Monday, September 26, 2016

The Little Falls Municipal Election and YOU!

The November 8th General Election will provide Little Falls' residents with the opportunity to vote for candidates who are running for Mayor and for two Town Council seats.

In order to vote on November 8th you must be a registered voter.

Voter Registration Application Forms are available on line here; at the Passaic County Commissioner of Registration's office; or at the Little Falls' Municipal Clerk's office, 225 Main Street.

 Your completed Voter Registration Application should be mailed or delivered to the Passaic County Commissioner of Registration, Suite 1, 501 River Street, Paterson, NJ 07524-9902 by October 18th, which is the registration deadline to vote in the November 8, 2016 General Election.

 To have a voice in determining who will lead our township for the next four years you must be a registered voter and you must vote on Tuesday, November 8th.

 Your vote can make a difference for a better Little Falls!
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Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Danger, Will Robinson!


The phrase "Danger, Will Robinson," from the  1960'S TV series "Lost in Space,"  is used to warn about a potentially dangerous situation.
Well, a front page article in the September 8th edition of the  Montclair State University (MSU) student newspaper - The Montclarion -  sends an ominous message to Little Falls.

The article entitled "Susan Cole Talks Expansion and Politics in Opening Address" cites Dr. Cole's comments in reference to the 150 Clove Road building as follows: "..."often identified as the big one with the green roof."  She went on to joke that it soon might be assimilated into our "aggressively red-roofed society"....."


 The potential acquisition of the building was brought home by a graphic over the article featuring a picture of the 150 Clove Road building (the green roof building) with the image of the MSU mascot - The Red Hawk - planting an MSU flag on the roof of the building. 

The owner of the 150 Clove Road building, Theta Holding, is the second largest municipal property taxpayer in Little Falls.  Their 2016 municipal property tax bill totals $1,562,217.

 If MSU was to acquire the building this tax revenue would be lost because as a public entity MSU is tax exempt.  It doesn't have to pay the property's municipal property tax bill.

 Simply put, the "assimilation" of the 150 Clove Road building by MSU would have grave implications for the financial well-being of Little Falls.  It would result in the loss of $403,248 to the township; $415,241 to Passaic County;  $725,347 to the two Little Falls school districts; and $18,380 to the Little Falls Public Library.

In other words, the town, the county, the school districts and the Public Library would need to replace $1,562,217 in lost tax revenue.

Images still linger of the lost $294,000 in municipal tax revenue when MSU purchased the Ward Trucking site in 2011. 

While the acquisition of the 150 Clove Road building by MSU may not be imminent, our elected officials need to develop an aggressive strategy to address this potential danger!

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Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Council news - sounds of silence

With the commencement of the new school year elementary school students are often asked by their teachers to describe what they did during their summer vacation.  As you can imagine the children's responses are filled with details of their respective summer adventures.

Try asking Town residents what their Town Council did during its summer vacation and you'd be greeted by blank expressions.

 This response is the result of several factors:

 1) The Council has a summer calendar which runs from June through September.   During these four months the Council only schedules one joint regular and workshop meeting per month instead of the two separate meetings which it holds during the remainder of the year; and

 2)  While the Town does communicate by posts on its web site and via email blasts the agendas for each of the summer Council meetings by the Friday before each scheduled meeting, it provides the public with virtually no information about what occurred during each of the summer Council meetings. 

 For instance, this summer the Council held combined workshop and regular meetings on June 13th, July 11th, August 18th and September 12th.  To date neither the video recordings nor the minutes of the respective meetings are available on the Town's web site.

 Little Falls' residents have a right to know what its council discusses at each of its public meetings and the town has an obligation to ensure that the public is informed in a timely manner.

 This coming November 8th Little Falls' residents will have an opportunity to vote for Mayor and two Council seats.  Perhaps each of the candidates running for office will address this issue and will advocate for procedures that will foster greater transparency with respect to our Township's government.
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Monday, September 5, 2016

The Buzz on the Main Street Condo Project

An August 22nd post on the FaceBook site "You might be from Little Falls if...." has generated considerable comments about the Main Street condos and plans for future construction on Paterson Avenue.
 
Below is the thread of comments since the original posting on August 22nd -
 
===========
Monday Aug 21 - progress on project at Main St - looking west from bus stop at Maple St ( Lincoln Ave immediately to the left )
 
 
Comments
Peter Wychman End Of Little Falls, with money you can even ruin a town.
LikeReply6August 22 at 6:09pm
Albert Cuccinello Jr Is there any artists rendering of this project? Will it match the structures near by?
LikeReplyAugust 22 at 6:52pm
George C Eaton from the architect's facebook page
LikeReplyAugust 23 at 7:27am
 
Anna Norman Guinn It looks so big in this pic
I drive past it every day
LikeReplyAugust 22 at 6:54pm
Gerri Freund Desmet Oh my! How sad😞
LikeReplyAugust 22 at 7:03pm
Melanie Porco Adler Looks so different : (
LikeReplyAugust 22 at 7:15pm
Marilyn Meder How many floors is it going to be?
LikeReplyAugust 22 at 7:37pm
George C Eaton should just be three - the roof framing is next
LikeReply1August 23 at 7:13am
George C Eaton Marilyn Meder - go by it now - roof is done along with paparpet walls at front - this should be it !
LikeReply1August 31 at 11:57am
 
Eileen Peterson should have been made with cinder blocks instead of wood. Junk!
LikeReply4August 22 at 9:11pm
Ralph Fitzwater not a lot of sidewalk for all the shoppers to walk.
LikeReply3August 22 at 10:34pm
Ralph Fitzwater if they'd set the bottom back a few feet they might have achieved some sense of architecture- providing a covered walk for shopping- nahh qsquare footage that's all that counts
LikeReply4August 22 at 10:38pm
Chris Aliprantis Why do I feel like I'm the only one that thinks the world (town) isn't coming to an end with this? Looks nice to me, center of town could use some sprucing up anyways.
LikeReply8August 23 at 9:12am
Carol Jane Belding I agree! One could work in NYC, take the bus, and live in a small town. It's progress.
LikeReply3August 23 at 5:19pm
Heather Dougherty Krietzman Agree. 100%! This part of town was not looking so great and had a number of empty storefronts. Change is not necessarily a bad thing. I'm looking forward to the finished product
LikeReplyAugust 23 at 7:50pmEdited
 
Sharon Herman It's terrible how money hungry rich people are ruining this town and driving out the older generation
LikeReply1August 23 at 9:15am
Karen Casler-negast Change is good for the town and Little Falls needs this new history being rich has nothing to do with it 
LikeReply5August 23 at 9:30am
Linda Weite Crosman I agree, Karen. Change is good and I don't know what rich people are profitting from this.
LikeReply1August 23 at 4:19pm
 
 
Sharon Herman Well being not rich has me moving out
LikeReply1August 23 at 9:35am
Karen Casler-negast To live in the state of New Jersey is expensive 
LikeReplyAugust 23 at 9:46am
Judy Morano Love it! Great addition to the center of town that wasn't looking so good!
LikeReply6August 23 at 9:50am
Janet Kokolus Omg...I used to live on Lincoln ...big changes
LikeReplyAugust 23 at 3:55pm
Pat Zicot Pelonero If you do not live in town any longer you might not know our taxes are out of control. There are no ratables this will help that situation somewhat. Change is good and as for the proximity of the sidewalk it sits back at least 6 feet from the existing ...See More
LikeReply3August 23 at 7:13pm
Sharon Herman Maybe but rateables they will never lower the taxes
LikeReplyAugust 23 at 7:22pm
Sharon Herman Rents for the stores are too high
LikeReplyAugust 23 at 7:23pm
 
Albert Cuccinello Jr pretty generic , oh well .
LikeReplyAugust 23 at 7:18pm
Albert Cuccinello Jr was hoping it would reflect the Pullara building or Stanton's storefront look
LikeReply2August 23 at 7:23pmEdited
Sandy Webb There is nothing wrong with change, it happens everyday and everywhere, it's life! This town isn't being RUINED.  Fixating on what was lost as a result of the change will prevent us from experiencing the good things that our new circumstances can bring us.
LikeReply4August 26 at 2:57pm
Karen Casler-negast Plenty of sidewalk room I walk it everyday this town needs change big time out with the old in with the new 
LikeReply3August 28 at 8:50am
Jersey Mama-Gigi Luzzi Rich from our too high taxes
LikeReplyAugust 28 at 10:57am
Ralph Fitzwater went by yesterday- there is as much sidewalk as the rest of the blocl- it will make the town look bigger-it'll be good - what was really sad- was all the empty space on McBride ave- all those good solid manufacturing business the town HAD, gone- along with the employment
LikeReplyAugust 28 at 11:55am
Peter Wychman Do you mean Paterson Ave?
LikeReplyAugust 29 at 7:59am
Marion Start Probably -- everyone thinks, once you go under Rt. 46 from W.P., that it's still McBride -- even though it's the same street, once you're in L.F., it's Paterson Avenue.
LikeReplyAugust 29 at 8:55am
Chuck Belding It's being built professionally,the project seems to be going smoothly,without any apparent glitches.
LikeReply2August 29 at 9:29pm
Chuck Belding It's not about being money hungry ,it's about being proactive in attracting new people and venues!
LikeReply2August 29 at 9:32pm
Hide 11 Replies
 
Peter Wychman Maybe because the older residents built the town for many years, their not needed any more. Most of our older residents probably don't even know this site is here. If they did we would probably hear their side. I bet all of them know the name of the street Enterprise Fire Company is on.
LikeReplyAugust 30 at 8:11am
Sharon Herman Trust me we know and can't miss it
LikeReplyAugust 30 at 8:32am
Karen Casler-negast They should know where the firehouse is and most of the older generation are desceased they dont run the town any way !!!!
LikeReplyAugust 30 at 8:51am
Peter Wychman What runs the town MONEY?
LikeReplyAugust 30 at 10:12am
Chuck Belding Why the controversy? enlighten me,my family has lived in this town for 5 generations,most of the older people were not overly wealthy and survived here,but we all know,New Jersey in general is becoming a very expensive state to live in so you have to adapt for the better.
LikeReplyAugust 30 at 10:23am
Karen Casler-negast Thats very true Chuck your explanation makes sense to bad other people don't understand 
LikeReplyAugust 30 at 10:41am
Peter Wychman Other people don't understand 1, is it true all the houses on Paterson Ave from the bank parking lot down to the brown stone are going to be torn down 2 trying to make Paterson Ave. a one way from Main down to Maple. 3 move Enterprize fire company down to Wilmore Road. Just some of the things that have been discussed. .
LikeReplyAugust 30 at 5:37pm
George C Eaton Peter Wychman for #1 - I've been waiting for the developer of the Main St project to come before the Plan Bd with next phase that deals with Pat Ave properties that they own ( including the brownstone house at #50 ) ... for #2 - 2013 Master Plan recommendations include 1 way Pat Ave + "roundabout" at Maple St ( see below ) ... for #3 - WoW ! had not heard that one ...
LikeReplyAugust 31 at 12:11pmEdited
Peter Wychman If you move the fire house there isn't any reason to block the one way on Paterson Ave. If one way and there is a fire in school # 1 and Enterprize has to go to Maple Street, to Main make a right then go through town how much time could be loss? Just a thought.
LikeReplySeptember 1 at 5:44pm
Peter Wychman Two way Traffic on Maple would make it hard for fire engins to get through.
LikeReplySeptember 1 at 5:57pm
 
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