Needless to say, we did not have quorum so the election did not take place. Ballots were collected from those present and everyone else can be expected to receive a proxy. Regardless, two seats up for election and only two (incumbents) have thrown their hats in. I suppose the results can be predicted.

Our community is 30 years old now, having been created in 1981. While the structures have withstood the test of time rather well, much of the landscaping is overgrown and shows its age. That’s why so much work has been done in that area – to keep the community looking fresh. I think you’ll agree, recent projects – the entrances, signage, play area, lighting, tree work, plantings – have been effective. That our home values have fared well when compared to others in the area and the economy in general proves that out. The work will continue. The next big project is said to be modernizing the irrigation system, which makes sense as it will provide better care for the new plantings.

Despite the capital improvements, the association fees for the next year will remain unchanged. The budget wasn’t presented at the meeting, which is unusual. The Board said they would be mailing the budget around later.

There’s always talk about our snow removal contractors and this meeting was no exception. The general level of homeowner dissatisfaction continues, for various reasons. The current contractor will remain for the near-term; they are about midway through a 3-year contract. If you have specific issues, like damage and such, please document it and bring it to the Board’s attention for resolution.

The Board has been actively seeking alternative materials to reduce homeowner maintenance costs and the latest has been paints and stains. Most recently, the old Sherwin-Williams products have been replaced with a BEHR product. The new oil-based latex stain holds up better while being less expensive at around $100 per 5-gallons. What’s more, it’s carried at Home Depot. It’s said that the new colors are posted on the official Riverbend site.

Speaking of Web sites, the Board reported that their official Riverbend site isn’t doing as well as they hoped it would. It seems that only about 59 residents have registered there for a login, and some of those a multiples in the same home. Back in March the Board said that they were seeing “no more than a handful of hits each week” and that “only a quarter of residents” had provided contact email addresses. That kind of growth isn’t very encouraging. I must admit, though, while I have an account on their site I can’t recall the last time I visited…

There was some talk in the Q&A part of the meeting concerning some of the unmaintained properties in the community. The Board appears most interested in the assessments that are in arrears – one unit alone at over $9K if I recall correctly. Some of the problem properties from last year have new owners and are no longer issues, but some remain. When it comes to that, though, the Board has no power to do anything. My suggestion is that it’s an issue to be taken up with the Township. Write them with a letter of complaint. Personally, I’ve got one of those properties nearby and I plan, in the coming weeks, to approach my neighbors to enlist their support.

In the coming weeks the Board will be conducting a walk-through.

Finally, with Halloween approaching, a reminder that it’s a good idea to keep lights on for safety. As usual there will be security personnel on patrol October 30th and 31st. Earlier this month the Township adopted a resolution imposing a curfew. The curfew prohibits persons under 18 from being present on the streets and public areas of the Township past 8PM on October 30th and 31st. Wow, that seems awfully restrictive to me, but it is what it is.

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

I’m interested in the township’s history. Last month I posted Garden of Eden, a Home News supplemental article telling of the early days of the Hidden Lake Community – Riverbend was a part of that project.

From the same supplement, originally published Thursday, July 5, 1979, this article tells the fascinating story of the North Brunswick Airport.

Airport Took Off in a Cloud of Controversy
By PATTI DOMM
Home News staff writer

NORTH BRUNSWICK — The corner of Jersey Avenue and How Lane, now an industrial park, was once Walt Gingrich’s hard-won airport.

The small airport, owned by Gingrich and two other pilots, was established in 1946 by the now semiretired New Brunswick resident and his partners as a flight of fancy, and a real-estate investment.

Pleasure planes and small commercial aircraft had been barred from flying over the area during World War II, but shortly after the “vital zone” restriction was lifted, groundbreaking plans for the approximately 75-acre airport started.

Walt Gingrich, who was part owner and operator of the old North Brunswick Airport still is an active pilot, keeping his plane at Kupper Airport in Manville. Home News photo by Mike Derer

A legal monkey wrench was thrown in by the Pennsylvania Railroad, whose tracks are just the other side of Jersey Avenue. It didn’t want aircraft tangling with its high-tension wires, and sued to block the State Aviation Commission’s approval of the airport license. Three years of litigation followed, with Aeromotive Corp. of New Jersey Inc. and the state Aviation Commission as co-defendants. The battle began in two lower courts, ending up in the state Superior Court, Gingrich said.

Meanwhile, a court-ordered stay halted the airport’s construction, and Gingrich, who was heavily burdened by court costs, moved his family to an old farmhouse on the property.

Runyon Van Sickle, president of the airport corporation, and expert witnesses testified small planes taking off wouldn’t come close to the wires, according to a 1946 Home News clipping.

The railroad brought in realtors to testify that the airport presence would hamper development of “200 acres of high class industrial sites” nearby.

The final court ruling ordered runways to face the other way, but allowed the airport to keep its license. Gingrich says his opponents, seeing the verdict would go the same way in further hearings, “threw in the towel.” Gingrich still has the foot-high stack of testimony, and proudly claims prospective airport operators have come from all over the country to study the testimony before “getting their feet wet.”

The 77-acre airport boasted 35 hangars, and other private and commercial pilots found ground area to tie-down their planes on the open field.

North Brunswick Airport was a “fixed-base operation,” Gingrich said, “listed in the top 137 flying schools by the FAA.” The facility offered flying, rental, instruction, storage, sales, repairs, a ground school, and even a link trainer, which is a facsimile of a plane’s control panel used in instruction.

Army ROTC flyers, pilots logging hours for Army Reserve, and pleasure-seeking aviators rented planes from the small airport. Commercial flights, carrying freight and passengers from local industries to Newark and New York City made frequent stops, Gingrich recalled.

The landing strip also serviced a helicopter, used by politicians and businessmen. One passenger was Jimmy Hoffa, who used the airport when visiting union offices in the area.

In the early 1960s, the airport that winged its way into North Brunswick in a cloud of controversy was sold to Jersey Avenue Industrial Park, but even then it remained in the eye of a stormy battle.

When the land was sold, the township zoned some of it for residential use and some industrial, and when an ironworks and then a railroad spur suddenly materialized near homeowners’ back yards, more fighting broke out.

Gingrich left the airport business in 1960 to buy race horses. His hangars have since been sold to Kupper Airport in Manville. His horses are gone too, now, but the one-time pilot is still active, and keeps a small four-passenger plane at Kupper. The instructor, who says he taught a lot of people the ropes of flying, still enjoys teaching.

“I’d take a kid out of the woods, who’s never seen a car or a plane, and trust him with my plane before I’d let him use my car.” Flying’s that easy,” he said.

In the cockpit of his plane, Gingrich eagerly explains the complicated control panel to interested listeners. Besides being a ready-instructor, the pilot shares his flying enthusiasm on and off the ground, and recently insisted on a reporter taking a flight to finish an interview. While flying over the old North Brunswick Airport site last week, Gingrich pointed to taxi trails left years ago by planes using the airport. What is now Airport Drive was once the main runway, he said.

And what probably were open fields from the air, lined with runways and scattered with airport buildings and a few tied-down planes have become a busy patchwork of roof tops, streets, and automobiles.

I wish there were more pictures. Those of you that are interested in township history – as I am – may get a kick out of seeing this, originally published Thursday, July 5, 1979.

Builder Proud of Hidden Lake
By JEFFREY BRODY
Home News staff writer

NORTH BRUNSWICK — In the late 1960s, Nathan Kaplan, a leading developer in Middlesex County, became disenchanted with building single-family homes on flat, shrubless postage- stamp sized lots.

Kaplan envisioned a new type of planned community, one that would blend a mixture of housing — apartments, townhouses, patio houses and single-family homes — in a wooded surrounding.

THE NATURAL WET LOOK - Natural rock ledges around the apartment complex's swimming pool is one of the touches that Michael Kaplan cites in calling his 1,000 home development in North Brunswick one of the finest in the metropolitan area.

After looking at various locations, Kaplan chose a 315-acre parcel between Routes 1 and 27, extending from Cozzens Lane in the north to Woodmere Road in the south. He named the development after its most scenic landmark, Hidden Lake. The lake, in turn, gained its name from being virtually inaccessible except on foot, and unknown even to many longtime residents.

Kaplan died in 1975, three years after construction began. Although he didn’t live to see the 1,000-home project completed, he left his imprint on the plans.

The 313 single-family homes, 220 townhouses and 550 apartments have been designed with Kaplan’s original concept in mind. The buildings are interspersed between recreational areas and parklands.

“The development means the most to my family. Hidden Lake’s a monument to my father,” said Michael Kaplan, 40, who, along with his younger brother, Morris, manages the family construction company, Kaplan & Sons.

The firm was founded 25 years ago, after Nathan Kaplan, a survivor of the holocaust, settled in America. Kaplan considers Hidden Lake the finest development of its kind in the New York- New Jersey metropolitan area. The luxury homes sell from $100,000 to more than $250,000, the townhouses from $70,000 to $90,000, and the apartments rent from $385 to $700 per month.

But Kaplan insists the price of the homes is not what makes Hidden Lake a unique community — it’s the integration of the housing, the idea of putting a $200,000 home a few blocks away from an apartment or back-to-back with a townhouse.

“We’re not afraid to build a $250,000 home next to an apartment because of how we’ve designed the community,” Kaplan said. His pride in it was evident on a recent tour of Hidden Lake, now in the final phase of construction and expected to be finished in two to three years. Still to be completed are some apartments, townhouses, patio homes and a boutique shopping center.

Pointing to the shrubs that grace the main entrance to the development on Route 27, Kaplan, who is usually hesitant about talking to reporters because of what he views as unfair newspaper coverage of some of the problems the development has had, came alive. “Take a look at our entrance and the entrance to any other development and you’ll get an understanding of our approach,” Kaplan said. “The trees mask most of the apartments and homes from view, they set a mood, you’re not looking at barren openness.”

A few feet from where he spoke was a stone well, no longer functional, but a decorative remnant left from the time the property was farmland.

ATTENDING TO DETAILS - Construction continues on the California-style townhouses of Hidden Lake, with the Belgian block curbs, slanted roofs, casement windows and specially designed chimneys fireplaces will be featured.

As the car approached the apartments, Kaplan pointed out that the development has been landscaped so the parking lots are not visible from the main road, Hidden Lake Drive.

A small man, who’s fit and tan from supervising construction, Kaplan seems to be forever in motion. Throughout the interview and tour his arms never stopped waving one way and then another as he pointed out detail after detail of the project.

Dressed in a sports shirt and chino work pants, Kaplan looked more like a laborer than the boss. And it’s apparent he gets his hand into every facet of construction. On any given day he’s more likely to be found in the construction trailer than in the model home office.

Although Kaplan shuns publicity, he’s probably his own best public relations man. When talking about Hidden Lake, his blue eyes twinkle and his voice fills with pride. He says he’s built close to 10,000 housing units, but this is his favorite project.

The love he has for the development comes out in the attention he pays to design. “Almost every single home on Hidden Lake Drive is different,” Kaplan said. “You won’t see the same house on either side.”

Later, a member of Kaplan’s advertising staff explains that the developer had purposely sold 20 lots on Hidden Lake Drive to other builders, to make sure there would be a variety of designs.
Repeatedly he showed how the homes, built on looping roads, were bordered by parklands and extensively landscaped with trees and shrubs.

“You don’t get a massive look at Hidden Lake,” Kaplan said. “The loops of homes are divided by fingers of parklands.”

At the entrance to Point of Woods Drive, Kaplan smiled at a home that he had personally “set” into the contour of the land.

“The home fits perfectly,- Kaplan said. “It belongs there on the rise.”

He added that he also varied the setbacks of homes to give a wider spatial appearance. “At other developments you could shoot an arrow and it would go straight down the line,” he added.
“What we have done,” Kaplan said, “is taken an open piece of land and created something that fits in.”

“Even the streams have been preserved,” Kaplan added.

As the car passed by a group of townhouses under construction on Chase Drive, Kaplan said after the single-family homes, apartments and townhouses have been built, he would construct 140 patio homes, which are attached single-story homes.

Kaplan prides himself on the small details of his housing stock.

The California-style townhouses, for example, have slanted roofs, casement windows and specially designed chimneys and fire places.

By the side of one of the apartment buildings, Kaplan looked at a six-foot stone wall and said, “we could have done it in brick and no one would have noticed.”

Other features in the apartments are interior rock gardens, skylights and sunken living rooms. The quality of the apartments and townhouses allows them to be built next to the single-family homes without owners of the latter objecting, according to Kaplan.

“The apartments are among the top five garden apartments in the United States,” Kaplan said.

“When Hidden Lake’s finished, it will be a garden of Eden,” Kaplan said. “The mixture of people here have the opportunity of creating a community among themselves.”

However, Kaplan acknowledged that in the process of creating a luxury development he has alienated some of the residents.

Residents and township officials over the last decade have complained that the developer doesn’t clean up construction sites and deviates from original plans, building two recreation clubhouses, for example, instead of one.

Last fall residents also protested when Kaplan applied for a variance to convert the health club at Hidden Lake into a public health spa. The builder finally withdrew the application.

Kaplan considers the uniqueness of the development a major reason why it’s been controversial. “Once people have seen the whole thing put together they will understand the plan,” Kaplan said.

“You must understand we have goals — this is a monument to my father, his concept, his vision — we know what the job should look like.”

“If we didn’t believe in what we are doing,” Kaplan added, “we wouldn’t be here. We’re very much interested in doing the job right.”

I’m thinking we’ve, um, plowed through fifty large and another assessment’s on the way.

What do you think?

I arrived a few minutes late and the presentation by the folks from the township’s Transit Village project was already underway. (See the earlier postings Riverbend Elections! and Annual Meeting Announced for the names of the representatives that were to attend.) I learned a few things.

My interpretation of where the new road might run.

Before most anything else happens at the Transit Village site, steps will be taken to alleviate a couple of local traffic problems. The intersection at Finnegans Lane and US 1 is to be expanded. (Eventually, and this is a long ways out, this intersection may even become an overpass!) The Cozzens Lane/Adams Lane/US 1 intersection has been a rush hour nightmare as long as I can remember – 50 years, at least. A new road is planned. Approaching US 1 from Cozzens Lane, this would be a right turn somewhat beyond the Sabella Park signal, curving to join the existing jughandle behind Malouf. They weren’t clear exactly where this road would be constructed; I make my guess in the image you see here.

October 1, 2012 will be an important date. It’s then that a few big-box stores will open on the transit Village property, including Costco, Target and Kohl’s. There was some protest but I think that beats the hell out of high-density housing.

This phase of development is to generate approximately $15 million in finance, paving the way for the actual rail station. Yeah, the planners anticipate the New Jersey Transit will give the go-ahead for the station if/when “we” (us? them?) come up with the money. That will be in 2016.

The issue of the awful condition of Riverbend Drive was raised, prompting a description of the Township’s master plan for road rehabilitation. Using a $2.5 million annual budget, work progresses according to plan which is based on their assessment of conditions. Meeting attendees repeatedly attempted to pin them down for an answer as to when Riverbend Drive would see some work but Township representatives remained elusive. The nearest we heard to a clear answer was a mumbled “not good.” I’d recommend that you budget new shocks for your car and don’t hold your breath.

Turning to community finance news, after several years of remaining stable our monthly fee will increase by $10. The first due date is January 1, 2011 – just as payment for the last assessment is completed. The increase doesn’t surprise me. The number of foreclosures, bankruptcies and abandoned homes (as evidenced by the apparent and steady decline in home maintenance) means that fewer fees are being paid. In fact, according to the board, today about 130 homeowners are carrying the costs of 142 units. A new law firm was hired this year, which may help with collections. There is some good news. In terms of market value, our neighborhood has not taken the hit that others have. And a couple of homes, empty for some time, are presently under renovation with new owners.

Several community projects have been completed over the past year despite our financial difficulties. Another is about to begin. Our sidewalk lighting will be replaced with new LED units from North Star Lighting. They look good and will certainly complement our walkways and architecture. The project will begin soon and continue through the winter until it is completed.

Oh, and how can I let a juicy post like this one pass without a word about dogsh!t? One homeowner at the meeting told of finding little plastic bags of the stuff all around their property, even hanging in the bushes. Disgusting. Back in May I added an article with a bunch of images, including one photo that revealed that plastic-bag-stuffer’s preferred depository when the bush was removed. I guess they’re back to their old shenanigans. Along with the woman I saw just the other day as I was parking my car mid-morning. Her Shepherd was leaving a steaming heap on the grass. I turned to my son, “watch, I’ll bet a buck she walks away.” She did. I’ve really got to start carrying my camera more often.

While I was looking at the Middlesex County Planning Board’s Solid Waste Management page I learned that there have been a few changes in the way we recycle. For instance, alkaline batteries now fall below the Federal and State hazardous waste standards and are to be disposed of with your regular trash. See their Recycling and Solid Waste Guide for more information.

I walk the community regularly. Many homes are in serious decline. Not only empty units, either. In some cases occupied units are just as bad!

The abandoned home, the focus of my neighbor’s concern, was well-kept before the last sale. The final occupant was a young girl, Virginia plates on her car as I recall, who had found new work in the City. Then, one day shortly after a crowded party, a truck came. She and friends loaded it up and disappeared, and no one has been there since. She wasn’t here very long. Maybe a year, if that.

The home to the other side of that one, on the end, is occupied. I’m not sure how many live there. It’s in decline, too. There may even be a business being run from there, if the number of FedEx trucks and assorted unmarked straight-job trucks in and out, loading and unloading, are any indication.

There are others. But what’s the point in going on?

I’ve entertained thought of posting unit numbers and pictures of some of the slum-like things I see in our once-beautiful community. I’ve used peer pressure tactics before to effect change behavioral changes – it can work, sometimes. But thinking it through, broadcasting the situation with precision just might worsen it.

What do you think? Is the home next to yours making you nervous because of abandonment or neglectful owners? What, if anything, have you tried to do about it? Or, are YOU one of those neglectful homeowners? Can you explain yourself?

I’m not holding my breath.

Bad enough during the day, but after dark with no lights? Ordinarily I’d figure Darwin would sort things out, but you just know the SOB would sue you. And here in the People’s Republik of Jersey they’d probably win!

Back in 2001 I had some – about 85% worth – of my cedar siding replaced. The prior owner had let the maintenance slip and it was in pretty bad shape. I’m not griping; I knew it going in.

The job was bigger than I wanted to tackle myself so I set out to find a local contractor. In broad strokes, I called everyone I could find and had them out for an estimate. While I had a good idea as to what needed to be done I played the role of a dumb homeowner to see what they’d say. I chose to work with the contractor that best matched my assessment of the work to be done. I was well-satisfied with the work and it’s holding up well to this day. I’ve since had him handle other work for me as well.

So, with that said, give Frank a call at 732-718-7711 and tell him Rick sent you.

A word about cost. Wood is expensive. Over the long haul maintenance is key. Don’t put off staining, for example, to save a buck this season. Once the wood dries out and starts to warp you’ll have to replace it to put things right again, costing material and labor. Suck it up – do your maintenance.

Naturally, my new siding needed staining. My contractor handled that, too, using an airless sprayer. The coverage was excellent and it held up well for a long time. But not forever. When the next stain job was due I had the guy you see doing lots of staining here in the community handle the work. He used a brush. I can see that stain job will only last about half what the spray job did.

Now, if I haven’t bored you to tears already I have a definite opinion about that composite stuff: I just don’t like it. Yes, there are a number of advantages to using it, I won’t deny that. It’s just aesthetically DISpleasing. Lopez wrote, “It looks so nice…” I disagree. It looks cold, sterile and uniform where natural wood has infinite variation, warmth and character. And those are qualities that attracted me to the community in the first place.

There are definitely more than one unit that’s cut over to HARDIPLANK. One guy did it himself! It’s been on the board-approved list for a number of years; here’s a mention in the July 2005 newsletter. Some of the jobs clearly exhibit better workmanship than others. I’ve observed some where literally every seam is caulked and boards don’t meet their mates at corners. But even at best, you can look at a wall and easily identify identical spans of fake wood grain and you simply can’t do that with natural wood! I reminds me of wood-grain-stamped vinyl siding. But hey, but that’s just MHO.

Moving on, I wrote about the shrubbery devastation a few weeks back, just before the last Board meeting. I had an appointment at that meeting and I walked in just as it was under discussion with the contractors. As you’ve probably noticed by now, the bush stumps are being removed or ground (not that *I* would want to be running machinery near the transformers!). The expansive bare areas are slated for further improvement as well.

I fear that my reactionary post was harsh and fast, and these improvements simply take time. I plead shock. I was absolutely shocked when I came back into the neighborhood that afternoon. When my son came home from school it was his first comment. Likewise with my wife when she came in. As I walked around getting my pictures I saw others wandering, some almost slack-jawed. Shock.

(OTOH, I absolutely meant every single word I wrote about the dog pooper. And I’m remaining vigilant, camera in hand, gathering my evidence.) If you’re reading, pooper, I see you.

We all know about the electric infrastructure work that’s been going on, not only in Riverbend but in the surrounding neighborhoods as well. Following the new conduit runs, last weekend brought the installation of several new transformers. Not without problems, either. The power instabilities have been hell on my poor servers despite the standby power systems I use, but I digress.

There are supposed to be ‘buffer zones’ around the transformers so that utility workers can do their maintenance work. There are notices like this on many of them.

But knowing that didn’t prepare me for the destruction that met my eyes when I returned to the neighborhood yesterday afternoon. Most of the rest of this article consists of images. You can make each image somewhat larger by clicking on it, and return to your place in the series with the Back button of your browser.

Oh, yeah, and I should mention that there’s an extra-special surprise ending. It’s at the end.

Telephone pedestal and transformers.

Building marker against a background of stumps.

No transformer in sight! WTF??

Some shrubbery OK, some not so OK

More preferential treatment?

Phone service been funky lately? Maybe this is why.

They almost look like grave markers, don't they?

The scene is repeated throughout Riverbend.

No more afternoon shade here!

Wondering... will the stumps be removed, at least? Maybe replanted with grass?

Like before, not a transformer in sight.

Showing off our neighborhood: traffic signs, parking signs, multiple transformers, a telephone pedestal (this one intact), stumps and dried mulch, with trash on the side.

Oh, the destruction!

More stumps, near four different kinds of sidewalk patches/replacements.

On and on I walked with my camera, the story repeating itself over and over again. I saw some other residents wandering around. Some of them looked shocked as well.

Oh, yeah, I promised a surprise ending. Have a nice look at this area, just outside number 70. There used to be a nice set of shrubbery there, providing something of a buffer between the front windows and the street, shade by the sidewalk, a windbreak from the winter blast off the street. No more.

Outside number 70.

If you didn’t bother to look at the larger render of that image I’ll save you the trouble.

A closer look at the area near number 70.

See that trash? That’s not ordinary trash. Do you know what it is? I do.

It’s dog excrement, that’s what it is.

A quick count – and it’s not like I tried to be especially precise about it or anything – yielded no less than TWENTY-TWO plastic bags of the stuff!

So. There’s someone around here that walks their little practice dog (judging by the size of the well-preserved poop in those bags) that meticulously picks up the crap, ties the top of the bag in a little knot, and throws it in the bushes outside number 70. Well, what used to be bushes, anyway.

Again,it’s not like I conducted a detailed study but it sure looks like the same dope doing it, again and again. Same kind of bag. Same size crap. Tied off the same way.

Well, dog walker, the rest of this message is directed to you. When I see you performing this disgusting, unhealthy, disrespectful and unlawful act, I will photograph you and file a formal complaint. And y’know what? I will see you, too, because old habits die hard and you won’t stop. Once a slob, always a slob and you’re no exception. You’ll pick it up, you’ll tie it off, you’ll wander and you’ll look around until you think no one’s looking and then you’ll throw it in the bushes. You will keep doing that in my neighborhood, and I will see you, and I will make that complaint. Have a nice day.

Before you get your shorts in a twist, rest assured that our Board is taking this action for the most noble and time-honored purpose: to cut the association’s operational costs. And I think that’s something we can all get behind.

The vendor that’s presently being considered – I won’t name them here – appears to have a great deal of experience providing Web sites to homeowner’s associations across the country. Whether they’ll actually become Riverbend’s service provider remains to be seen; I’ve added to the list of questions and considerations our Board will bring to them. Project startup costs are minimal and ongoing costs seem, well, reasonable.

One important step, no matter who actually ends up providing hosting services, is the choice of a domain name. If you’re thinking that the obvious choices (like riverbend.org, for example) are taken, you’d be absolutely correct. (Believe me when I tell you that each passing week it becomes increasingly difficult to come up with a good domain name.)

You can help. Get your creative juices flowing and make some suggestions. Make as many suggestions as you like. Either add them to this article as comments or email them directly to riverbend@timeoff.org if you’re shy. (It’d be nice if you only suggest domain names that are actually available, but if you don’t know how to do that I’ll check ‘em.) I’ll be sure that the Board hears your suggestions. Of course, you could contact them in the usual way – through the EPM office – yourself! Too late! A domain name has been selected.

I’m sure you’ll be hearing more about the project in the coming days or weeks. I hope you’ll join me in supporting the Board’s efforts to drag our community into the 90s!

Riverbend Drive looking east. That's a Police car facing the camera and my Jeep on the right. Most cars would require lots of work to extricate, but the Jeep drove out with just a few easy minutes of effort.

By then Riverbend Drive, a designated Snow Emergency Route, was full of activity. The township plows had already made several passes by then. Some residents struggled to dig their cars out while Fire Marshals and Police looked on from their SUVs.

Residents scramble to remove their cars from Riverbend Drive.

Some residents I spoke with were uncertain about what they’d do with their cars once they were mobile. The police summoned flatbeds to remove some cars in order to clear the way for the plows to work closer to the curb line.

Police confer with flatbed driver as he prepares to remove cars parked on Riverbend Drive, a designated Snow Emergency Route.

Speaking of the revenue stream brought by the storm, one tow driver commented, “This is blood money. We don’t like doing this any more than they do.”

I’ve known of the designation and the threat of tow for some time, but this is the first time I can recall seeing anyone actually towed away.

Car being removed from Riverbend Drive west. The unlucky resident will face a fine - plus towing plus the impound fee.

Growing Concern worked into the night to make the community parking areas passable. The township doesn’t want them piling the snow on Riverbend Drive, so they resorted to making mounds alongside some residences. The next morning brought clear skies.

Mountain of plowed snow alongside residence dwarfs a full-size pickup. Some of the holly bushes alongside the structure appear to have suffered damage in the process.

Clear skies and the Fire Marshall. He made the rounds again, this time targeting the snow mountains for removal or relocation.

Fate of snow mountains marked with orange spray paint. This one is slated for removal.

By Friday afternoon most of the cleanup had been completed, leaving only a few sidewalk transitions to be cleared again.

Yeah, I know, hindsight’s 20/20. But I think that this could have been better handled by EVERYONE involved.

• Residents need to pay attention to what’s going on and take a little action on their own. When you see snow accumulating in your space, move your car and push the white stuff out where the plows can reach it. If you’ve got a two-car-wide space you share with a neighbor, coordinate with them. This lets our contractor work more efficiently.
• By now Growing Concern should know quite well what the township will and will not tolerate. When they pile the stuff up it should be set back far enough that they don’t have to move it again. In other words, do it right the first time.
• Nobody’s going to like to hear me say this, but WTF. The township needs to make it perfectly clear to residents along a designated Snow Emergency Route exactly what that designation means. Then, it needs to be enforced. Few things teach as strongly as the inconvenience – not to mention expense – of having your car towed. Whether or not the designation or the law seems fair is irrelevant. It is what it is. Live with it or work to change it. But when the application of the designation or law is spotty or inconsistent it just sends a bad message and makes people resentful.

[stepping down from my soapbox] Wow, look at the forecast. Tuesday could bring some more of the white stuff. Are you ready?

My space is trussed; the trusses are low and spaced such that there really isn’t much open, useful space relative to the work involved in reaching it. To ‘floor’ it would mean doing it in pieces, I can’t see getting regular 4×8 sheets up there. Then there’s the question of weight. The ceiling of the garage doesn’t seem designed to support much weight (but I’m no structural engineer, either).

It appears that some models share above-garage space with their neighbors. If that’s you then it calls for walling off your space as well.

So, for me at least, making that space useful seems like more trouble than it’s worth.

I work in my garage year-round and it can get chilly. A while back I swapped out my stock garage door for a high-quality triple-layer steel door with a foam core. Between the R-value of the door, the excellent fit and the weather stripping, the space is the warmest it’s ever been. It even stays noticeably cooler in the summer.