Algae Toss At Edgemont Park

Cary,

I too applaud your efforts. I am not as big a fan of the quiet zone as most here are. We are only one of two towns in Jersey who either have or are applying for quiet zone status. The other town being haughty Westfield. Once can not control taxes by spending 700+K on a mostly frivolous spend. Property values maintained, I hardly agree. The rumble of the diesel engines will not be eliminated nor will the impending increase in rail traffic going forward. When a homeowner sells their home adjacent to the tracks, are they going to tell the potential buyer that their won't be train whistles, but you'll still feel the rumble? Good luck with that argument. Well anyhow, I'm not sure how your consultant came up with such a low cost to provide the necessary upgrades at the crossings to pass the fed regs on establishing a quiet zone. I went to the federal site where you can create your own estimate and my numbers were closer to 1.5 to 2 million. I hope this consultant knows what he's doing. When the cost comes out to 1.5 million, will you still agree that it is a worthwhile spend? When the final cost comes in, I'll be sure to attend the council meeting so I can say, "I told ya so!"

For the record, I live within 100 yards of the rails and do not support this spend.

As for the pond dredge and repair...Please try to do it right this time. I recall the pond being empty for quite a while a few years ago. Someone should look into why this failed the last time around so we do not repeat the same mistake.

And for heaven's sake. Please have the advisory committee look into the NEED for the new school. This is the project that could end up determining your legacy. The fact that construction just continues as school enrollment appears to be dropping is shameful. But why listen to me..I'm just the person paying for it.

Wow! The professor was right about the 'flux capacitor'. It appears my post from July 14th finally appeared on August 14th.

I live two blocks from Watchung Plaza, and I work at home two days per week. I do not find the train whistles bothersome. What is more bothersome are the lawn service machines, which are out six days per week, not five like the train. And, I wonder what the Council response will be when - inevitably - someone walking on the tracks, using a Blackberry, or earphones - is struck by a "quiet" train. Have we forgotten about that tragedy from a few years back?

I recall there were extensive renovations done to Edgemont Pond about ten years ago. The sight of a Caterpillar tractor sitting in the middle of the dry bed was around for quite a while.

-A former Valley Road-er

"who knew there were so many fish living in the pond?"

Anyone who's ever fished in that pond, that's who. I take my kids there regularly and we've caught some really big catfish in those waters. I biked past the pond last evening and was happy to see the fountains working again--which I'm sure has contributed to the pond becoming less mucky.

I wonder if the fish stay there or if the stream currents wash them downstream to suffer a painful toxin-related death somewhere near Newark.

I hear they will be stocking the pond with some of these bad boys!

Can any of you smart readers out there identify the species?

They are at the top of the food chain in freshwater lakes and rivers.

Highly prized and difficult to catch, growing to nearly 60 lbs and over 5 feet in length.

Muskie Fish aka Esox masquinongy

STL,

You ever catch one?

I've caught plenty of Northern Pike in Canada but never a Muskie.

A swimmer at the Ottawa Falls in Ontario was attacked by a Muskie in 1963 and managed to drag it out of the water with his bare hands. This was reported in the Ottawa Journal that summer.

Nope, MellonBrush, I've never even been fishing. Maybe the muskie fish will scare away the geese. Sure to please the geese-phobic. Or it could be Senate Majority Leader.

I don't fish anymore. I don't like to kill stuff I can buy already dead at 'Whole Foods'.

These fish will eat gosslings, perhaps even an entire goose!

No Kathryn, it is NOT the perfect time to include capital plans to dredge the pond and fix the walls. Didn't you JUST get elected?! The pond has algae this summer. It will have algae until people stop dumping chemicals on their lawns. In the meantime we're all paying $14 grand a year in property taxes. The pond can have algae.

I LOVE the capital budget vs. the operating budget logic in this town. Capital budget items are "free" in the view of the township since you only need to draw down more debt. On numerous occasions, Hartnett has commented that the only impact is the increased interest payments. Someone needs to educate our officials on the concept of principal repayment.

Based on Montclair logic, I'm going to build an addition onto my house. After all, I only need to get a home equity line and -voila!- my life gets better for free!!!

There's plenty of muskie to be caught just a few miles from here, in the Passaic River. From what I remember, they were originally introduced to help control the carp. If you're really interested, stop by the Totowa Bait and Tackle--I'm sure they can hook you up.

We'd go camping up in Lake George when I was a kid. Around the campfire, my uncle would tell scary stories, usually involving someone's toe getting nipped off by a northern pike.

banana,

Where'd you go camping? Battleground, Hearthstone?

I go to Luzerne State Campground.

My nephew saw a gnomelike creature skulking about on the hillside below our campsite late one July evening in 2005. He still insists he saw it and doesn't like to talk about it - says it freaks him out just to remember it. Oooooohh, now that's scary!

Mellon,

Roger's Rock. Probably the best place we went camping (and we camped a lot.)

It didn't take much to scare the daylights out of us, either. Have you ever heard loons (birds, not crazy people) at night? They sound just like ghosts!

Banana,

I've driven past Roger's Rock and it looked nice. It's north of Bolton I think. Maybe I'll try it out next year for a change of pace.

Never heard loons at night but we used to hear them up in Canada when we were kids. "On Golden Pond", one of my all time favorite movies features them in their inexpressible beauty. Also this movie features the most beautiful movie theme song I've ever heard, with "A Raisin in the Sun's" being second.

Just keep the fountains running: it will clear up.

Spicoli,

Capital budgets are my thing. After reinstating the Joint Capital Improvement Advisory Committee I'm ready to roll!

I agree with you. Debt has gotten uncomfortably high and we haven't even BEGUN to issue the $35MM of debt for the new school, plus Rand upgrades, etc.

Edgemont Pond though, is falling apart. The walls have crumbled and as I've said before when my golden retriever fell into the pond last week she came out a black Lab. The pond must be dredged and the walls fixed. If we don't spend the $800K now, we'll be looking at twice that amount in four years, plus "emergency" wall repairs in between.

Cary, you are right, but I hope your committee takes into consideration expenses for important health and safety issues like the quiet zone, which will have a real impact upon the town. If you can see the necessity to for an $800 expense to repair a pond, then I imagine you and the rest of the council understand that spending a comparable portion taxpayer money for a health and quality of life is essential.

jerseygurl,

I am absolutely behind the Quiet Zone. If for some reason Lorraine doesn't work out, I believe we have a second choice that will satisfy Federal requirements.

Cary Africk

Cary,

The town is fortunate to have someone like you on the council.