Challenges Facing Wyckoff
Without question, the biggest challenge facing Wyckoff today is the ever increasing cost of running a town with the drastic reduction in financial support supplied by the State. Unfortunately Wyckoff is suffering from New Jersey’s financial crisis. The township is seeing less financial support from the state while the state increases our costs by imposing new taxes and unfunded mandates.
Despite these challenges, Wyckoff continues to do more with less. We must continue to be more creative and work harder and smarter in order to cut costs while maintaining the high level of services our residents are accustom to.
Open Space & COAH
In my opinion, the township is already providing a reasonable opportunity for affordable housing. Therefore all efforts and energy should be utilized in preserving open space. Unfortunately, Wyckoff’s ability to preserve Open Space has become significantly more difficult.
Gov. Corzine has declared his intent to have another 100,000 affordable housing units constructed in New Jersey over the next four (4) years. This has resulted in renewed efforts by COAH to impose even further obligations on Wyckoff, and other communities. Consistent with Gov. Corzine’s goal, to further burden suburban communities, COAH has recently notified Wyckoff that we have to revise our zoning ordinance to permit the construction of 161 new affordable housing units. This position of the State is absurd, since we only have five (5) remaining tracts of undeveloped land, three (3) of which are already zoned for Mt. Laurel housing, pursuant to earlier State mandates. We will vigorously challenge these actions of Gov. Corzine and COAH. If allowed to stand, the State’s actions will guarantee the overdevelopment of our community and eliminate the ability to maintain open space from the remaining undeveloped land. As a result Wyckoff has recently joined 217 other New Jersey municipalities in a law suit seeking to eliminate the State’s attempt to further burden us with affordable housing obligations.
I am committed to doing everything in my power to stop these actions of the State. We will continue to look for every available means to preserve open space and the character of our community, even as the State continues to mandate what we do with our land.
Two Party Government
Wyckoff has a Republican majority with a conservative philosophy that works in a non partisan manner. As proof the Township Committee has consistently worked well with all civic organizations including Partners in Pride, The Wyckoff Education Foundation, Wyckoff Newcomers as well as 18 houses of worship. Wyckoff has a cadre of volunteers consisting of Democrats, Republicans and Independents with diverse backgrounds who successfully work together to make Wyckoff the most desirable community in New Jersey
Summary
I feel that it is important to inform the residents of the townships past success in pursuing and obtaining grants. Over the past several years, Wyckoff has been able to construct new tennis courts, install new energy efficient sports lighting for football, baseball, softball, lacrosse, basketball and roller hockey and construct a new playground, all with matching funds from the county park improvement program. Wyckoff is one of only a handful of Bergen County’s 70 municipalities that has obtained a grant in each and every year that the program has been in existence.
Recently the township has paved Park Avenue, Monroe Avenue, Grandview Avenue, Crescent Avenue, Mountain Avenue and other roads with NJDOT grants. The practice of aggressively pursuing grants is more important now than ever. The various grants allow us to continue to provide services and amenities to our residents at little or no costs to the taxpayers.
I am pleased to inform residents that the governing body has introduced single stream recycling. In addition to being a convenience to homeowners it will save monies by reducing the Township’s solid waste removal costs.
The Township is also offering a new no cost program for the recycling of electronic equipment at the Township conservation center.
