Tuesday May 2nd Lunch Meeting

 
 
 

Assemblyman Gordon Johnson spoke on the LightRail coming to Englewood. He showed us maps and the exact location of the 3 stops in Englewood.

 
       
 
 
Thank You Assemblyman Johnson.
 
 
 
Spoke
 
 
Presiding: Jill Abbott
Recorder: Carol Schults
 
Date: May 2, 2017
 
Visiting Rotarians and Guests
No visiting Rotarians
Greg Sheath, Lisa Whelan and John Blakley
 
Announcements
Jill made the following announcements:
  • Taste of Teaneck, Monday May 8 at Marriott at Glenpointe, Teaneck, NJ
  • Rotary International  Conference in Atlanta, June 10-14, it will be in Toronto next year
  • Banner Exchange June 29th at Seasons; cost will be under $100
 
Happy Dollars
  • There were many happy dollars celebrating the wedding of Jill and John    
  • There will an Age Friendly Englewood conference on "Housing Options" on 5/25, from 8:30 until 12:30 at Crowne Plaza
  • The University Glee Club with an Amherst singing group will be performing 5/12 at 8:00 pm at 46 West 24th Street 
 
 
Program
  • Assemblyman Gordon Johnson spoke about the Light Rail coming to Englewood.  There will be three stops in town. 
  • The terminus will be at Englewood Hospital Medical Center.  The current doctor's parking lot will become a commuter parking lot (and a new staff parking lot will be built where the old nursing school is located) 
  • The downtown area will have a new train station, across the street from Bergen PAC. 
  • The last stop in town will be south of route 4 on the west side of the road where there are warehouses that will be torn down.  This stop will also have a storage shed to clean and store the light rail cars. 
  • The current estimated cost is $1.28 Billion to create this ten mile route to connect it with the light rail in North Bergen. A ride is estimated to take 20 minutes to Weehawken and 32 minutes to Jersey City.  The fare will be similar to that of taking the bus.The train will run every 6 minutes during peak times and every 10 during non peak hours.
  • It is proposed that all crossings in town will be a "quiet zone", so as the light rail passes intersections, the gates will go down and there will be no horn sounded.
  • Money to cover this project will come from various sources including the gas tax. 
  • The time frame is 3 to 5 to start construction and 7 years to complete it. 
  • Most were excited to hear about this project. 
  • Gordon also spoke about his trip to Nepal. He mentioned that some of the local politicians were looking for a "sister city", to, for example, do e-book exchanges and to help work with on projects. 
50/50 All tickets were used at the Fundraiser
 
Attendance
Three full tables, totaling 22 people
 
Upcoming programs
May 9 - Andrew Schults on the Tenafly "Rails to Trails" Project
May 16 - Forrest Elliott, Keep Vets Warm Project