Council Catches Heat on Zoning Board Shakeup, Cell Tower Plan at Firehouse This Week

Hey you, would you be OK with a cell tower in your back yard? Heck no, you say!? OK, where do you suggest it be put?

It seems no one wants a tower in their neck of the woods, but everyone wants top notch coverage.

So who gets the screw? It looks like it won't be the residents of East Glen and Maple Avenue after a a vocal group of residents .

It's still unknown if the residents will get the formation of an independent committee to review cell tower applications or if they'll get a moratorium on all current cell tower aps. Council will have to talk that one over.

Other neighborhoods battling applications in Ridgewood have wondered where those firehouse-neighborhood residents were during their hearings, as they claim concern for all Ridgewood but never spoke out until a tower nearly appeared in their back yard.

Still no official word as to why a bid notice was put out before approved by council.

2) Ridgewood's non-partisan politically, but is it politics-free?

On Tuesday we .

Two council members cited a few reasons for picking new guys, with Councilwoman Walsh specifying two applications–one on a turn-around driveway request, the other with the allegation Cronk should have recused himself on an application connected to a pro-Valley figure, having allegedly given Al Jones money. Cronk denied it, said Walsh's reason was "ridiculous" and noted the application for a modest addition was unanimous. The deputy mayor also said the departed members should have said they wanted to remain on the board for council consideration.

Both applications Walsh cited were approved unanimously and Councilman Paul Aronsohn said the two applications were never discussed during council's closed sessions that determined who would make it and who wouldn't.

Reapproved member Eugene Rose said not only did he not approach council to be reappointed, council approached him. The replacements, Shiroy Ranji and Hans-Jergen Lehmann took over on Tuesday and have strong qualifications, according to the council.

3) Fix your own house before buying another?

We were the first to report Thursday that , which is up for sale. Still, the village remains interested in a future purchase though the mayor said in a comment that the council feels it should get its own utility's house in order before considering a potentially-expensive addition.

4) Look at the downtown, what do you see?

Kids are walking with ice cream slowly falling from the sides of cones, families are eating dinner outside and ladies are trying out hot new fashions. But there's another side to see–vacant storefronts, a maddening parking problem and a lack of Banana Republics and Best Buy 'anchor' stores. Ridgewood . The vacancy rates don't seem to have changed much since January of 2010, though with new business coming in and many succeeding, civic and political leaders remain optimistic that the CBD can rebound.

See our comprehensive look at how the downtown is doing and weigh in with your thoughts.

5) The war on field use is over!

What's seemed a war of attrition and collected frustration for residents around the high school, sport fans, the village council and school board for the past year, is finally over after  Wednesday night. Both sides gave up concessions to make this happen, so get the deets in our story.

6) Expelliarmus! The golden snitch and Harry Potter mania is captured in Ridgewood!

For many, the final movie in the Harry Potter series represents an end of childhood. Patch's own Dave Turner and Laura Bertocci, dressed to the nines as Professor Trelawney, . If you're a fan of the most popular series in memory, this video is a must-see.

7) Ridgewood's most prolific man of space retires

Laura Bertocci sat down with retired Hawes teacher Terrance Dunn to hear his reflections on 39 great years in Ridgewood. Though retired and looking to relocate to Baltimore, you may see Dunn back for cameos at Space Week over the coming years.

Holy macaroni, there was a ton of interesting stuff going down this week, so just recapping seven items seemed so limiting.

Here's some of the other happenings:

*** The village will be charging businesses who get their property stolen. The , who will be handing out $25 to the village every time the village picks up a cart in public property. The council says it just wants compliance and was driven to this ordinance after repeated attempts to get supermarkets to reign in this problem, which can be a major safety hazard according to the village.

The criminal element stealing carts, you ask?

The elderly and teens, one of the rare times those two groups have had something in common.

*** . The Somerville Dad and head of Orangetown, New York's Department of Environmental Management and Engineering was 41.

*** The school board will be receiving . There still may be restrictions on how the money is used, Schools Superintendent Dr. Daniel Fishbein told us. The state's still working that out, he said.

*** The council has : seven meetings have been set up for the RHS Campus Center this fall and they'll be televised, too.

*** Did you know  If not, and you appreciate history, you must, must, must check out Alex Zawacki's story on the strange and fascinating tale of the 70-year happenings of those who wander. 

*** Our own Matt Owen grabbed an to hear about redemption, the seven deadly sins and his thoughts on...autotune? Kanye West and Ke$ha (or, as I pronounce it,"Ke-dollar sign-sha") were not available for comment.

*** Should managers be getting raises when workers are let go? Councilman . Aronsohn has said with unprecedented layoffs and a tough economy, managers should show leadership. Taking "bonuses", he thinks, is not leadership. It passed, 4-1.