David Refkin, chair of Green Ridgewood, told the Bergen County Board of Commissioners that Ridgewood is partnering with Columbia University's Climate School on a project called “Saddle River Reimagining: Bergen County’s Green Gem” to develop an actionable plan for Saddle River County Park.

The project — a team of 11 Columbia graduate students under the leadership of Dr. Nancy Degnan — will study flood mitigation, ecosystem restoration, park amenities, and ways to balance conservation with recreation. “This is Green Ridgewood's second project with Columbia,” Refkin said, describing earlier work the village is implementing.

Refkin said the Saddle River County Park, founded in the 1970s and described in the comment as 577 acres, faces severe flooding and erosion from increasingly extreme weather. The students will interview municipal and state partners, including the six municipalities that adjoin the park (Ridgewood, Paramus, Glen Rock, Fair Lawn, Saddle Brook and Rochelle Park), the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Assemblywoman Lisa Swain, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Refkin said Green Ridgewood has scheduled a first conversation with county staff from the parks department this Friday.

Refkin asked the county to share the park master plan developed in 2019, which he said is not accessible on the county website, and to consider acquiring a small parcel adjoining the river near a proposed four-acre development in Paramus to reduce runoff. He described the possible county purchase as a fraction of the four-acre parcel — “maybe an eighth of an acre or a quarter of an acre” — to provide protection from development runoff.

Refkin said the students’ work follows a tight timetable: interviews and research begin immediately, recommendations will start being developed as early as next week, and a completed report is expected in late August.

Refkin also said students found a 2015 Central Bergen Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan that contains ideas for the area. The request to the commissioners was for cooperation and access to county documents and an invitation to be interviewed about the county’s vision and budgets for operating and capital work in the park.

No formal county action was taken at the meeting; the comments were part of the public-comment period.