Full Notification

Storm Update;
 
Hats off to our incredible first responders and our wonderful DPW for keeping us all safe during the storm.  Our Police and Fire Department were incredibly busy throughout the night and into the day.  DPW crews also worked tirelessly to clear fallen trees and debris from roadways.  We are waiting for updates from PSE&G regarding the clearing of the telephone poles and wires which fell onto Broad Avenue.  Until these have all been removed/repaired and the road is deemed safe, Broad Avenue will remain closed.  To manage expectations, this may take several days.
 
Affordable Housing:
 
A different kind of storm is also on the horizon…
 
As we expected, the deeply flawed affordable housing legislation passed the NJ Legislature posing huge problems for all Bergen County municipalities including Leonia.  It was signed into law by Governor Murphy after being fast tracked through a legislative process which did not pause for real public hearings, committee discussions, or any of the other safeguards which typically accompany a piece of responsible legislation.  Developer interests are cheering the outcome–and why shouldn’t they since these same developer interests wrote the bill using affordable housing as their lever.  State legislators were instructed by their leadership (bought and paid for by developers) to vote in lock step without reading the fine print.  Thank you to NJ State Senator Gordon Johnson (the only one of our District 37 state legislators) who went against his party leadership because he recognized the disaster this bill represented and opposed it. 
 
Now Leonia and many other communities like it will be left holding the bag so to speak.  To find out why this is a serious issue for NJ municipalities, please attend or participate virtually in a presentation at the Mayor and Council meeting on Monday, April 15th in the Senior Center beginning at 7:30 pm.  At my invitation, Jeff Surenian, one of the foremost legal authorities on affordable housing legislation in New Jersey, will be presenting to all Leonians who are interested.
 
Please make the effort to participate either in person or virtually the evening of Monday, April 15th.
 
Transportation and Pedestrian Safety Committee:
 
Committee Chair and volunteer neighbor, George Giaquinto presented the initial recommendations of the committee at the Mayor and Council meeting on Monday, 4/1.  I am pleased to say we are definitely off on the right foot and building momentum for numerous safety improvements. 
 
The Mayor and Council are committed to implementing the committee’s recommendations including deploying flashing stop signs at key north intersecting streets at Fort Lee Road to improve bicycle safety, adding bicycle lane and more speed limit signage on Fort Lee Rd, safer Grand Avenue pedestrian crossings with flashing beacon lights similar to what we have at Station Parkway, deployment of speed humps on Grandview, Park and Highwood as a start and more aggressively pursuing grant opportunities relating to pedestrian and bicycle safety.  Mid to longer term, consider designating some one way streets to control traffic flow during peak usage periods, adding an eastbound bike lane on Fort Lee Rd, and re-doing the curbing and sidewalks on Ft Lee Rd.  Feel free to access the video recording of the 4/1 M&C meeting at www.leonianj.gov. 
 
Thank you to the committee for their continued efforts to improve all of our safety.  Your neighbors on this committee in addition to Chair George Giaquinto are: Alec Melman, Neo Antoniades, Paul King, Mike Gobbo, Justin Ferrao, and Richard Soh.  When you see them around town, please feel free to talk to them about their work and to thank them, of course.
 
2024 Municipal Operating and Capital Budgets Introduced:
 
My sincere thanks to Council President Christoph Hesterbrink, members of the Finance Committee, Borough Administrator Marisa Mesropian, CFO Issa Abbasi and all of our department heads for successfully getting the budgets introduced on Monday, April 1st. 
We’ve been working hard on this effort since the end of January.  I won’t repeat all of what I’ve already said in previous updates.  But the cuts being made in this budget were substantial across multiple departments including the DPW, Rec, and library.  We won’t be able to make these kinds of cuts again next year without chipping away at the very Quality of Life which makes Leonia special.  So, as we outlined at the Town Hall meeting on March 25th: Click Here to Watch, we must successfully address some of the systemic issues we confront as a community to ease the otherwise increasing municipal tax burden on residential homeowners.
 
This year’s budget comes in at a 2.98% increase, which is considerably less than last year’s inflation rate of 3.4%.  We accomplished this despite losing $500,000 in America Rescue Act federal funding, despite mandated state increases in pension and benefits costs of 11%, despite an over 20% increase in the cost of sewage processing, despite inflationary headwinds, despite a near high in debt service levels and despite having to set aside additional funds for a required county revaluation effort.  When you can, please thank these volunteer neighbors and municipal employees for their hard work dedicated to ensuring the greatest value for your tax dollars. 
 
New York Times Opinion piece on Palisades Park and Leonia:
 
Please check out this op-ed which appeared in the New York Times recently.  “This Small New Jersey Town Became a Different Kind of Suburb” by Binyamin Appelbaum
 
If you agree with the author that these changes in Palisades Park are a model of what can and should happen in Leonia, I am afraid you have elected the wrong Mayor.  To say my vision of what Leonia should become is not close to what is presented in the op-ed is underestimating my level of opposition.  What has happened in Palisades Park over the last decades is NOT what I want or see for Leonia and will do everything I can to go a different path which continues to emphasize our quiet tree lined green streets landscape, residential character, good schools and outstanding municipal services. 
 
More importantly, the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Redevelopment/Revitalization is focussed on what kinds of development best fit with our residential character as a community and still allow us to increase necessary revenues.  The Revitalization Committee will be conducting an important Town Hall meeting in early May.  More information to come on this in my next update but I urge you to make the time to attend once the date is finalized.
  
Leonia Day:
 
Let’s all hope for good weather on May 4th.  Please join us in Wood Park from noon to 4:00 pm to see all your neighbors, learn more about what makes Leonia such a special community and have fun.  We will also have an impressive art exhibit showcasing Leonia artists work in the new Municipal building and our Police officers will be giving guided tours of the new Police HQ on the first floor.  Hope to see everyone there!  More details in my next update of what to expect…
  
Kind regards,
 
Bill Ziegler
Mayor
Borough of Leonia