The continued environmental disaster that is occurring in Upper Saddle River due to the negligence of Toll Brothers is, and has been, a ongoing nightmare for residents. For 2 long years it has continued and nothing – until 2 days ago – has been done. Toll Brothers has to take full responsibility for what is happening, but additionally Mayor Joanne Minichetti and the Upper Saddle River Council need to bear a signifiant amount of the burden of responsibility as they have also done nothing to stop the environmental mess. They have allowed the mess to continue unchecked, have allowed a developer to flaunt and break the laws and turned a blind eye. It is only with an election looming that they need to be seen to actually care enough to take action and issue a Stop Work Order and try to reign in Toll Brothers.
Democratic Mayoral candidate Marshall Grupp has been a longtime, outspoken critic of this administration. His response to this situation is well worth paying attention to.
Better Late Than Never, or Too Little Too Late?
The mayor of Upper Saddle River has ordered a full work stoppage at both the Apple Ridge and 1 Lake Street projects. While it is good news that our government is finally acting to protect our community from the grave public health and safety hazards posed by these projects, it’s time that our mayor learned that in this case, better late than never is actually too little too late. During the 720 days that these projects have threatened our community, hundreds of gallons of polluted stormwater runoff has entered our brooks and streams. The citizens who have rose up to demand our government protect them from the environmental crisis at Apple Ridge have been ridiculed, marginalized, laughed at and ejected from Council meetings.
Meanwhile, after 720 days, the damage has been done. The full impact of Apple Ridge may not be felt for five, ten or fifteen years. It will be our children and grandchildren’s problem.
The failure of leadership that put these projects in motion in the first place and then subjected our community to a 720 day assault on our environment and public health is just one example of the failures of this administration, over the past eight years, to lead, manage, protect and act in the best interests of Upper Saddle River and its residents. It should be known that from the beginning, the administration strayed from their original plan to remediate the Apple Ridge property to instead cut down trees, remove sod and remediate the land all at once!
And so today, as the mayor scrambles to act 720 days into these disasters, still no one at Borough Hall is willing to take responsibility for the decisions made regarding Apple Ridge.
This is not acceptable. This is not the leadership that Upper Saddle River urgently needs and deserves. We deserve better.
Today, Boswell Engineering and Toll Brothers are meeting behind closed doors. Why does the mayor and council refuse to hold a public meeting with citizens or address the Apple Ridge and 1 Lake Street projects in a public forum. Just more of the backroom secret dealings that got us into this mess in the first place.
USR deserves better. It’s time Upper Saddle River had leaders who will not only act responsibly, but take responsibility, and our current administrator does neither. They do not seem to have the ability, not the will, to govern responsibly.
If elected, I, along with Marc Garbar and Leandra Galasso, promise you that the era of irresponsibility will end and I will put my name on every decision I make. It’s time to stop the madness.
If you go to Green USR Facebook page you will see Derek’s latest video which shows the muddy pleasant brook. The stoppage has not stopped the pumping which continued to harm our waterways!
Excellent point. It would be helpful if he could also post them to youtube or somewhere else online as not everyone – especially the senior citizens – don’t have Facebook.