Prepping for Hurricane Sandy, Merger of Land Use Boards and Hekemian Fight Top This Week's News

As forecasters are calling for the Northeast to be battered by Hurricane Sandy and "Frankenstorm" early next week, River Edgeand Oradell DPW crews have already begun moving their equipment north. Both DPW yards are located not far from the Hackensack River and are prone to flooding.

Before the end of the year is out, Oradell may see the merger of its Planning Board and Board of Adjustment as the Council voted 4-2 to begin drafting an ordinane outling the consolidation. The measure will have to be officially introduced in November and then approved to take affect following the new year.

Louis Flora of the law firm of Giblin & Giblin in Oradell appeared before the New Milford Zoning Board last week to inform the Board that on behalf of Oradell, he will be submitting a traffic report regarding the traffic impact that the proposed development of the United Water Company property will have on Oradell.

With a $1.9 million mortgage sale set for November on one of liens on the Blauvelt Mansion, a second sale has been scheduled a week later, this time for $699,956.06. The two sales are scheduled for Nov. 16 at 2pm at the Sheriff's Office.

Over the summer the River Edge council and members of the Shade Tree Commission continually butted heads over a long overdue shade tree ordinance that began almost six years ago. On Monday night, both sides announced reaching a consensus and a proposed draft will be introduced in November.

Sitting fallow for 25 years, the former River Edge Department of Public Works may see new life as the third of an acre property betweenKinderkamack Road and Grove Street could be rezoned and sold for potential commercial development.

During Monday's Mayor and Council meeting, borough attorney Sam Cereste proposed merging the property under the commercial zone rather than it being currently split between commercial and residential. 

efore the end of the year, developer Joe Colecko may just get his wish to construct a pair of duplexes on Park Avenue  as the River Edge Mayor and Council will introduce a condition use zone change for the street.

Colecko and attorney Thomas Barrett appeared before the governing body at the end of September to request the change. Borough attorney Sam Cereste had been working on a draft ordinance since beginning this month and it will be introduced at the Nov. meeting.

Move over Joe DiPietro as fellow River Dell Regional alum David Rossmer brings his off-Broadway musical comedy "The Other Josh Cohen" to the SoHo Playhouse Theater through Nov. 11.

Rossmer teamed up with writer Steve Rosen to pen their tale about a good guy plagued with a streak of bad luck. 

The president of Bergen County's NAACP chapter has criticized Republican freeholder candidate Margaret "Peg" Watkins for comments she made during a January 2008 River Edge Council work session where she described Martin Luther King Jr. as "a womanizer" and said he was not "an ethical man."

Watkins, who was River Edge mayor at that time, made her remarks during a discussion of whether the Borough Council should reschedule its meeting and not convene on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a national holiday.

Fire Chief John Mauthe has ordered the bars at both of the borough’s firehouses closed following the arrest last week of a volunteer firefighter for driving while intoxicated.

Joseph Cerciello, a 50-year-old volunteer firefighter from Teaneck, was arrested Oct. 16 for driving while under the influence after his car clipped a parked vehicle inside the Tenney Avenue parking lot of Company #1, the firehouse located on Kinderkamack Road, authorities said.

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