Neighbors Say BOE Not in Compliance with DEP, Superintendent 'Looking Forward' to Working with Agency

Superintendent Dr. Daniel Fishbein reported to the Ridgewood Board of Education on Monday night that referendum progress is going well, though that may be in the eye of the beholder.

Representatives of the Ridgewood High School Neighborhood Association (RHSNA) Gerald Rossi and Jim Morgan were on-hand to discuss some of the particulars of their 55-page report recently sent to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), urging the agency to investigate if Ridgewood Public Schools is abiding by .

The neighbors contend in their report (full report is at the right of this article) that "crumb rubber" component of the turf has been discharged into the Ho-Ho-Kus Brook, against the conditions of the permit; debris and rubber had been blown into the brook (in the riparian zone) by BOE contractors; "improper" maintenance has caused the fields to not be able to sufficiently absorb water from storm conditions; "impediments"–like the fence surrounding Stadium Field and the solid skirting panels of the bleachers and the breakaway baseball backstop that has been bolted–have also undermined water management.

"We're asking the DEP to have you comply with the terms of the permit," Gerald Rossi told the school board Monday night. "We're asking that after every flood the BOE properly does its job," he remarked.

Neighbors are recommending that a "permeability test" be performed after each flooding event to ensure the playing surface is holding up appropriately.

The district had one of the two "deep cleanings" done at Stadium Field already and expect to perform another at Stevens Field on Wednesday, if the weather holds up.

The neighbors' report was not compiled by independent professionals or experts.

"We look forward to working with the DEP when they contact us," Fishbein said in response to the neighbor remarks on alleged non-compliance.

Burning bridges?

Neighbor Jim Morgan, seen as the chief spokesman of the group, also grilled Fishbein on the condition of the pedestrian bridge between both high school fields, a feature in last week's The Ridgewood News edition.

Morgan, who says he believes the bridge is a danger of collapsing, cited a 2009 district-commissioned engineering report that noted the bridge was deteriorating in condition. The report concluded the bridge is still structurally able to safely provide for its current uses, Fishbein said.

In a subsequent interview, Morgan said the school board had its priorities "backward" by not fixing the bridge while spending large sums of money on fields and bleachers. Beyond that, Morgan said, the gate to the bridge is often left wide open and neighbors have observed vehicles over the weight limit (4,000 lbs.) traveling on the bridge. He requested Monday that the district put up a sign denoting the conditions of use and weight limit.

Fishbein responded that the district should be able to accommodate a sign but stressed that contractors are notified of the weight limit and only light vehicles travel the bridge, while saying the gate is "generally closed".

"I was going to comment that there was a hang-up between the Board of Education and the DEP," Morgan told the school board regarding any potential plans to fix the bridge. [But the] DEP has nothing to do with it because they didn't even know there was a problem with the bridge," Morgan said.

The school board does not plan to have any structural analysis of the bridge done since the and in over 50 years hit the bridge in April and May, Fishbein confirmed when asked by Morgan. Fishbein said there had been a consideration in the past to fix the bridge issue by replacing it at a higher level to mitigate some of the issue with debris, but nothing is planned.