PASCACK VALLEY—River Vale Mayor Mark Bromberg said at the annual Greater Pascack Valley Chamber of Commerce Breakfast With the Mayors on Jan. 24 that the township has “numerous shovels in the ground” on the long-stalled $15 million Public Safety Complex project, which the town bonded nearly $20 million for, including planning, architectural, engineering, legal, furnishings, and communications equipment costs.
The council awarded the construction bid to Dobco Inc. of Wayne, for $14,778,500 in November.
The breakfast, at The Tavern at the Iron Horse in Westwood, is an annual tradition and major fundraiser for the chamber, which serves the eight towns of the Pascack Valley and nearby Oradell and Old Tappan.
In his turn at the microphone, Bromberg said construction of the long-planned $15 million Public Safety Complex, affordable housing obligations, flooding mitigation and shared services were the top 2024 priorities.
Bromberg said also planned for the area were a couple of small group homes, as well as “an affordable housing component.” He said that River Vale was “in compliance” with its Fair Share Housing Center requirements under the third round.
“We have all our ducks in order and projects are underway,” the mayor said.
He said the township has achieved “substantial certification” on its affordable housing obligations, and said proposed affordable housing legislation appeared to be coming in July 2025, noting “they’re about to move the goalposts once again, which is kind of ridiculous.”
He said towns were “finally solidifying plans” for affordable housing and implementing them, and noted State Sen. Holly Schepisi’s (District 39) role to moderate the proposed affordable housing legislation (Senate-50; Assembly-4) proposed for action during the lame duck session, where it failed, and again early this year.
Early in 2023, the Pascack Valley Mayors Association (PVMA) supported a bill co-sponsored by Schepisi, and other legislators, that would have stalled 2025 affordable obligations until July 2028. The bill has not advanced out of committee.
He said a proposal to decrease state parking requirements (under the Residential Site Improvement Standards) for future high density proposals was addressed in a “great letter” by Westwood Mayor Ray Arroyo, this year’s PVMA president.
Bromberg said the state proposal reduced parking “and likely [would] have things spill out into our neighborhoods.” He said the council opposed this.
He said he helped get the Township Council to pass resolutions and support efforts not to reduce parking requirements and delay the upcoming affordable housing round.
He called flooding “a significant issue” in River Vale, noting the township was participating in a drone study of Pascack Brook.
“This hopefully will give us information that we can then take and then apply for grants and get some other support from county, state, and possibly federal so that we can maybe help alleviate some of the flooding,” he said.
Bromberg noted that Schepisi, also in attendance, had sponsored legislation for better management of the reservoir and also provided state funding for a study to help better manage the reservoir.
He said River Vale had “a great shared service” with Montvale that efficiently runs the Pascack Valley DPW. He said the township was hoping to recruit volunteers for emergency services roles, “which are becoming harder and harder to find.”
He said there’s “a lot of requirements” for new emergency services volunteers, adding the township was in talks with Old Tappan to possibly share some volunteers in emergency services.
He said “one of the things we have going great for us” is the Community Emergency Response Team or CERT, which back up the first responders, which includes a lower level of training.
Bromberg said the town has been able to get a lot of people involved in CERT and that the “highly active” CERT team is being utilized for parking help at major events, and other local emergencies.