Mayor, Council Members Urge Support for BOE Referendum, Burst Pipe Shuts Down FLHS Library

The Fort Lee Board of Education hosted its second of three community forum meetings Tuesday in advance of the school bond referendum on Jan. 24. Turnout at the Fort Lee Community Center was slightly better than at the board’s first forum on Dec. 12, as school officials for the most part reiterated what they detailed at that meeting and directed voters to the district’s special “Bond Referendum 2012” website, and people in attendance, including Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich and members of the Borough Council, expressed their support. (Full Story)

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A pipe burst in the Fort Lee High School library Wednesday, and what was thought to be a “smoke incident with a light” at Fort Lee School No. 1 earlier in the day turned out to be a heat pump in the ceiling.

“There was a considerable amount of water that was coming from a burst pipe in one of the heating units in the library,” Acting Superintendent of Schools Steven Engravalle said. “It was about a one- to one-and-a-half-inch pipe that was pumping hot water that came directly from our boiler.”

He said the library will remain closed “at the minimum for the rest of the week,” but most likely into early next week as well.

Engravalle said the smoke condition at School No. 1 occurred in the adjoining hallway between the elementary school and the district’s central office space.

After a ballast was replaced on a light fixture earlier in the day, causing no danger to anyone in the building, Engravalle said, he and business administrator Cheryl Balletto discovered “considerable smoke in the same area of the light fixture” when a fire alarm went off at about 7:30 p.m.

“[Emergency responders] ran into the facility; our buildings and grounds crew responded,” Engravalle said. “Tony [Giambona] and Johnny [Arroyo], who were not on duty, were here within minutes, and they were able to discern that it was a heating ventilation pump in the ceiling, which was maybe 15 feet from the light fixture.” (Full Story)

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The Fort Lee Mayor and Council held its annual reorganization meeting Thursday at Borough Hall, where Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich and Councilmen Armand Pohan and Michael Sargenti, all of whom were reelected in November, took the oaths of office; Councilman Joseph Cervieri was selected as Council president for 2012; borough attorney Lee Cohen was reappointed for another year; and Sokolich delivered his annual State of the Borough Address before the governing body went through a litany of statutory, Council and Mayor’s appointments and nominations. (Full Story)

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Former Democratic Assemblywoman Joan Voss of Fort Lee was sworn in as a Bergen County Freeholder in Hackensack Tuesday.

Voss, who chose to run for freeholder instead of challenging Democratic counterparts Gordon M. Johnson and Valerie Vainieri Huttle in District 37 after redistricting was announced last year, replaces Bernadette McPherson, (D-Rutherford). McPherson decided not to seek reelection after serving nine years on the board. (Full Story)

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If the Fort Lee Board of Education’s $30.2 million school bond referendum passes on Jan. 24, it would set in motion a process that would “roll out over a period of time” beginning this summer, says the school district’s architect of record.

With most of the capital improvement, renovation and construction work needing to get done when students are not in school, that means it would most likely take the next three summers to complete all of the work, with priority projects like boiler replacements starting this summer, said Jeanne K. Perantoni of SSP Architectural Group at the school board’s community forum meeting Tuesday. (Full Story)

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The World Triathlon Corporation and New York City Triathlon are sponsoring the 2012 Ironman U.S. Championship on Aug. 11. The race will be the first-ever Ironman competition to take place in the New York City/New Jersey metropolitan area, and the Borough of Fort Lee is in the early stages of planning its important role and taking the opportunity to make it a big community event as well, as thousands of athletes, spectators and media are expected to descend upon the borough.

“It is going to be a globally televised event; we are expecting many, many people,” said Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich. “It’s going to really bring Fort Lee incredible publicity, and we’re trying to create an atmosphere in town before it and during it as a [community] celebration.” (Full Story)

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And the Fort Lee Girls Recreation Basketball League held opening ceremonies Tuesday at , marking the start of what promises to be an exciting season.

Many people came out to show their support, including Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, Councilmen Joseph Cervieri and Harvey Sohmer and Acting Superintendent of Schools Steven Engravalle.

Sokolich said youth sports are "thriving" in Fort Lee, and that the community is "setting the pace."

League president Michael Klein said this is the “biggest year for Fort Lee girls rec basketball,” with 261 players, 47 coaches and 25 teams. (Full Story)

The week in review appears every Sunday on Fort Lee Patch.