It is at times almost overwhelming with all of the things that are happening or proposed to happen in the Village and with the BOE. Economically the timing probably could not be worse for many/most of these projects and unfortunately things will probably deteriorate further before improving. However, I think an important thing for people to remember and to think about for the future is the reason all of this is happening now is that we as a town and a school system totally dropped the ball for years and years and let our facilities fall far behind what other towns and school systems were building/renovating. The residents of Ridgewood are not stupid and the level of disrepair has reached such a point that people are demanding the issues be addressed. Many very good, very active, very interested people in town have looked at the facilities and helped to lay out plans that will hopefully result in us having the kind of facilities that the people and children of Ridgewood should have. It is going to be very difficult to figure out how to prioritize the projects and even more difficult to figure out how to pay for them. I think it is important not to place blame on the messengers presenting these plans to the public. If you want to place blame take a look back at the former BOE’s and Villge Council’s who sat on their hands while our facilities crumbled.
If we are going to get anything done, The Village Council and the BOE had better be in constant contact with each other through this process and prioritizing what they each want and need. If the BOE attempts to float a $50 million dollar bond issue at the same time they are laying off teachers and at the Village is looking to spend $25 million (Habernickel, Stedler, Master Plan, Graydon) nothing is going to get approved, nothing will get fixed and 5 years from now our facilities will be that much worse, the costs will be that much higher and everyone will be asking, “Why?”
The Ridgewood Blog 
All real estate should be the overseen by the Village Engineer and not the BOE. There is a definite conflict of interest if we let the BOE oversee our capital plant. The BOE spends money on curriculum and salaries to promote the school’s image and to keep pace with current ideologies. The physical plant is the last thing on their minds. They are our buildings. We should be taking care of them.
go look at most of the village owned buildings aside from village hall they are a disgrace.this once fine town has been run right into the ground.the signal building i see the brick siding falling off and laying on the ground,nothing is done about it.its been that way for years,the street dept and garage building has the overhangs falling off roofs leaking,again nothing is done about it.could be time for a change in management.it may already be too late. the village is in serious financial trouble there are talks of laying off people in all depts. how did things ever get so far out of hand some one should be held accountable.
yes it is going to get worse.at the end of the year the groung workers that work for the bord of ed will be laid off.we will get out side people to do the job cheeper we dont care what kind of work they do as long S ITS CHEEPER. THATS REAL NICE.
A lot of the money being spent in the $50 million plan is for expansions at certain elementary schools. Why not just shift the various school attendance boundary lines a few blocks and shift some kids out of the overcrowded schools and into the less-crowded ones. It could save millions. Also, kill the turf field proposal. That’s money we don’t need to spend in a recession.