something will happen once Gabbert is given another raise

I don't remember such a series of tree-damaging storms as we have had this year......topped off by the worst one I have ever seen.......I think the town is doing the best it can with 3-4 times the normal leaf and branch debris on our streets.....I think we got hit much worse than other towns........so it is going to take some time.......Don't be embarrassed ........you could always pick them up yourself and get them to the dump.......a leaf party for you and your guests.....

3 leaf pickups have come and went and no trucks in sight. There is a serious issue with leaf and storm debris on side streets and now the rain has washed piles of leaves into the middle of the road; at night cars screech thinking they are going to hit something. For instance Midvale Street and the East side of McKinley Place and West End Avenue off Lincoln (now a narrow 1 lane between debris, completely covered with piles of leaves and branches 3-4 ft high). And then there is Garfield Place off Godwin, which has been designated as a pick up and drop off zone for GW middle school; tried to pass 2 cars and a school bus this morning and it was almost a disaster. God forbid it snows. If our taxes were late, I am sure someone would have been at our door by now to collect!

Historic storm, most trees dropped their leaves at once, and the town is doing the best job it can. Good thing you had those scratches buffed out, you were becoming an embarrassment to the neighborhood. Now the only embarrassment left is the letter you sent to the council.

James, it might be time to write the annual leaf story. I think it's a requirement for any journalist who reports on the news in Ridgewood.

I'm sick and tired of hearing the excuse that this was "a historic storm" and that they are doing the best they can. This storm was over 30 days ago! There is not another town in this area that looks as bad as Ridgewood. I rarely see any workers and they certainly are not working on the heavily traveled arteries or the most widely used cut-through streets. I agree with the writer. Get the job done! And Lawrence, don't tell parents when they should or shouldn't drive their kids. It's really none of your business. If they are driving unsafely, then speak to that.

Clean up those cut-through streets, don't want the ladies to be late for the hair & nail appointments.

Perhaps, all our newspaper Free lance Photographers and Patch reporters should tour the nearby towns to Interiew "those in charge" and who they report to and get some answers. Enough copy for a book (of excuses).

Excuse me, John Q.... I don't understand where such an off-topic and strange implication comes from? Can't remember the last nail or hair appointmentI I've had since the storm, and the other ladies who have posted above do not reflect whatever style of life you are alluding to. If you have an axe to grind with women in general, or whatever you are implying above about people in Ridgewood, I hope you can find some better way to work it out... It bothers me when some of the participants in the Patch (which is generally in the business of sharing news and thoughtful comments) just use interactive comment to mindlessly snipe at others. Most readers and writers would rather not get all this useless negativity thrown their way.

As to the leaf piles, I would love to see an article about the real challenges of a limited municipal budget to respond to the two epic storms and other real fiscal challenges in a lean year. If anyone has any constructive and well-meaning suggestions on the logistics and how such budgets can be managed, I think that is a productive angle. Thanks!

Maybe:
Summer/Spring- Continue to pick up trash twice a week.
Fall/Winter- Pick up trash once a week and devote the resources to leaves and snow.

Also, as far as I can tell, no one is complaining about the folks who are out there doing their best to clean things up. The problem is how they're being managed and how our resources are allocated. And on that front, taxpayers deserve better than what they've been getting.

Rachel and James: Have you recieved an answer to your letter from our esteemed Mayor and/or Council members? I, too, sent a letter - 5 days ago - and have yet to recieve the courtesy of a reply. Doesn't Politics 101 dictate that you respond to your constituents?

Yesterday at 7:45 ish AM, with traffic backed up on both sides from Linwood Ave to Glen Ave, an ambulance was attempting to travel North Van Dien toward Valley ~ because of the leaf piles, drivers couldn't get out of the away and the ambulance hit a mini van and it looked like caused decent damage. Certainly concerned about the delay for an ambulance to get to the emergency room, but what about the safety issues for the kids? What will it take to get some action?
Hopefully, not another tragedy

I am happy to report that the Lawn area had the leaves and debris picked up last week. I think that perhaps hiring a contractor would have been the best idea because as far as I can tell, it seems like there aren't enough trucks and to keep up with the additional volume. I don't know if there was a budget issue, but I am sure the OT would come in handy for people in this season.

I agree. Its truly astounding to me that year after year leaf removal is a problem. To my knowledge, there hasn't been a rash of tree planting or an increase in the number of streets in the Village, so I don't see where the extra-volume argument is coming from.

With all the landscaping companies doing business in the Village, there must be a way to make a deal there. They already have the manpower and equipment on site...

The extra volume I was referring to was the large branch and brush volume brought on by the storm. The idea of tapping into the large contractor presence is an excellent one. Perhaps instead of leaving the brush and leaves in the street they can bring it to the place where the village does the woodchipping. How this system can work for all parties I am not sure I.e. preventing abuse by landscapers and reimbursing them for their extra time in bringing the stuff to the center.

lets look on the bright side, with less trees and branches, next year the leaf p/u s/b easier and faster. correct?

I agree with Rachel's letter 100%. With all of the money we pay for taxes, it's discouraging to see that they can't clean this up in a timely manner.

The broken tree limbs are another issue where they refuse to remove them from the trees in a timely manner. I recently saw their crew working on a tree and learned that they are down to 2 workers and don't even have the right equipment to reach the taller branches. The response from one of the workers was that it was only the 2 of them and that it's only a matter of time until one of these trees limbs come down and kill someone. They were working hard so I don't fault them... but it's clear that the town needs to hire some contractors quickly to clean this up too.

I'm sure the $20K raise that Gabbert just received in August would have come in handy to help pay for this. http://www.northjersey.com/news/Ridgewood_council_approves_raise_for_village_manager.html

I don't blame the guys working - I think they're being poorly supervised. Why isn't triage being used so they're clearing the most important streets first (ie., main thoroughfares, access roads to schools, etc.)? I was at Orchard School this morning and the road to get there still hasn't been cleared - there's no excuse for that given the hazard that is created by the debris on the street there.

One question - how much does Ridgewood charge a landscaping company to drop off leaves as their facility?

Our landscapers and everyone's that I can see blow them from the property and onto the street and indeed our neighbor's were blown out about 1 hour after the town picked them up. However I don't think there is a hard and fast time that they are picked up. Or if there is I don't know when it is nor apparently do the landscapers.

This video may help illustrate the issue. It seems the logical thing would be to clear ALL main arteries and the school streets first, then go Village-wide by area.

http://youtu.be/JaI3ti-7tH8

Wow. A picture (or video) is worth a thousand words.

I agree that the streets on the East side look very good.
The streets between Upper Blvd and Morningside are actually worse in person than on the video. 5 weeks now and no cleaning yet. Amazing. Take a ride around the neighborhood and see for yourself. It's been that way since October.

Minor correction to the Video, no councilman lives on Cambridge Rd. Councilman Wellinghorst lives on Bogert (around the block from Cambridge). But seeing as Bogert, Cambridge, and Red Birch are all in a row it makes sense that all are cleaned at the same time. Which by the way, were cleaned 2 days into the posted 4 day window on the Village web site.
I don't know who sets the neighborhood priorities but There was plenty of leaf pickup going on Thursday and Friday on the west side over by S Broad St.

Thank you Marussichs and Douglas Cronk for making this so clear. I've been trying to be patient, but after 5 weeks, and hazardous conditions... it's time to get answers.

Thank you for the video that clearly represents the conditions and partiality of services rendered. It's clearly a visable "verdict of the public jury".

Great Video. Didn't see you having any trouble navigating the roads at a safe speed. If you are patient, the rest of the leaves will be gone by Christmas.

It would be one thing if all roads were equally challenged. The fact that some dead end streets are perfectly clear while other main roads, elementary school streets, and school bus routes have been hazardous for 40+ days is unacceptable. It seems the logical protocol would be to clear critical streets first, then get to all the rest by area. I could care less if my street stays as it is until Christmas because it's a side road. But I do have a huge problem when traffic arteries like North Monroe are still single lane in some spots because of storm debris. It's an accident waiting to happen.

OK Melinda lets get out your calendar and do some math. The storm went from October 29 to October 30. Lets assume they spend October 31 either resting from the weekend, or still plowing snow. So lets start with November 1, 30 days in November plus 3 days in December equals 33 days. Lets subtract Sundays and Thanksgiving and you end up with 28 days.

So according to the high expectation of some Ridgewood residents, after a historic snowstorm at the beginning of the fall leaf season, everything should be clean and safe. Of course if they can't clean everything instantly, they should prioritize and clean main arteries first and school bus routes second. I have an idea, why doesn't everyone slow down for a while, and everything will be clean for Christmas. Maybe not in the order you would like, but if you think you can arrange a better schedule then apply for the job.

"John Q"- Amazing how expecting cleared, safe main roads a month after a storm is considered a high expectation. And I didn't realize the job was open for applications. I thought we already have a well compensated person in the position. Did I miss something? If so, I bet there would be a pretty long line of qualified applicants.

We have not had 1 cleanup truck on our street in at last 3 weeks. The street is a two way and several section are barely one way. No communication about cleanup schedule has been made. The previously published cleanup schedule is not being followed. No communication about cleanup priority has been made. Streets surrounding Willard continue to be a hazard where already narrow streets are barely one way pass throughs even for a compact vehicle, which I own. The video was taken on 12/3, a Saturday. Thank you Mr. Cronk for taking the time! The same roads around Willard (Hillcrest, California, Morningside) are not clear and are school bus and NJ Transit bus routes. We should take some video of those same streets during school pick-up and drop-off. Just for fun, add in the NJ Transit buses that fly down Morningside and a rainy day with slippery leaves just to see how dangerous it is.

I'm confused by the comment, John Q. You admit that priority roads should be cleared first, but my point is that they weren't. In the time it's taken to clear ALL of Area A, including many unimportant dead end and side streets, the resources could have been better used by first clearing ALL main arteries, school roads, etc. in EVERY part of town (and yes, I'm willing to bet that 28 work days would have been plenty for that task). Then, work on side roads over time and I guaranty people wouldn't be this upset. That's the protocol for snow plows, why isn't it the same for debris pickup? Do we really think Red Birch Court, for example, a cul-de-sac with only 15 houses on it, should be completely cleared, while a main road like North Monroe has been left in its storm condition this long? There may be a logical answer, but no one from Village Hall seems to want to provide one.

It seems that everyone on this message board is in agreement except for John Q. He likely lives in an area that is not affected and hasn't taken a ride up to the West side lately.

Perhaps John Q. is an employee of the Village who is specifically in charge of leaf pickup. Therefore, it makes sense that the leaves/branches are still a hazard all over the roads, Mr. John Q. is busy responding to the comments on Patch instead of doing the job he was hired for.....organizing the leaf removal in the Village. I have no idea but something is very wrong in a town with ridiculously high taxes and miserable community services. The leaf pickup is just one of the many areas that are sorely in need of improvement. I think it's time to fire each and all of the administrators that gave themselves retroactive bonuses (raises since it will increase their base salaries) and remove all the Village council members that agreed to the raises (with the exception of Mr. Sorenson).

Oops, I meant Mr. Paul Aronsohn, who seems to be the only responsible member of the Village Council who votes no to retroactive bonuses and unwarranted raises.

Clearly the leaves are a problem and let's be thankful it has not yet snowed on top of them. I find the situation scary bc my 2nd grader and kindergartener are both smaller than the piles around our school. That being said, there is clearly a problem that things are not working and simple solutions would make a difference. I love Doug's idea about once a week or how about each of drag garbage curbside so the garbagepeople can move faster. How about we show how important our schools are by making them a separate pick up zone? Right now the schools go in the order of the leaf zone, nothing separate or special about them. The most frustrating things is that some of simplest things are going undone. I strongly feel the town of Ridgewood needs to do a better job of working smarter and not harder.

The good news is that we are very likely to have new elected officials next year. Let's also make sure that a law is enacted that requires the Village manager is required to live in the Village of Ridgewood.

Come on over to Melrose Place to see inefficient government in action. We still have pumpkins ....under the branches ....under the leaves. A brand new ecosystem is developing. We have a massive amount of elementary kids on the block....and we are a cross street to Ridge and GW. Quite a dangerous combination. GABBERT MUST GO!!!!!!!

How long is Gabbert's Tenure. Come election time, let's not forget who is supporters are and who has spoken against him.

I still see every day landscapers blowing leaves off entire properties all into the street along with huge bunches of branches. The town can't keep up with that. This year is definitely worse because of all the big branches on top of the normal leaf pick up and possibly diversion of the leaf crews to cutting down branches and treatment removal.