Hearings to Continue on Ridgewood Water Antennas

Maintenance of Ridgewood Water installations throughout the township and the aesthetics of existing fencing around several of those sites were key concerns of the zoning Board of Adjustment Thursday night, as hearings continued on the utility's applications to install antennas at seven of its sites in Wyckoff.

Hearings will continue, perhaps at the next zoning board meeting, as no action was taken Thursday on any of the pending applications, approval of which would allow the utility to improve its communications system by facilitating detailed monitoring off-site.

Matt Rogers, attorney, and William Mowell, Ridgewood Water's chief engineer, had agreed at the outset of the proceeding that they would not seek a vote, which Chairman Doug Christie had suggested could hurt the utility's chances at approvals, given the lack of voting members present.

The board had five members at the hearing—enough for a quorum—but a single "no" vote would have scuttled an application.

However, the members in attendance made clear that they expect the utility to take better care of its treatment facilities, with members saying that they've found little effort on the part of the utility to keep up with their various well fields.

Member Jerry Lombardo charged that "it took a zoning application to get the maintenance done at these locations. None of this would have been done" if not for the action before the board, Lombardo said. The vice chairman further stated that he wanted any approvals conditioned on the completion of outstanding maintenance concerns.

Christie, looking over a list of maintenance issues, told Rogers and Mowell that there's "no reason half this stuff can't be taken care of" despite the cold and snow.

"It has to get done. Let's not play footsie here," the chairman said.

Mowell said Ridgewood Water "did not feel the immediacy" of getting maintenance completed but heard the message coming from the board. Rogers questioned the legality of making such a request a condition of approval but pledged to work with the board on the items, which include peeling paint on well houses and dead shrubbery.

The board had previously retained the services of Joe Medici, owner of Medici Appraisal Services and a member of the Franklin Lakes Planning Board, due to its dissatisfaction with the maintenance at previously approved antenna installations. Medici reviewed each pending site for the potential impact of an antenna placement on nearby homeowners, and he particularly objected to "barbed-wire" fencing at several of the sites.

"The fencing gives more of a Folsom Prison effect," he said, recommending that any barbed wire be removed.

Township engineer Mark DiGennaro later told Mowell and Rogers that such fencing doesn't conform to township code and should be removed at all utility installations.

"Certainly, we're interested in doing that," Rogers said.

However, Mowell told the board that the utility was more likely to improve existing fencing over removing it entirely, as some members suggested. The engineer, after being asked by member Robert Decker for his personal preference, said it's  a "moot point" due to the unlikelihood that the Department of Environmental Protection would allow Ridgewood Water to remove fencing where it currently exists. 

Mowell suggested that the fencing isn't exactly a deterrent to trespassers and would-be vandals, calling it an "attractive nuisance." Essentially, the existence of a fence sometimes makes it more likely that someone would try to get over it, which he said could be accomplished easily, anyway.

Ridgewood Water, which serves Wyckoff, Ridgewood, Glen Rock and Midland Park, seeks antennas at the following locations: the Lawlins interconnection, 573 Franklin Ave.; the Ames wellfield, at the northeast corner of Hartung Drive and Covington Place; the Cedar Hill wellfield, between 416 and 466 Cedar Hill Ave.; the Lafayette well, between 437 and 451 Lafayette Ave.; the Franklin well, at 265 Voorhis Ave.; the Newtown well, at 276 Newtown Road; and the Vance reservoir, at the northeast corner of Vance Avenue and Evergreen Drive;

An application to install an antenna at the Cedar Hill reservoir, which Medici said would be the "most controversial" due to "prison fencing" in neighbors' sight, has been postponed by Ridgewood Water.

The board, under the leadership of former Chairman Kevin Rooney, had previously heard testimony on three of the applications: Lawlins, Ames and the Cedar Hill wellfield. Questions about placement and landscaping prompted a site tour by members of the board and utility in the fall, with Thursday's hearing the first meeting of the two sides since that time.

Mowell and Rogers presented plans for the remaining four sites Thursday while also revisiting the Lawlins application for the benefit of a Franklin Lakes resident in attendance.

Lawlins

Contrary to prior testimony, Mowell said Ridgewood Water would not need to erect a second pole at the site to install the antenna; it had previously been said that an existing pole belongs to Rockland Electric. It in fact belongs to Ridgewood Water, Mowell said.

The utility proposes a wooden pole, 45 feet above grade, next to a vault in front of 573 Franklin Avenue, just at the township's border with Franklin Lakes. The engineer said the existing pole would be replaced by the new installation.

The board also had heard testimony previously from a neighbor concerned about the antenna's effect on radio frequencies. Mowell said Thursday that Ridgewood Water has two dedicated frequencies that would not interfere with any cable systems, police bands, radios, etc.

Franklin

The antenna would be mounted on a 1-inch mast, 20-feet above grade, on the north parking lot side of the Volunteer Ambulance Squad building.

Mowell clarified that Ridgewood Water would place small bushes around the installation, after Medici pointed out that the application and correspondence received by the board were in conflict on the issue of landscaping.

Lafayette

Ridgewood Water seeks the placement of two antennas, with one at the pumping station and one at the well station at the site, which is near Coolidge Elementary School. Both would be 20 feet above grade, with the antenna at the pumping station mounted on a wooded pole, and the one at the well mounted on an existing building with a 1-inch mast.

However, board member Jim Donkersloot suggested that the antenna planned for the pumping station be mounted on a pre-existing utility building, with a discussion ensuing on whether a pole could be mounted elsewhere near the pumping station in deference to a nearby home. Christie and Lombardo said the resident would likely see the pole regardless of where it was located, but Mowell agreed to take another site tour with DeGennaro to see if any options exist on placement.

Newtown

Ridgewood Water's property sits on a parcel that straddles the Wyckoff and Midland Park border, near the railroad tracks. The utility proposes an antenna 20 feet above grade that would be mounted on an existing building.

Member Carl Fry questioned why the antenna couldn't be located elsewhere on the site, perhaps in a wooded area that wasn't so conspicuous to passers-by. Mowell testified that hiding the antenna in woods would defeat the purpose of installing it to improve communications with headquarters.

Vance

The utility seeks an antenna 20 feet above grade on the southwest side of an existing building that already stands approximately 16 to 18 feet tall, meaning the antenna would be erected only a few feet off the structure. 

Medici testified that while some barbed wire has been removed from the Vance site, some still remained, making the "fencing objectionable" to the nearby residents. Some basic maintenance and upgrading of the existing fencing "will do wonders," the appraiser said.