Ringwood’s Council Meeting Blog 9/16/25

Sep 19

Written By Ringwood GOP

Hi Ringwood! Tuesday’s Council meeting started with Proclamations and Presentations:

We helped to celebrate 40 years of the New Jersey Botanical Gardens

Councilwomen Echols and Baumgartener attended on behalf of the Borough and presented a proclamation.

Ringwood Downtown (501c3): Update from Board members Ms. Holton, Mr. Edwab, and Mrs. Burger.

Azarian has a plan to update Fieldstone Shopping Center. They are in the process of editing renderings. Plans will be made public at a future town hall presentation.

Manager’s Report:

Skyline Drive

The new crosswalk with a flashing beacon and pedestrian warning signs will be installed between Wells Fargo and Dunkin’ Donuts in the next few weeks.

The speed monitoring sign is being programmed on Wednesday and installed before the Fieldstone Shopping Center later this week.

Fieldstone Shopping Center

The conceptual plans with Mr. Azarian for the proposed shopping center renovations are being reviewed.

The full proposed improvements will need to be reviewed and approved by the Planning Board and Council.

Their professional engineer from LAN Associates has already been in contact with the Planning Board secretary to initiate the application process.

Signs

Lay-Z-Boy posted signs throughout the Borough without obtaining the required permit. As a result, those signs have been removed by the store.

DPW

The Public Works Department took the initiative to clean the County roads two days a week. Last week, the crews collected 165 bags of garbage.

Recreation:

The Recreation Department continues to expand programs, workshops, and special events for our residents. They have created the following new programs at the Community Center:

Country Line Dancing, Tuesday evening September 23rd.
Pilates on Friday and Saturday mornings.
Youth basketball training.
Senior Fall Harvest Dinner/Dance on Friday, November 7th.
Coming Soon! Youth hip hop class and travel basketball registration
Halloween Trunk or Treat- Saturday, October 25th 1:30-3:30 pm @ the library overflow parking lot.
Tickets: New Jersey Devils home opener on Thursday, October 16th. Purchase on Community Pass.

Town Wide Garage Sale

Our town wide yard sale will take place Saturday, September 27th and Sunday, September 28th from 9am – 4pm. This event is rain or shine!
Maps will be available at Borough Hall and the Library on Friday, September 26th. They will also be distributed on Saturday, September 27th at 7:30am by the Park & Ride, while supplies last. Street lists will be posted to the Borough website on Friday, 9/19/25.

Old Business:

Ordinance No. 2025-#09:

Copies of birth, marriage, civil union, and death certificates are now $25 for the first copy and $10 for additional copies.

Board of Health Ordinance No. 2025-#01:

License fees for food establishments have changed.

Board of Health Ordinance No. 2025-#02:

These are annual fees for licensed septic pumpers and installer’s. This is not a fee for residents.

Board of Health Ordinance No. 2025-#03:

This is a new chapter of the Board of Health ordinance to now include electronic smoking devices under our tobacco license.

Executive Session:

At the closed execution session of the September 16, 2025 Borough of Ringwood Council meeting, the Council was briefed on the “final draft” of the Operable Unit-3 (Site Related Groundwater) Consent Decree with Statement of Work for the Ringwood Mines/Landfill Superfund Site. In public session, the Council voted and approved of the Resolution authorizing Scott Heck, Borough Manager, to execute the OU-3 CD with SOW on behalf of the Borough of Ringwood. The OU-3 CD with SOW sets forth the Settling Defendants’ (Borough of Ringwood and Ford Motor Company) respective responsibilities, obligations and rights for the performance of the selected remedy for site related groundwater set forth in the US EPA’s September 29, 2020 Record of Decision. It is expected that the Parties will execute the OU-3 CD with SOW on or before September 30, 2025.

The council met virtually with our attorney Justin Santagata, Esq. to discuss the quarry litigation.
The council discussed contract negotiations for our Borough Manager as well as succession planning.

Upcoming Events/ Announcements:

Councilman Kiraly: Discussion on revisiting a traffic ordinance regarding e-bikes. We are looking at guidance from the police and the county to craft a new ordinance.

New business! New mechanic at the Delta on Carletondale Road with a Grand Opening Friday, Sept. 19th and a new Bricks 4 Kidz with a grand opening in October!!

Rail Trail Update: Thursday Night 6-8pm at Passaic County Community College

Morning of Saturday, Sept. 20th: Marines Lakeland Detachment Breakfast in Oakland.
Setting Up Your Business for Success - Free Series

Learn how to build your business with confidence!
Thursday, September 11, 2025 from 6-7:30pm and Tuesday, September 30, 2025 from 6-7:30pm At the Ringwood Public Library

Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025: Rocktoberfest from 1-6pm. There will be live music, food, craft beer, and activities for kids located at the Music in the Woods location at Fieldstone Shopping Center.

The deadline for folks joining the Library Association that will allow them to vote in the election of Trustees in December is October 1. Applications can be found in the library or on the library website. All adult, full-time Ringwood residents are eligible to join.

The library is getting ready for the Used Book Sale and asking for volunteers to sign up. There is a link to the sign-up genius on the library webpage or people can call the library to volunteer. The book collection days will be October 13 and 14 and the sale will be October 16-18.