(This letter was published, but buried deep in the paper with no continuation notice on the letters to the editor page)

Suburban Trends- 10/16/09
Dear Editor:


When the Republicans came back into power in 2007, their campaign slogan was "getting Ringwood back on track." But maybe it should have been "a giant step backward." Their handling of the Saddle Mountain Quarry is the most recent example. In two short years, the quarry has stopped complying with our ordinance, and has once again become a serious problem to residents in the Stonetown area.

The quarry, that exists in the Stonetown section of Ringwood has been plagued by controversy since 1990 (not five years ago as was written in the Suburban Trends article, "Quarry neighbors fed up with blasting") when it forced its way into Ringwood with the help of the all Republican Council (Republicans have controlled the Ringwood Council for 33 of the last 35 years). The quarry was originally Van Orden Sand and Gravel, but after the Braen family purchased the business they turned it into a full fledged quarry operation even though quarrying was not a permitted use in Ringwood. The neighborhood affected by the quarry operation fought long and hard to keep the quarry from devastating this pristine section of Ringwood, but without the support of their local government they failed.

The quality of life for the residents living in Stonetown deteriorated to an unbearable level, with intense blasting shaking their homes, fly rock landing in people's yards, pollution of the Westbrook, dangerous truck traffic on rural roads, noise and destruction in their once quiet residential neighborhood. Finally, in 2000 the residents' outrage forced the Borough to deny the quarry a license renewal, which Saddle Mountain challenged in court.

The taxpayers of Ringwood paid hundreds of thousands of dollars fighting Saddle Mountain. The borough attorney, Richard Clemack, earned over $150,000 in just a 4 year period. In 2000 Judge Humphries upheld Ringwood's right to control the quarry operation to protect the residents and their property. Unfortunately, the Borough never used this power. Neither Sean Isgan, the engineer hired to monitor the quarry, Ringwood's borough engineer, or the Ringwood Council forced the quarry to adhere to our ordinance prior to 2004.

When the Democrats took control of the Ringwood council in 2004 the quarry was up for relicensing. We hired the engineering firm of H2M to bring them into compliance with our ordinance -- over the objections of Councilmen Heck, Marsala, and Taukus. It took over two years of wrangling between H2M, the Council and Saddle Mountain to resolve the quarry's numerous violations. The Democrats and our borough attorney, Joseph Maraziti, worked diligently with the Stonetown residents, and forced the quarry to pay for all engineering and legal costs associated with the relicensing. Once the quarry became compliant we issued them an extension of their license, contingent upon quarterly monitoring of their activities.

Unfortunately, Saddle Mountain's compliance was short lived. When the Republicans took back control of the council in 2008, they let H2M go, rehired Sean Isgan and never monitored the quarry. It is interesting to note that the quarry operators donated $1000 to the local Republican Campaign in 2007.

Now the quarry is up for relicensing again and it is an election year, so of course the Ringwood Council is pretending to see the light. They rehired H2M, who have found significant violations. The Council claims that there are no complaints regarding blasting, however residents dispute that claim. The most disturbing violation is the fact that the quarry has blasted 60 feet deeper than allowed by the court ruling. Water for the residents in Stonetown is supplied by private wells, consequently blasting below the allotted depth jeopardizes the aquifer that supplies them with water.

It is a failure of the Ringwood Council and Borough Attorney that the quarry has gone unchecked for two years, allowing it to threaten the neighborhood's quality of life once more.

At the recent quarry hearing Councilwoman Anderson and Councilman Speer voted to stop a resolution that would immediately prohibit the quarry from blasting deeper than allowed by the court. They voted to protect the quarry not their constituents!  And at the subsequent council meeting when Mayor Davison was questioned about the depth violation he exclaimed," how did this happen?" "Weren't there supposed to be inspections?"

Wenke Taule (Former Ringwood Mayor)

Suburban Trends

To the editor,

I find Ringwood Borough’s explanations regarding the missed opportunity to receive nearly $50K in Highlands Tax Stabilization aid this year rather unconvincing. (ìCouncil trims municipal budgetî, Suburban Trends, Sunday, June 14). Initially, at the May 21^st Council Meeting, when the council first introduced the budget, I questioned why they were showing no revenue from this State aid program. Borough Manager Kelley Rohde, supported by Borough Auditor Charles Ferraioli, defended the loss of this aid, stating that the Highlands Tax Stabilization Aid program was discontinued. At the time I pointed out I did not believe this to be the case and it was my understanding the Borough simply dropped the ball on applying in a timely manner.

This aid program is written into the legislation of the Highlands Act and is awarded annually by the Highlands Tax Stabilization Board (HTSB) which is part of the State Treasury and as has been the case each year since the inception of the act. However each and every year the town must apply to be eligible to receive the aid, as they have done in the past. The Board charged with managing this aid program was created in the Highlands legislation and is appointed by the Governor. Had this program been discontinued as was presented as the excuse by the Manager, it would have required an amendment to the Highlands Act by the legislature. It would have affected all 88 Highlands communities. Can anyone be so naive as to think this would not have been newsworthy? Can anyone be so naive as to think this would not have resulted in an outcry by the affected municipalities? This program is major a financial underpinning of the Act.

The Borough Manager has since recanted and admitted that the borough simply missed the application deadline as I originally believed, but what I find equally disturbing is the fact that it appears she and the council are trying to down play this costly mistake by stating that Mount Olive only got $7000. What they are not so quick to point out is, A) Mount Olive received less than $20K in 2008, while Ringwood received nearly $50K; B) Mount Olive’s reduction was mostly due to a town wide reevaluation which does not effect Ringwood until its time to apply for next year’s aid. Do not be fooled, this was a $50K over sight on the part of the Council and ìbothî the Borough managers that our tax money is supporting.

Some may say $50K is not that much, but it could have paid 2 years worth of health insurance for our past Borough Manager Kathy Cenicola for whom as tax payers we have contributed over a $100 as a result of a deal made years ago is part of a buy out program to create a job for another councilman; it could pay for almost Ω a years salary for the latest job created for another political insider and past Republican club Municipal leader; or it could have paid for 10 years of seed money for the Ringwood Higlands Fair, and event shared by the entire community and that provided the opportunity for many of our businesses volunteer groups to raise money; or it could have simply lowered our Taxes. What the ìHeckî were they thinking; perhaps if the council would spend less time on finding ways to funnel jobs and open space funds to their friends and family they would have more time to catch these oversights. It’s your Money folks, start paying attention before your pockets are picked bare.

It is a shame that the borough missed this chance to provide tax relief to its residents. It is also unfortunate that misinformation is being used to justify the borough’s mistake.

Tom Mac Allen

In Ringwood, It’s Not What You Know, It’s Who You Know

To The Editor:

The current Ringwood Administration has once again given a high-paying job to a Republican crony without benefit of an advertised job search. Scott Heck has just been hired, at $95,000 a year, as Director of Public Works. Astonishingly enough, this is the same person they created a $60,000 a year position for last year, also without benefit of a legitimate job search. I’m talking about Scott Heck, former Republican councilman, mayor, and Republican Municipal Leader. As soon as the Republicans returned to power, they immediately started to reward their party faithful. They put the Ringwood Republican Club attorney back in place as borough attorney, with an increase in pay from the last attorney. They granted Borough Clerk Kelley Rohde the additional position of Acting Borough Manager, with an increase in pay of over $40,000. Then they created for Scott Heck, the owner of a small, local landscape business, a $60,000 a year job (with $22,000 more in health benefits) as Deputy Borough Manager. This was a brand new position that was handed over to a man with seemingly no related experience. And the Ringwood taxpayer picked up the tab for their benevolence towards their pal.

Heck, whose prior work experience was running a small business, now controls a good part of Ringwood’s town business. They didn’t advertise anywhere for either of his two jobs. They didn’t interview anyone else for the first job, and supposedly interviewed only two other town employees for the second job. They just hired Heck, because “he knows more about Ringwood than anyone.” Oh come on! There are small business owners throughout Ringwood, people who have lived here for years…are they all qualified to run our town? And can no actual, trained professional manager from outside of Ringwood learn what’s needed to do the job? How can people charged with the responsibility of managing taxpayer dollars make an $82,000 decision or their recent $127,000 + decision (salary plus benefits in both cases), without any transparency in the hiring process, without even attempting to find the best person for the job? He was apparently the “best” person they knew, and he needed a job. Best is a relative term. There is no way to know whether they hired the “best” candidate if the administration didn’t even consider anyone else.

From the very beginning, they were already planning his next plum position, Director of Public Works. How do we know this? They raised the salary of just-replaced Willard Bierwas to $95,000 (a salary he’d worked his way up to over a period of over 25 years), even though it was public knowledge that he was planning to retire. Why? Mr. Heck was preparing to take the tests needed to replace him and they wanted to pump up the salary.

In what business, except a carelessly-run family business, would a newcomer get top dollar as his starting salary? In what business, except a family business, would a person who just passed the required tests receive the top of the salary scale, the salary that had been earned by his predecessor who had decades of experience? The outrageous thing, of course, is that this is not their family’s business…it’s ours, the taxpayers. After Heck was hired as Deputy Borough Manager, we were told over and over again how much he was doing for the town, how much he was needed, how he was working 24/7. Now, he’ll be working in a “significantly-reduced” capacity as Deputy but will still receive $10,000 in addition to his new salary of $95,000. Who will be doing all the things he was supposedly doing as Deputy? Is everything in town all fixed, roads perfect, problems solved? Or will he be working 48/14?

When pressed about this situation, the current administration keeps repeating that Mr. Heck is doing a great job, and no-one has complained. Neither of those statements is true if you merely look at the facts. There was an article in the “Bergen Record” in January that there was ongoing Internet blogging about the poor snow removal this year; there was the $18,000 settlement for a water main break that damaged a resident’s home (a situation Mr. Heck didn’t follow through on the day it occurred); there was the switch to salt only for road cleaning, even though salt is not good for the lakes or water system; and there was the subsequent rise in sodium levels in water testing; there is the stalled road project in Erskine Lakes because the person spearheading the work didn’t anticipate hitting rock ledge in Ringwood (seriously?), and of course, there is are still many unresolved issues with the Upper Ringwood residents. These items all point to a certain level of inexperience and poor decision-making skills. However, to be perfectly clear, even if Mr. Heck was doing a great job, it is irrelevant to the fact that his hiring was done without a proper job search. He was hired because he was a friend of this current administration and, in this economy he needed a job with health benefits and a pension, since as a self-employed landscaper he had neither.

The administration is supposed to spend taxpayer dollars in a fiscally responsible manner yet they make serious, costly hiring decisions as if they ran a local grocery store. Heck’s main advantage, if one listens to the administration and party faithful who speak at meetings, seems to be that “he knows Ringwood.” I think that’s a ridiculous argument; that only a Ringwood resident could be in either of these jobs. However, even if we assume that’s the case, I’d venture a guess that, when dozens of our neighbors have lost their jobs in this dreadful economy, there are many with management experience who would like to have been considered for either job. I’d guess that many would have been perfectly willing to take the exams necessary for Heck’s latest job. This administration owed the taxpayers a duty to explore, really examine, the credentials of more than one person before paying out these incredibly high salaries, in the first instance for a custom-made position.

The true outrage though is that they have perpetrated this exact scam before, and it continues to cost taxpayers money, more than seven years later. When Mayor Davison was a councilman, he also found himself in need of a job. Unexpectedly, the Borough Manager resigned and the council appointed one of its own, Mr. Davison, to the job with a $30,000 increase over his previous salary. Surprisingly, we continue to pay health benefits, to the tune of over $20,000 a year, to the person Davison replaced. Why have we paid close to $150,000 for benefits for someone who doesn’t work for the Borough anymore? The Borough Manager serves at the appointment of the council. When they’re replaced, they’re done. Why do we continue to pay this money? Will we go on paying forever? And who made these arrangements in the first place? Back then, the Ringwood administration included some familiar names: Taukus, Davison, Heck and Rohde. Three were councilmen and one was a part-time clerk/stenographer. When they were done with their political patronage, Davison was the highly paid Municipal Manager, Mrs. Rohde was the Municipal Clerk, Mr. Marsala was a councilman, and Kathy Cenicola was gone with perks we’re still paying for, over seven years later. If you connect the dots, they will take you right back to this administration, and the jobs they handed over to Scott Heck on a silver platter. Our silver, our platter, our taxes, our town, handed over without question to one of the people who paved the way for Mr. Davison’s equally costly position over seven years ago. Same dots, different configuration, since now Mr. Davison is the Mayor, Mrs. Rohde earns approximately $140,000 between salary and benefits, Mr. Heck earns $127,000 between salary and benefits, and Taukus and Marsala are back as councilmen. Taxpayers should be livid, I know I am.

Robin Canetti

June 9, 2009

Dear Editor:

At the April 17th Council meeting, a local resident questioned how the former Ringwood Republican Municipal Leader/ ex- mayor suddenly became the Deputy Borough Manager at a salary of $60,000 per year. The resident’s feeling was that it basically stunk of back room politics and “did not pass the sniff” test.  Even though Mayor Davison could do no more than dance around the question of how many, if any, other candidates were ever considered for the position, he was “proud to be sitting next to such a worthy person” for the job. Of course he missed the entire point…it was not about whether or not Mr. Heck is worthy of the position…it had to do with process and open government. Mayor Davison’s view might have been tainted by the fact that on one side of him sat the former Republican municipal leader earning $60,000 of taxpayer money in a job that the town never had previously as a separate position.  On his other side sat the Republican Club Attorney who received a 35% increase in retainer fee over the previous attorney. Or perhaps he remembered that when he left his job at the County, his republican cronies on the council rushed to his aid and forced then Borough Manager/ Clerk Kathy Cencicola out to create a $100,000 plus per year job for good Ol’ Walt. In municipal government, forcing someone out is a misnomer; it really means buying someone out. For example, in that case, taxpayer dollars were used to pay for her health coverage in Florida for several years. As far as I know, we the taxpayers are still paying the bill, just so the “boys” could provide a job for one of their own. It’s all part of the Republican “Friends and Family” program in Ringwood.

Next thing you know, they’ll be buying the present DPW director out so Mr. Heck can take over that department and increase his already inflated salary. Don’t forget, he likely falls into the old politician’s trick. Since having served on the council, he likely has 12 years in the pension system, a system where the payout is based on your highest three years of earning. So work three years at full salary and get retirement pay as if you had 15 years of service. Nice deal if you can get it. Again, all part of the Republican “Friends and Family” program.  Cronyism is a live and well and flourishing in Ringwood. Now we know what was meant by their campaign slogan “Getting Ringwood Back on Track”.

Tom Mac Allen
Ringwood, NJ

Suburban Trends
April 22, 2009

Dear Editor:

The Suburban Trends article on March 25, "Council seeking to curb its critics remarks," is an example of the extreme hypocrisy that the all Republican Ringwood Council exhibits. Considering what I was subjected to when I was mayor, it also proves that they are a bunch of wimps!

I laughed so hard when I read the article that my sides hurt. Mayor Davison is planning to use his gavel when he feels the council is being attacked and will even have persons removed from the council chambers. If I had tried that when I was mayor the Republicans would have gone berserk! They spent the two years that I was mayor organizing every possible group against me. Meetings became the best reality show in town as the Republicans went as far as wanting to have me arrested for removing saplings in my yard. Mr. Joe Troy proudly announced at a meeting that he trespassed on my property to count trees. I guess he was part of the Republican tree police. They seemed to forget that a whole mountain was denuded, without a permit, on their watch. And by the way, the tree ordinance Mr. Troy and company were so obsessed with still stands.

Even during those contentious meetings I treated everyone respectfully, which is more that I can say for this group.

Councilman Marsala says he "won't stand" for people accusing any council member of professional lapses. He has no credibility when making such a statement. While the borough of Ringwood was being sued by residents to perform a tax revaluation (this lawsuit sparked the recent revaluation), Mr. Marsala sat in on closed session meetings which included discussions of this legal matter even though his sister was a litigant in the suit. His failure to recuse himself during these discussions was a serious ethical lapse, especially for an attorney who should know better. I also watched Mr. Marsala almost in tears at a recent council meeting as he defended Mayor Davison and the office of the mayor, but his disrespect of me when I was mayor, even calling me a liar, was his mantra.

Councilman Taukus has always been very disrespectful to the public, which he seems to be very proud of. He also seems to think it's fun to bully the public. When Ms. Grace Hazeldine mentioned at a meeting the fact that Congressman Garrett stated in one of his 2007 newsletters that a mere walk through of Upper Ringwood by council members in 1994 (the year the superfund site was de-listed) would have revealed that much toxic sludge still remained, Mr. Taukus went off the deep end. He called Ms. Hazeldine a liar and also said she wouldn't know the truth if it "bit her in the butt." He repeated this vulgar comment at a subsequent council meeting. The fact is the Congressman did make that statement and a call to his office would verify it.

Councilman Taukus also countered Ms. Robin Canetti's assertion that the public portion of the meetings have been scaled back. As usual Mr.Taukus is using his selective memory. For the last 5 years there were two open public comment periods at council meetings. This year the Republicans dismantled that practice, narrowing the time for public comment. As the election season approaches it is the Ringwood Council, not the public, that is in campaign mode. They are shutting down public input by threatening the public, discontinuing a second public portion and limiting the number of times per week the council meetings are replayed.

The article also includes accolades for the council by their supporters. Former mayor Jerry Holt showed up at the last council meeting to praise his friends. It's no wonder since Scott Heck is using our tax dollars to repair runoff problems in Mr. Holt's front yard caused by steep slope development behind his house. This development was approved by Mr. Holt and Mr. Heck when they were council members, now they expect the taxpayers to pay for their mistakes.

Many people living on Cheshire Lane are plagued by drainage and runoff issues because of the development on Nottingham Court and Coventry Way. Some have even had to install sump pumps. It is important to note that when these developments were being built, the Ringwood Republicans were paying their engineer $160,000 a year plus an SUV . Our tax dollars are now being spent to rectify runoff problems that should have been solved by the town engineer and implemented by the developers during the building process.

At a recent council meeting Mr. Scott Heck thanked Borough Manager, Ms. Kelley Rohde, for hiring him and allowing him to use his drainage expertise to help the town. What?! He spearheaded the weakening of Ringwood's steep slope ordinance for his mentor, Pat Wallace, and now he's the expert on drainage? Mr. Heck has also touted his training of DPW employees. To hear him talk, no one in the department knew how to do anything until he came along.

Ms. Canetti has been very vocal in her opposition of Ms. Rohde's hiring of her good friend, Mr. Heck, as Deputy Borough Manager. This job never existed until Mr. Heck, who was a self employed landscaper, needed a job with health benefits and a pension. This new position costs taxpayers $82,000 a year, which is well over one tax point! Ms. Canetti is right to voice her concern about this issue, since the hiring process was done behind closed doors and Mr. Heck's qualifications for such a position are slim at best. It has become pretty obvious that Mr. Heck will also become the Director of Public Works, which will include a pay raise, when the newly appointed director either retires or is demoted.

Defending the hiring of Mr. Heck, Mayor Davison said it was the best decision he has made in all his years on the council. Holy cow! Listening to the Ringwood Council whine about how badly they are being treated by the public is like living in an alternate reality.

Wenke Taule

former Ringwood mayor

As we read about the corruption in lllinois, we have our own sad story of abuse of power in Ringwood.

In June, the Ringwood Borough Council voted to submit an application to the 2008 Passaic County Open Space Trust Fund committee to purchase a parcel of land owned by Genesis Real Estate, asking that a total of $1.025million be paid to the owners for the 36 acre parcel of land. Sounds good, right? Ringwood would receive Open Space Funds to expand the preserved acreage in town.

Except that the land was only on our tax rolls as being assessed at $30,600, it being argued by the owners, the Wallace family, in 2005 that the land was only worth $15,000. The tax assessment board lowered the assessment of the land 90% from $306,200 to $30,600 and the Wallace family has only been paying taxes on the current assessment of $30,600 for the years of 2006-2008. Now they want $1.025 million for their land!! While the rest of us in Ringwood are paying taxes on the full value of our homes.

But again, as in a lot of things in life, it's who you know.

I went to the June 19th council meeting to protest the application's submission, since the Wallace family of developers had previously declared bankrupcy, leaving the town of Ringwood in the lurch with approximately a half million dollars in capital improvements not completed. Pat Wallace, after having the steep slope laws changed for him in 1996 by some of these same council members led by then Mayor Scott Heck, built 35 luxury homes in Ringwood and then did not complete the project, leaving Coventry Drive and Briscoe Chase unpaved for 8 years. The week after the application for $1.025 million was submitted by the Ringwood council to obtain county money for the Wallace family, the road was finally paved after 8 years. Coincidence? The Ringwood taxpayers know better.

I brought up the fact that the council should not be negotiating a $1.025 million contract with a close personal friend. At this point, Kelley Rohde stated it was she, not the council members, who was negotiating with the Wallaces. After seeing the televised council meeting, I got more than one phone call to inform me that Kelley Rohde and the current owner of the land, Teri Wallace Bukowski, are close personal friends. This is unethical, at best.

The Ringwood council argues that the land was at the top of the Ringwood Open Space list, so that is the reason the application was submitted. I have spoken to some of the previous members of the Ringwood Open Space Committee and they are adamant that this parcel of land was NOT on the top of the list, and that it was manipulated by the current council to be so. The Ringwood Open Space Committee is appointed by Mayor Davison. Scott Heck went before the committee and I quote, "Mr. Heck speaking on behalf of Mr. Wallace" in the notes from the June 19, 2007 meeting. A clear favor for their friends, the Wallace family.

I obtained a copy of the Open Space application for the Wallace land, and found it was full of lies:

1. On page 2 of the application, it states that the town has already been awarded $200,000 in a Green Acres Grant. This is NOT TRUE.

2. On page 3 of the application, where it is asked if the property is owned by a developer, it is answered No. NOT TRUE Everyone in Ringwood knows the Wallace family are developers.

3. The description of the 36 acre parcel contains numerous misleading and incorrect facts.


In September, Councilman John Speer, made a presentation to the Passaic County Open Space Commitee on behalf of the Wallace land. I was one of several members of the Ringwood public there. When Speer was asked by the committee for appraisals of the land, he said he would rather not state them out loud, since there were members of the Ringwood public present at the meeting!! He was immediately admonished by the committee that this was a PUBLIC meeting, and as members of the public the interested audience members were entitled to know the facts. If this is a legitimate application, why the attempted secrecy? To their credit, the Passic County committee had done their homework, and were particularly upset that there would be an application submitted for a total of $1.025million for a property that had been valued on the tax rolls for $30,600. One member of the committee stated that the Wallace family can't have it both ways, paying taxes on $30,600 and then asking for a million dollars for the property.

In a quote from an article on the Suburban Trends website, Mayor Walter Davison said that the Open Space Committee “unanimously supported” the municipality’s application. Kelley Rohde said that the committee “encouraged” the borough to reapply for the Wallace property next year.

Of course Mayor Davison and "acting borough manager"Kelley Rohde, are saying this, hoping the public will fall for it. These are the same two people who attested and signed their names that all the information on the application was the truth, when it wasn't.

The plain truth is that a fraudulent application was submitted to the Passaic County Open Space Committee by the officials of Ringwood on behalf of their friends, the Wallaces. Expect all kinds of denials and explanations from the council and Kelley Rohde. If the Open Space Committee had "unnamimously supported" the application as Mayor Davison says, then why was the application rejected?

And the sad truth is that Ringwood was seen as submitting a fraudulent application to a County Committee and it was rejected. And as bad as it is that the Ringwood officials tried to get their friend a million bucks, it also means that another legitimate application was not submitted instead and the town of Ringwood lost out on the chance to obtain Open Space funds for the year of 2008. This is a disgrace for the town.

As I said, in Ringwood as well as the rest of the world, it's who you know.......and wouldn't we all like to get $1.025million for a property that was assessed at $30,600. Nice deal if you can get it....for the record, in the current Ringwood revaluation the same Wallace property ( Block 877, Lot 16) is assessed at $94,700.

Ringwood taxpayers deserve better. Remember, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Please watch the council meetings to see what is actually going on in our beautiful town.


Grace Hazeldine

Dear Editor:

My statement in the Suburban Trends article on January 7, Residents question use of grant money, was incomplete. The Trends states the council passed a resolution in November 2007 to use the remaining $177,000 of the Small Cities Grant, that was never honored. What I actually said was that the council passed a resolution on November 27 2007 to use the remaining $177,000 grant, to redirect a $204,000 grant and to apply for another DCA grant of $68,000 (already approved by the DCA) to remediate Mr. DeGroat's sinkhole. This resolution is signed by Ms. Atlas and Ms. Rohde. The November 2007 resolution confirmed what had been agreed upon by the DCA and the Borough at a meeting in Trenton on Ocotber 29, 2007.

Contrary to Ms. Atlas' statement in the Trends,the money to fix Mr. DeGroat's sinkhole was in place!

In a phone call to the DCA to find out what happened to the sinkhole money, I was told that Ringwood wanted to redirect the grant money and the "sinkhole fell off the table".

My educated guess is that Ms. Atlas in conjunction with the newly elected council put the breaks on fixing the sinkhole so the new council could use the money elsewhere.

Actually, at a recent council meeting the council was asked why the sinkhole was not fixed, Councilman Taukus let the cat out of the bag by yelling, we don't have to fix it, it's on private property! I can only assume that reflects Ringwood's policy since the money is gone and the sinkhole still exists.

Wenke Taule
former Ringwood mayor