Wyckoff October 27, 2010 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 9 Library director announces intention to retire by John Koster Wyckoff Library Director Judy Schmitt has announced her intention to retire after an extended absence from work for medical purposes. Schmitt had worked at the Wyckoff Library for 18 years, first as a staffer and then, after working elsewhere, for about a decade as Wyckoff’s library director. Her resignation, for medical reasons, came at a time when the Wyckoff Township Committee had asked the library board to reassess the projected costs of a renovation and expansion of the building, while also rejecting arguments by a resident that the whole project could be handled for a fraction of the projected cost, which is controlled by the library board and not by the township committee. Mayor Rudy Boonstra mentioned the resignation when he explained why Jerry Goetting, a senior citizen resident and frequent critic of library spending, had been ordered to leave a meeting of the library board on Oct. 19. Goetting had come straight to the Wyckoff Township Committee meeting to protest. “I am very angry about it.” Goetting told the township committee. “I think the Open Public Meetings (Act) was violated tonight...My blood pressure is really up.” Township Committeeman Brian Scanlan and Mayor Boonstra explained that no law had been violated by asking him to leave the closed session. Schmitt’s resignation and the search for a new library director are personnel matters, and a separate litigation against the library board was a legal matter. Closed sessions are permitted in the cases of personnel and litigation issues. Boonstra, who had been at the same meeting and had excused himself to attend the Wyckoff Township Committee meeting, reminded Goetting that Boonstra had asked the board to make sure Goetting would be allowed to sit in on any matters that did not concern personnel or litigation, as is his legal right. Goetting concurred that was true, but once again offered his own plan to expand the library at a cost of about $1.5 million by adding an interior second floor rather than expanding the building’s exterior footprint, and then return the rest of the money to the general surplus fund to relieve property taxes. The library board and members of the township committee have previously stated that the resident’s plan is unrealistic. “The project (as proposed) is destined to fail,” Goetting said. “I ask the citizens of Wyckoff to please attend the library board meetings -- nobody ever does.” “Whether you call it Goosey Night, Mischief Night, or Cabbage Night, the night before Halloween can present problems for residents and communities,” according to Wyckoff Police Chief Benjamin Fox. Fox notes that the evening of Oct. 30 is one known for granting unofficial license for individuals to commit everything from acts of simple pranks to criminal behavior and vandalism. 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