PASCACK VALLEY—Park Ridge Mayor Keith Misciagna said at this year’s Greater Pascack Valley Chamber of Commerce Breakfast With the Mayors that the borough is “extremely busy—I like to say we’re good and getting better.”
He said a few years back at this event he got himself in trouble by saying that Park Ridge “was starting to look like Flint, Mich. because we had all these empty storefronts. People didn’t like that. It’s not so any more; we are very vibrant—our downtown is doing wonderfully.”
The breakfast, held Jan. 24 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.
Misciagna, a Democrat just sworn for a third term, boasted the borough has its own water and electric utilities, which is rare in New Jersey. He said maybe a dozen towns statewide have such utilities.
He said having its own utilities “is a great asset but it’s also a great liability” because they have the responsibility to make sure the water is clean.
Misicagna said he “was very grateful to have our state Senator here” — River Vale’s Holly Schepisi — “who was able to secure state funding for water filtration devices on two wells, both long taken offline, where PFAS residues were found.”
Misciagna repeated that both wells that indicated levels of PFAS were shut down immediately when the PFAS were detected.
He said the borough was very fortunate to get $3.4 million from the federal government to keep local water clean, “and to make sure that our water system is viable and clean for generations.”
He said the borough’s own electric company buys and sells electricity like a commodity. “So we provide electricity to our residents at a reduced rate, but once again it’s a liability and we have upgrades that we have to deal with.”
He said officials are working on an electrical upgrade through PSE&G to provide power off the grid “and they like to charge what they like to call a delivering fee, which is continually going up.”
He said the borough is working on a $6 million to $10 million upgrade with PSE&G for local electricity customers “for generations to come.”
He said Park Ridge’s downtown “is really becoming a vibrant community. The development that everybody was so afraid of has not destroyed our community. We have new businesses going in there,” explaining a new restaurant will open at the north end of The James in March.
He said new retail businesses such as a physical therapy company, and cosmetic dentist, are moving downtown, “which is creating a much more vibrant downtown community for Park Ridge and I’m happy for that.”