenafly offers is something that requires more planning, said Oettinger.
Feedback from a meeting held March 5, in which Oettinger informed parents of the plans for expanding the program, resulted in his deciding the full day camp would need more preparation to become a reality.
"Everyone involved in the summer program is thrilled with the turnout at the meeting… Much of this feedback… made it clear that we could not possibly offer a program for the upcoming summer," Oettinger wrote in an e-mail last week.Reasons for postponing the plans included the looming deadline of camp registration, ensuring safety in the event of extreme heat, planning trips and transportation and the need to secure camp counselors.
However, Oettinger said he feels "100 percent confident that we will have an all day program for the summer of 2009."
— Catherine Wilde
