The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • 5

FRIDAY, JULY 24, 1998 PM THE RECORD L-3 ining expert CATAPULTED INTO AMUSEMENT PARK HISTORY win aeive into ill 1IHJIHIII1I1H riLllj.LI stone quarry License renewal, complaints spark Ringwood evaluation 1 11 x. vV 4: is i By JAN BARRY Staff Writer RINGWOOD Borough officials are preparing to hire a raining engineer to reexamine a stone quarry operation that has riled many neighboring residents. Among the duties of the mining expert, who worked previously for the borough in instituting a quarry ordinance, will be to see if the Van Orden Sand and Gravel Co. quarry has met the conditions of a 1996 municipal license that expires in August. The company, owned by the Braen family of Franklin Lakes, is seeking a three-y6ar license renewal for its operations on a 95-acre mountainside tract off West Brook Road.

The Borough Council will consider the license renewal at a hearing in August or September. Borough officials are preparing a contract with mining engineer George Bickford of LBW Engineering Inc. of Allentown, to review quarry operations and concerns raised by residents about blasting, noise from stone crushers and backup beepers, truck traffic, and other issues. At a council meeting Wednesday, Borough Attorney Richard Clemack said an important part of the review by an outside expert will be to hear what residents have to say about the quarry. "This firm will meet with the residents," Clemack said.

"We expect maximum input from them." Mayor Theodore Taukus said a mining expert may raise additional matters that the council should review. "I want to give the engineer time to do his analysis and talk to whoever he needs to talk to," Tau kus said. "That's why I like the idea of bringing in the professional. He will undoubtedly bring up things I wouldn't think of." People who live near the quarry have complained for years of the intrusion of an industrial operation on a quiet neighborhood in a wooded setting near state forests and the Wanaque Reservoir. After a court battle between the Braens and the borough over a 1992 municipal quarry ordinance, a compromise licensing code was adopted in 1996.

Though safety fencing and other measures to reduce the impact of quarry operations were installed as required, neighbors are still upset over frequent rock-extraction explosions, loud noises from machinery, and a heavy volume of quarry trucks on local roads and a narrow bridge over the reservoir. "The last two years have proved that the quality of life is not what the ordinance was designed to do," said Janice Schwarz, co-coordinator of the Westbrook Alliance, made up of quarry neighbors. She said her group feels that the borough has not adequately enforced provisions of the quarry ordinance. She cited an example of residents' filing a complaint in Municipal Court of loud noises from backup beepers after hours when quarry operations are supposed to cease. The municipal judge disqualified himself because of a potential conflict of interest and sent the case to West Milford, where it was dismissed.

"This quarry simply does not belong in a residential zone. That's another big issue," said Kathy Baker, coordinator of Skylands CLEAN, a regional environmental organization based in Ringwood. STAFF PHOTOS BY DON SMITH fx I if ts took down the last the former Action Park on Thursday when they the Space Shot tower It for relocation to park in Quebec. a Montreal-based company, the Space Shot in Although its height yellow color made the a notable landmark In County, Mountain Creek which took over Action did not feel it belonged facility. Mountain recently spent $5 million and adding attractions water park, which includes alpine slide and miniature W.

Paterson cops ratify pact with 3.75 raises Disability pay, college premium added I tv CK Iff L'w2' .,.,1 'J "ij ft .1 19, of Lexington Avenue, and a 17-year-old male from East Orange, were arrested after the Wednesday evening incident and charged with multiple offenses, including aggravated assault on a police officer, Russo said. The incident began at 7:40 p.m. Wednesday, when Montclair police received a report that two men were attempting to break into a car on Walnut Street. Officer Michael Sauer responded, spotted the suspects stopped in the Honda at a red light, and approached and attempted to open the Honda's driver-side door, Russo said. The 17-year-old, who was driving, sped away, dragging Sauer about 15 feet erstown.

Wimberly said Thursday night that there were seats remaining but that the bus was filling fast. Among those reserving the free seats are members of a Little League team and current and former Eastside students. "When you are young and playing ball, everyone has a dream of getting inducted into the Hall of Fame" said Corwin Belfield, a 19- Three cops hurt recovering stolen car By MONSY ALVARADO Staff Writer WEST PATERSON The local police union has ratified a new contract giving rank-and-file officers 3.75 percent annual pay increases over the next three years. "I believe we did good on it," said Thomas Bolen, president of the West Paterson Policemen's Benevolent "A lot of towns are giving up things, and we didn't give anything up." The Borough Council will vote on the contract next month. The pact affects 19 members of the police force everyone but the chief.

Under the previous contract, which expired Dec. 31, 1997, a first-year patrol officer earned a base salary of $22,497, and an officer with five years of service made $56,738. Sergeants started at $61,532, and lieutenants earned $66,699. The new contract would discontinue longevity bonuses for new hires. Those bonuses would be replaced with an increase in the bonuses given to each new officer who has a four-year college degree.

"Our college bonus has been enhanced," Bolen said. "Police officers with a college degree coming on will get more money. Mayor Pat Lepore said Thure- i-Tfi-: and causing him to break his kneecap, Russo said. Two other Montclair officers picked up the chase, and the Honda began "sideswiping and ramming" the patrol car, Russo said. The chase continued into Orange, where the suspects' car ran into a tree stump on Thomas Boulevard.

When Officers William Pa-dor and Frank Gowen approached the Honda, the car suddenly backed up, striking both officers in the chest and knocking them to the ground, Russo said. Pador then fired three shots from his revolver, and the suspects bailed out of the car and began running, Russo said. Police caught year-old Paterson resident who plays baseball for William Paterson University in Wayne. "So knowing that someone from Paterson who went to my high school Eastside is getting inducted is great. It really is something positive for the city.

It seems these kinds of things often get overlooked." Mayor Martin G. Barnes and many who grew up with Doby, such as boxing promoter Lou Duva, are expected to drive up on their own to watch the historic ceremony. Doby, the first African-American in the American League, has long been one of the city's favorite sons. Born in South Carolina, he moved to Paterson with his mother in 1938, growing up to become a four-sport athlete at Eastside Ironworkers vestige of in Vernon dismantled and prepared an amusement Laronde, bought the spring. and bright Space Shot Sussex Water Park, Park, at the new Creek renovating to the an golf.

By TIMOTHY D. MAY Staff Writer MONTCLAIR A police officer suffered a broken knee, and two other officers sustained lesser injuries in a chase that began when police tried to stop two suspected car thieves and ended with an officer firing three shots, authorities said Thursday. The bullets, which police said were fired after the suspects tried to run down two officers, did not hit anybody and lodged in the driver-side door and window frame of a stolen Honda, said township Police Chief Thomas J. Russo. The suspects, Rudolph Draper, The pact affects 19 members of the force everyone but the chief.

day that he did not know the PBA had approved the contract, so he declined to comment on details. He said the Borough Council had originally sought a lower increase. "I was looking for 3 percent across the board," Lepore said. "But getting rid of longevity for new hires was a very big factor." The contract will add $22,000 to the payroll, the mayor said. Officers now on the force would continue to be eligible for longevity bonuses.

The new contract also will offer state disability insurance. "If we get hurt when we're not working, we will get a percentage of our pay," Bolen said. "All the surrounding towns have it, and we didn't have it, and that was one of our big concerns this time around. And the town was willing to give it to us. The new contract, if approved by the council, will be retroactive to January.

By MICHAEL CASEY Staff Writer PATERSON The city has re-named the post office after Larry Doby, sponsored a parade in his honor, and presented a long-running exhibit at the city museum detailing his many exploits on and off the baseball diamond. So it's no surprise that Patersonians of all ages are gearing up for this weekend at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. The highlight, for Patersonians, will be the 2:30 p.m. ceremony on Sunday during which five players and baseball executives, including Doby, will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. "I'm very excited," said Benjie Wimbejly, the city's director of Patersonians to be with Doby on Hall of Fame day them about two blocks away and charged them with receiving stolen property, weapons offenses (using the Honda to try to hit the officers), attempted automobile theft, eluding police, and assault, Russo said.

"We're still interviewing witnesses, but at this point, it appears that the shooting by Pador was justifiable," Russo said. The incident is under review by the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, said Raymond Weiss, a spokesman for the prosecutor. Sauer was treated for his broken knee at Mountainside Hospital and released Wednesday evening. High School. He worked in the city's Department of Recreation after his baseball playing days were over.

After graduating from Eastside, Doby went on to star for the Newark Eagles baseball team of the Negro League and then became the second African-American to break the major league color barrier when he joined the Cleveland Indians on July 5, 1947, weeks after Jackie Robinson joined the National League's Brooklyn Dodgers. Doby became the second African-American to play in a World Series, the first to hit a home run in a World Series, and the first to win a major-league home-run title. He returned briefly to Paterson when his playing days ended. He now lives in Montclair. He's been pretty much a mentor to me and a friend to the programs we've run.

The greatest thing I've learned from him is perseverance by example, ff Beiyie Wimberly Paterson recreation director c- c. X- 4 if ill ir feMrn. recreation, who has helped organize a bus heading to the event. "He's been pretty much a mentor to me and a friend to the programs we've run," Wimberly said of Doby. "The greatest thing I've learned from him is perseverance by example." Doby's fans will meet outside Eastside High School at 6:30 a.m.

for the four-hour bus ride to Coop Larry Doby during the 1957 season with the Chicago White Sox..