Glen Ridge orders removal of hazardous Ridgewood Avenue trees, upgrades police recording system

During public comment, a resident asked the borough to reinstate plastic bag collection at the municipal building, while another resident requested pothole repairs on Freeman Parkway and thanked Chief Quinn for installing a speed detector on Hawthorne Avenue. The council introduced Ordinance 1759, which would allow the borough to exceed municipal budget appropriation limits and establish a CAP bank, on first reading, and approved a $19,765 purchase of a new 40-port digital voice recording system for the Police Department from Interaction Insight Corporation through a state cooperative contract.

The council's most consequential item was Resolution 47-22, formally determining that dead and broken branches on privately owned trees at 150 Ridgewood Avenue posed a threat to public health and safety; it directed the borough to serve the property owner with a demand to remove the hazard within 10 days, after which the borough's public works department would do the work itself and place a lien on the property for the cost. Separately, the council approved a $3,610 change order to its existing tree-removal contract with Dujets Tree Experts after additional trees needed removal, bringing that project's total to $33,145, and awarded a $25,500 athletic-field aeration and maintenance contract to Downes Tree Service, whose bid came in far below competitor Green Valley's roughly $85,700 proposal.

The council also renewed its animal control services agreement with the Township of Bloomfield for $18,000 in 2022 (with a built-in 2% annual increase), approved a raffle license for the St. Vincent's Auxiliary, and appointed Julie Zichelli to the Shade Tree Commission and In Koo Kim as a 2nd alternate member of the Historic Preservation Commission. Councilor Hughes reported the Public Safety Committee was reviewing safe-routes-to-school measures, blinking pedestrian signs, and a proposed four-way stop at Lincoln and Douglas, and Chief Quinn warned of an uptick in stolen vehicles, urging residents to lock cars and remove valuables. All votes at the meeting were unanimous.

What to watch

• Property owner at 150 Ridgewood Avenue given 10 days to remove hazardous branches before the borough does the work and liens the property.
• Ordinance 1759 (CAP bank) due back for public hearing and final adoption.
• Proposed four-way stop at Lincoln and Douglas under Public Safety Committee review.