Community Corner

Port Authority Donates $5K to FLFD, Crash At GWB Tollbooth in Top Local News

The Week in Review: a weekly roundup of some of the top local stories on Fort Lee Patch.

New Jersey’s Lieutenant Governor and the deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey visited Fort Lee’s Ladder Co. 3 Monday to present Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich with a $5,000 check for the Fort Lee Fire Department.

Fort Lee fire and borough officials, State Assemblywoman Joan Voss of Fort Lee and several members of the Fort Lee Fire Department were on hand for the brief ceremony to hear from Sokolich, Port Authority deputy executive director Bill Baroni and Lt. Gov. Kim Guadango.

“It may not be as much money as you need, and I doubt very much you’ll ever have as much money as you need to do what you do every day,” Guadango said to the firefighters gathered for the ceremony in front of the firehouse on Main St. and against the backdrop of the fire company’s new truck. “Because what you do every day, you can’t put a price tag on.” (Full Story)

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A minivan carrying a family apparently returning from vacation was rear-ended by a pickup truck as it approached the lower level eastbound toll lane of the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee late Wednesday morning, according to a Port Authority spokesman.

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The force of the crash, which occurred at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, caused the minivan to overturn and crash into the vehicle in front of it, Ron Marsico of the Port Authority said.

Three people in the minivan and the driver of the pickup truck, whose names were not released pending an investigation, were taken to Hackensack Medical Center with minor, non-life threatening injuries, Marsico said.

The accident resulted in delays to eastbound traffic and the temporary closure of at least three tollbooths. By 12:30 p.m. the accident had been cleared and all lanes reopened, Marsico said. (Pictures)

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When the state announced recently that the Fort Lee School District would be getting an additional $565,959 for 2011-2012 on top of the $951,643 Gov. Chris Christie said it would receive in February, local school officials said they had yet to receive “firm guidance” on use of the additional funds.

On Monday, Fort Lee Board of Education president Arthur Levine said there are no restrictions that he or school board vice president Linda McCue are aware of.

“As far as I know it’s unencumbered,” Levine said. “It’s just additional funding with no strings attached.”

But that doesn’t mean the school district plans to hire or re-hire any additional employees or use the money for property tax relief. Instead, Levine and McCue indicated the district would rather save the money in anticipation of leaner times ahead. (Full Story)

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The Fort Lee Film Commission is using its 10-week “Movies and Music Under the Stars” program this summer to raise funds for the Fort Lee High School Academy of Performing Arts (APA) via sponsors of the 10 programs to help offset budget cuts to the APA program earlier this year. The Film Commission announced last week that it has received a $1,500 donation from an anonymous donor and is matching that donation with plans to present a check for $3,000 to the APA this fall.

“When they had that situation in the spring or early summer with the ramifications of budget cuts impacting the APA programs, we were concerned,” said executive director Tom Meyers of the Fort Lee Film Commission.

Meyers said the anonymous donor came to the film commission in June before this year’s “Movies and Music Under the Stars” program even got underway.

“We asked if they would like to be involved in the presentation of these films, to promote them for the cause of the APA, and they said no,” Meyers said. “They wanted to remain anonymous. And they suggested that we try to match what they gave us, and that’s what we intend to do.” (Full Story)

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The State Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) urged New Jersey residents to refrain from “recreational uses” of the Hudson River while the department assesses the potential effects of a fire at a New York City wastewater treatment plant Wednesday that left untreated wastewater flowing directly into the river, DEP officials said Thursday.

The fire caused the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant across the Hudson from Edgewater to shut down and raw sewage to flow continuously into the river since about 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, officials said.

The DEP announced Thursday it was in the process of determining “whether or when” any New Jersey land may be affected and monitoring water quality ensure there are no public health or safety risks, state officials said. (Full Story)

(Update: DEP officials said in a statement issued Friday, "New Jersey beaches and shellfish beds have not been affected by the sewage outflow, which is limited to the New York City portion of the river, and scientific modeling by DEP scientists shows there is no threat to the State's beaches or shellfish beds.")

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The Fort Lee Borough Council adopted a bond ordinance Thursday authorizing slightly more than $1.92 million for a variety of capital improvement projects, ranging from office equipment, to road resurfacing, to sport utility vehicles and other equipment for emergency services, a backhoe for DPW and improvements to borough parks and buildings.

The ordinance appropriating a total of $1,928,500, of which $1,832,075 is financed through bonds or notes after $96,425 in down payments, was scheduled for public hearing at Thursday's regular meeting of the Fort Lee Mayor and Council and adopted unanimously. (Full Story)

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Last Sunday morning, Fort Lee Fire Department and other borough officials traveled to a firehouse in Woodcliff Lake in northern Bergen County for a ceremony commemorating the beginning of a shared services agreement between the two boroughs for an air bottle-refilling trailer called a mobile cascade system. (Full Story and Pictures)

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


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