Our town has experienced great growth and change over the years: our vision for the future calls for Woodcliff Lake to retain its unique charm and community spirit, while preserving a high quality-of-life and maintaining the health and safety of all residents.
We will continue to oppose the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airspace Redesign Plan, and join with our neighboring towns to pursue a combined legal and political remedy. As President of the bi-partisan Pascack Valley Mayors Association, our Mayor Joe LaPaglia has been leading the way in this fight, with the support of the Woodcliff Lake Council.
Our team is committed to controlling municipal spending. Municipal taxes, which comprise only 22% of your total property taxes, are the only portion controlled by your Mayor and Council. Over the past 4 years, the Republican Mayor and Council has kept tax increases at the lowest rate in the Pascack Valley. We will continue to actively pursue County, State and Federal grants to offset costs.
We will continue our efforts to revise the regional school funding formula and achieve a more equitable per student cost for our town. We will continue our work on behalf of Woodcliff Lake to explore cost-sharing initiatives with other towns, such as the upgrade of Emergency Communications Services with Park Ridge, Montvale, and Northwest Dispatch, which will result in nearly half a million dollars of savings for taxpayers.
The Old Mill Complex has long been one of our town’s treasures, and it is once again the envy of the Pascack Valley, having won the statewide Excellence in Design Award. In 2004 and 2005, under Republican leadership, we renovated and upgraded the pool, maintaining much of its unique character while expanding competitive swimming lanes and diving areas. This year, in response to public requests, we added a food and refreshment stand and more tables, chairs and lounges.
We fully embrace the community’s dream for quality sports and recreational facilities for our children, families, seniors – and we are dedicated to making that dream a reality. We will continue to develop the Old Mill park area for multi-generational recreation and social purposes through selective land acquisition, and the development of the Westervelt-Lydecker property using state and county grants whenever possible.
Republican leadership has restored favorable relationships with nearby towns, and re-established cooperative efforts for the mutual benefit of all. In the years since Mayor LaPaglia and Councilmen Bader and Singer were elected, Woodcliff Lake has enjoyed municipal cost savings, service improvements, and forged strong alliances with neighboring towns. We have enjoyed intelligent debate without discord, and the team of LaPaglia, Bader, Singer and Langschultz are firmly committed to putting the needs of our town first.
Mayor LaPaglia and the Republican Councilmembers believe that honesty and integrity are the keys to good leadership. Making promises during an election campaign is easy, but following through on those promises—while protecting the best interests of ALL of Woodcliff Lake’s citizens—is a challenge we’ve met head on. Our goal has always been to maintain the suburban character of our community, and we have vigorously fought all attempts to rezone residential land for multi-family and commercial uses. Zoning and municipal regulations will continue to be strongly enforced and residents’ concerns heeded. Municipal government isn’t exactly a glamorous job, but it’s an essential one that requires skill, experience, and commitment. We’ve worked hard over the years to accomplish many goals for the good of the entire town, including: Street repaving to ensure resident safety $100 million in added ratables from the BMW Headquarters expansion, to keep resident taxes down Infrastructure improvements for improved drainage and flood control Implementing and completing beautification projects, resulting in the installation of a Town Clock, continuing improvements along the Broadway corridor, and earning our town Tree City USA designation Upgraded Technology, including improvements to our website that will allow online signup for town sports and pool memberships Investigating upgrades to our current recycling and waste management schedules for added convenience
