Recreation Soccer Awards Barbeque is at Bruins Stadium on Saturday, June 30, 2012 at 12:00 PM.

T-Ball Awards is on Saturday, June 9, 2012 at 12:30 PM at Recreation Center, 6300 Meadowview Avenue.

This article is the first of a new monthly series from Mayor Nick Sacco highlighting important issues going on in North Bergen.
 
The task of maintaining excellent municipal services seems to get harder every year. Costs are always increasing, as items like employee benefits, insurance, fuel and others steadily rise. Meanwhile the new property tax cap prevents towns from raising taxes to compensate for these increased costs, putting a crunch on services. Many municipalities are forced to lay off employees, sometimes including police officers and firefighters, and drastically reduce services. In North Bergen, however, we’re getting creative and finding new ways to bring in additional revenues and maintain our high level of service.
 
One extremely successful program we recently completed was a Refunding Bond sale. With interest rates at historic lows our finance team identified an opportunity to refinance some of the township’s long term debt at a dramatically lower rate. The resulting bond sale brought in six bidders and a final rate of just 0.43%. This minute new interest rate will save North Bergen $200,000 over the next ten years and help us continue to grapple with rising costs while keeping taxes stable and services in place.

North Bergen Recreation Wrestling Awards Dinner is on Friday, May 18, 2012 at 6:00 PM at Nutrition Center, 1441 51st Street, North Bergen.

The North Bergen Police have announced that their new website, www.northbergenpolice.com,  is now available.  This new site provides residents with important information, such as licensing requirements for bartending, taxi, and firearms, information on the Neighborhood Watch Program, safety tips such as how to spot scam artists, and how to be a Crime Stopper.  There is also a gallery of Missing Persons from North Bergen and Most Wanted that are local offenders.

The number one priority of the North Bergen Police Department is to build community partnerships that reduce crime and improve the safety and stability of our neighborhoods. Utilizing a philosophy of community policing and a commitment to providing excellence in service, our police department is eager to accept the challenges facing law enforcement in the 21st century.

It is with the full support of Mayor Nicholas J. Sacco, Public Safety Commissioner Theresa V. Ferraro, and the entire Board of Commissioners that the North Bergen Police Department is able to help ensure that the Township of North Bergen is a great place to live, work and shop.

The North Bergen Police Chief appreciates your interest in the North Bergen Police Department and encourages you to visit the website on a regular basis.

Birth certificates are mandatory for all children. Two forms of proof of residency are also required. Money orders, personal checks, certified checks, or credit cards are the only form of payments. No cash allowed. Make checks payable to North Bergen Swimming Pool. There will be a service charge of $25.00 for all returned checks.

NORTH BERGEN – Due to recent reports in various media outlets concerning traffic conditions at the intersection of 88th street and Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen – the site of the Vornado Shopping Center featuring Walmart, BJ’s Wholesale Club and other stores and restaurants – the township launched a comprehensive traffic study of the area to determine the validity of safety concerns that have been expressed. The study shows that incidents of car accidents are no higher than in other comparable urban intersections and that concerns about safety are unwarranted.

“When residents come to us with a concern we always perform our due diligence and look into it,” said North Bergen Mayor Nick Sacco. “The results of this traffic study show that the area around Vornado is not any more dangerous than any other stretch of Tonnelle Avenue or any busy urban street. It was a good project when it was approved and it’s still a good project for North Bergen now.”

The study, conducted by the North Bergen Police Department’s Traffic Division, looked at the total number of car accidents on Tonnelle Avenue between 88th street and 89th street from January 2010 to September 2011. During that time there were 158 recorded traffic accidents – however, 94 of them occurred within the parking lot of the shopping center. These low-speed accidents are, in most cases, nothing more than minor fender benders. Twenty six of them involved fixed objects, meaning that drivers struck parked cars, light poles or other non-moving objects.

When the parking lot accidents are removed, the total amount of accidents on the roadway over that 21-month period is 64, or about three per month. This is very consistent with comparable busy urban streets and should not be seen as any unusual safety hazard, according to the North Bergen Police Department.

Opened in late 2010, the Vornado shopping center features several nationally-known stores as well as restaurants. It was a significant addition to North Bergen’s commercial ratable base, helping keep residential property taxes stable. Construction on the project created hundreds of jobs during the height of the economic recession, and currently hundreds more are working in the stores in the center. It also contributed to the long running economic revitalization of Tonnelle Avenue, helping turn it from a blighted area full of abandoned industrial buildings into a regional shopping destination and economic engine.

Construction is proceeding on a Left-Turn Only lane that will direct North-bound traffic on Tonnelle Avenue into the shopping center, which is expected to significantly ease traffic coming in and out of the area. The lane is expected to be completed this Spring.