August 19, 2025 Council Meeting

Aug 25

Below you will find a summary of the main points from the August 2025 Council Meeting. The full meeting is available to watch by clicking here.

On August 19th, the Ringwood Borough Council held its regular meeting. The evening began with a proclamation honoring Wendy Sandford, longtime Director of the Ringwood Public Library, upon her retirement. While the Council framed this as a celebratory moment, the reality is more troubling: Ms. Sandford’s early retirement is a consequence of budget cuts to the Library, leaving staff stretched thin and services under pressure. Rather than investing in one of the Borough’s most vital community institutions, the Council has chosen to underfund it—forcing out experienced leadership and undermining long-term stability.

Congratulations to Mary Ellen D’Elia, who has been promoted to serve as the new Library Director!

Borough Manager’s Report

School Security

The Board of Education has requested a shared service agreement with the Borough to provide a Class III Special Law Enforcement Officer during school hours.

Technology & Transparency

Planning for camera upgrades in Borough Hall is underway, with the promise of improved access to public meetings. It will be important to see follow-through here, as residents have asked for more transparency and reliable streaming for years.

Skyline Drive Safety

Several updates were reported: high-friction treatments on the S-turns, county approval for a pedestrian crosswalk and grant-funded improvements, and installation of a speed radar sign at Fieldstone Drive. These changes reflect longstanding resident concerns about pedestrian and driver safety—an area where progress, though welcome, has taken time.

Generator Purchase

The Borough will purchase a 250kw generator from Ridgewood for $39,500 to support the Skyline Lakes Pump Station.

Skyline Lake Drive Memorial

Plans were announced to install a war memorial and landscaping this fall. Alongside this, the Borough Engineer is reviewing pedestrian safety in the area.

West Brook Road Wires

After years of complaints about low-hanging wires, Verizon finally assigned an engineer to resolve the issue, and the outdated copper lines are slated for removal in coming weeks. While this is progress, it also highlights how long residents have been left waiting for basic infrastructure maintenance.

Audit & Fiscal Practices

During the meeting, Mr. Heck asked the Borough’s auditor for clarification on the concept of “segregation of duties.” Mr. Gibbons, from Nissovaccia, explained that while no errors were found in the audit, segregation of duties is a safeguard to minimize risk and maintain proper checks and balances.

What went unspoken, however, is just as important: this issue has been flagged for years, and yet the Borough has repeatedly refused to address it. Residents have heard time and again that the Borough operates without adequate internal safeguards, leaving taxpayer money exposed to risk. Rather than taking action to fix the problem, the Council continues to lean on reassurances that “other towns do it too,” while ignoring its responsibility to implement stronger financial controls here in Ringwood.

Courtesy Bussing

The most significant issue of the night was courtesy bussing for Lakeland students. The Council clarified that it was not the Borough that made the decision to discontinue courtesy bussing on August 8th. Since then, the Borough has been negotiating with the Lakeland Board of Education to try and get them to pick up the tab. The Lakeland BOE has agreed to cover the first $42,000, and the Borough will assume the remaining costs for the year.

Ordinances & Resolutions

Vital Records fees were increased to $25 for the first copy and $10 for each additional copy.
Board of Health ordinances adjusted licensing fees for food establishments and septic service providers, and extended tobacco licensing to cover e-cigarettes.
Ringwood joined “Revolution NJ” to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary.

Closing Comments & Announcements

Council members thanked staff and volunteers for the summer concert series, with more events scheduled at Fieldstone. Residents were reminded of upcoming events including: