Towns Planning Study on Construction of Shared Municipal Garage

The councils in Ridgewood and Glen Rock last week came to a tentative consensus to move forward with a study of the viability of constructing a shared municipal garage.

At a council meeting last Wednesday Ridgewood Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli reported that the committee tasked with finding an alternative to the village’s current municipal garage on Chestnut Street identified a feasibility study as the first step toward determining whether a village-owned property in Glen Rock could meet the needs of both municipalities.

The plan calls for the construction of a garage at a water treatment facility owned by Ridgewood, located on Prospect Street in Glen Rock. Pucciarelli recommended that the council split the $5,250 cost with the borough to conduct an environmental survey and study on vehicle access, to determine whether the site would fit the needs of the both municipalities.

“We are moving down a road that envisions a partnership with Glen Rock in this project,” he said. “Even as we speak, the council of Glen Rock is entertaining the same proposal that we are going to look at.”

According to Glen Rock Mayor John van Keuren, the borough council, which also met last Wednesday night, came to an “informal consensus” on funding 50 percent of the study’s costs, but has yet to hold a public hearing or bring it to a formal vote.

Chris Rutishauser, Ridgewood’s municipal engineer, told the council that under the proposed feasibility study, Conklin Associates of Ramsey, which has done work for the developer considering a 60-unit age-restricted housing development on the same property, would investigate environmental permitting on the wetlands site and determine whether the lot is viable for construction.

The 90,000 square foot lot would house a “state of the art facility,” Pucciarelli said, to replace what officials have argued is an inadequate garage on Chestnut Street. He said that the committee has determined that constructing a modern facility on the same site would pose difficulties.

Because the plan is “site specific,” he said, there is still no estimate as to what the total cost of the work would be. Officials in both towns said that the details have not been hammered out, while officials await the findings of a feasibility study to determine whether the site would accommodate construction.

“We don’t even know if we have an alternative site to Chestnut Street yet,” Pucciarelli said.

Van Keuren told Patch that Glen Rock, which currently has its municipal garage on Doremus Place, also has a “moderate need” for a new facility, and remains open to exploring the possibility.

“We’re dealing with the situation, but there could be improvement in the facility we have now,” he said. “The council is willing to explore the possibility with Ridgewood.”

Ridgewood officials agreed to move forward with a feasibility study pending an agreement from Glen Rock to split the cost.