LOCAL HERO
Emerson • Hillsdale • Montvale • Park Ridge • River Vale • Township of Washington • Westwood • Woodcliff Lake VOLUME 24 ISSUE 43
90 YEARS YOUNG
PA S C AC K VA L L E Y ’ S BEST H O M E TO W N N E W S PA P E R
WESTWOOD
Letter carrier Ted Meisten retires after 50 years
In Hillsdale, Patricia Lucia’s son seeks cards and letters for her as she reaches a milestone. SEE PAGE 10
PASCACK VALLEY
COUNCILS Heartfelt messages and shifts of power
REORGANIZE BY MICHAEL OLOHAN OF PASCACK PRESS
Some wore face coverings, some did not, and some newly elected members were in council chambers while others remained secure at home. But Pascack Valley municipal councils held combined annual end-of-year and 2021 reorganization meetings that were enthusiastic, optimistic, and unique. Most towns in our coverage area held meetings from Jan. 4 through Jan. 6, as did municipal and regional school boards. Here are highlights from some of the mostly remote reorganization meetings. Montvale Mayor Ghassali says many businesses might not come back. On Monday night (Jan. 4) in Montvale, Douglas Arendacs was
See COUNCILS on page 174
Children followed him with cheers, and dogs barked familiar greetings, and letter carrier Ted Meisten said he would miss it. Residents all along his route turned out to wish Meisten well on Jan. 2, his last day with the Westwood Post Office following an enviable 50 years delivering mail for the borough, 48 of them on the same route. A lifelong resident of Westwood, Meisten graduated from Westwood High School, Class of 1970. He said he started working for the Westwood Post Office three days after his high school graduation. To a News 12 New Jersey film crew keeping up with him on his last day, Meisten said, “I was born and raised here. Iʼve been here 68 years.” When someone off camera yelled, “Youʼre not old,” Meisten said, “No, and maybe in mailman years itʼs old, because Iʼve been walking for 48 years on this route.” He said, “Iʼve seen probably two, three, maybe four generations of kids come and go.” Without missing a step on his appointed rounds, Meisten observed, “People are great, this is the best part: fresh air, exercise, get to see all the people, get SURE, STEADY: An outpouring of affection greeted letter to talk to them, get to know carrier Ted Meisten on his last day before retirement. them, get to know their kids, ly good inside that people really ored for being a longtime memtheir dog, their house, their cars.” like me ... I canʼt say enough. I ber of National Association of And there were postcards enjoy it out here. This makes my Letter Carriers AFL-CIO. New for him, with his sunny likeness, day. If I can put one smile on one Jersey Merged Branch 38 precelebrating “Ted.” face a day I helped somebody,” sented him with a gold card for “Everybody wrote some- he said. 50 years of membership. thing on it. It makes me feel realLast year, Meisten was honSEE TED PAGE 25 PHOTO COURTESY MEISTEN FAMILY
JANUARY 11, 2021
TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON
COUNCIL TAKES FLAK ON ZBA Chairman, member dropped; PB change
BY JOHN SNYDER OF PASCACK PRESS
Residents are speaking out against a change to the composition of the Zoning Board of Adjustment following the Township Councilʼs reorganization meeting Jan. 4. Late in the nearly two-hour meeting, which was held over the governing bodyʼs NYNJA video conference platform and streamed on WCTV-NJ, a divided governing body dropped ZBA chairman Frederic Goetz and member Diane Grimaldi. They accepted the applications of Anthony Capasso, owner of Airflow Cooling and Heating LLC based in Westwood; and Michael LaGratta, a 2020 alternate; and agreed on Jeffrey Roberto, a facility engineer, for alternate. In his council report, member Michael DeSena critiqued delays at the Building Department and detailed ways the town was letting its residents down, including a mishap last year that allowed, with zero public input, eight new Zone AAA single-family homes on approximately 9.3 acres at Wearimus Road and Gorga Place, near the Ho-Ho-Kus border. [For more, see “Eight New Lots Win Preliminary Approval By Default; Engineerʼs Lapse Blamed,” Jan. 17, 2020.] In discussion on the ZBA composition for 2021, DeSena said, “I
See FLAK on page 144
MAYORS TO MEET
B ck in time...
The Pascack Valley Chamber of Commerce invites you to a virtual Breakfast with the Mayors on Jan. 27 at 8 a.m.
Familiar landmarks pop in an otherwise rural view of Chestnut Ridge Road, at the Montvale/Woodcliff Lake border, around 1960.
SEE PAGE 5
SEE PAGE 4