News from Skylands CLEAN, Inc.

Long-festering sore in Ringwood
Letters to the Editor -- Bergen Record, November 16, 2008

It’s tragic that the residents of Upper Ringwood need legal representation in their dealings with their local government ("High-profile attorney joins fight against toxic waste," Nov. 12). But as Bradley Campbell — former Department of Environmental Protection commissioner and now attorney representing Roger DeGroat — states, DeGroat’s three-year struggle with the borough to fix the hazardous sinkhole in his yard is yet more evidence of the "pattern of neglect the entire community has suffered" for years.

Mayor Walter Davison, who previously sat on the Borough Council some 22 years, including several terms as mayor, blames "the prior administration" for redirecting the Small Cities Grant that was awarded to Ringwood in August 2006 to fix DeGroat’s sinkhole.

Davison’s statement is false. From the time the grant was awarded to Ringwood until November 2007, DeGroat’s sinkhole went unremediated. This failure was an ever-present issue at council meetings. DeGroat attended numerous meeting to plead his case. Promises were made but never kept. As a council member at the time, I was frustrated by this foot-dragging.

What we did not know was that there was a lack of will by the borough administration to fix the sinkhole and that it stonewalled the process by not complying with Department of Community Affairs regulations.

Wenke Taule

Ringwood, Nov. 13

The writer, a Democrat, is a former Ringwood mayor.

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I was pleased to see that former Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bradley Campbell has agreed to assist resident Roger DeGroat in his battle to get Ringwood to remediate the major sinkhole in his back yard. After all, the borough received $238,000 in state funding to do the job back in August 2006. DeGroat has been patiently waiting ever since.

Mayor Walter Davison blames the prior council for the failure, accusing them of "redirecting the money." This doesn’t square with the facts.

In November 2007, the former council pledged to add $204,000 from an employment development grant to the $177,000 remaining from the original grant. This resolution was never acted upon when the new council, with Davison as mayor, took office in January of this year.

Surprisingly, the $177,000 is now "gone," as the grant was closed in April 2008 under Davison’s watch. The $204,000 employment development grant has been redirected again, without any public hearing or even a resolution. No work was done on the sinkhole between November 2007 and April 2008.

Where was that money spent? I would say the borough has some explaining to do.

Robin O’Hearn, Executive Director,

Skylands CLEAN, Inc., Ringwood