Ridgewood Receives Grant for Anti-Litter Work

The village has received just over $36,000 in a state grant that will go toward beautifying the community, the state confirmed late last week.

"This grant program is a perfect example of state and local partnerships working together to maximize the use of limited resources to address environmental issues," Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin said in a release.

"Cleaning up litter protects our natural resources, improves our quality of life and builds a strong sense of pride in our communities. These grants provide our municipalities and counties the tools they need to accomplish these goals."

In total, the DEP awarded more than $14 million to 559 eligible municipalities. The grants are funded by a user fee on wholesalers and distributors that produce products that generate litter; money is allocated based on the number of housing units in a municipality, as well as how many roadways are present within the municipality.

Village Manager Ken Gabbert said the village has a staff member's salary that is charged to the Clean Communities funding, which covers less than half the total costs.

The costs involved include trimming of the plantings in the parks, managing the cleanup of parks in town, clearing trash receptacles, as well as maintaining tree wells, gardens, islands and the bushes by the train station.