February 12, 2014 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 11 Area Engineer and consultant discuss Valley expansion by John Koster The Ridgewood Planning Board recently heard from Village Engineer Christopher Rutishauser and contracted consultant Dr. Golan Kabir, who said the plans for the Valley Hospital expansion were technically viable. “It’s eminently buildable, but with proper constraints,” Rutishauser said. Dr. Kabir, retained by Ridgewood to evaluate the tech- nical advice of Valley Hospital’s own hired geotechnical expert, Mustafa Gouda, said the hospital could be built as planned, but urged that neighbors be contacted to con- Nursery school celebrates 40 years (continued from page 10) Jersey Pre-School Teaching and Learning Standards. However, 40 years later, Pastor Dave and Mary Weyant’s vision remains unchanged. Families in Wyckoff and the surrounding communi- ties still find the nursery school to be a place where children receive a rewarding Christian educational program designed to develop the mental, physical, social, and emotional growth of each child.” To celebrate this lasting vision, alumni of the school came together recently with cur- rent nursery school families for an afternoon of fun. For more information about opportunities available for chil- dren at the Wyckoff Reformed Church Nursery School, 580 Wyckoff Avenue, Wyckoff, visit www.wrcns.org or call Kat Nau- mann at (201) 847-1330. Juggles the Clown stops in to entertain at the anniversary celebration of the Wyckoff Reformed Church Nursery School. tribute their input on a voluntary basis before, during, and after the work began. Rutishauser added after the meetings that a long pro- cess lies ahead. The next meeting will be March 10 at Benjamin Franklin Middle School at 7:30 p.m. and the final technical reports may be followed by a request from the Ridgewood Planning Board to the Ridgewood Village Council for a rezoning. The council would then have to introduce and adopt the change to the master plan in the form of an ordinance to be voted at a public meeting. The hospital would then need to submit a site plan for approval before construction could begin. No formal esti- mates were given as to how long this might take. The ball- park figure was said to be “years.” Valley Hospital is also said to be involved in talks con- sidering the purchase of the UPS site on Winters Avenue in Paramus. That property is located near Route 17, and would reportedly be used to house a fitness and well- ness center. Neither side would comment officially on the talks. Residents who live near the existing Valley Hospital building on Linwood Avenue are substantially opposed to the construction plans, which would increase the footprint of the hospital from 562,000 square feet to 995,000 square feet, essentially to allow for improved technology and to make the hospital rooms single-bed, which is said to be state-of-the art in upscale hospitals. Opponents of the plan cite an increase in traffic and the reduction of prop- erty values as their primary concerns, and noise during the construction process. Other residents say that the best possible hospital would be a major asset to the village. Last year, Valley purchased the office building at 1200 East Ridgewood Avenue. The hospital also runs a 128,000 square foot satellite facility at 1 Valley Health Plaza in Paramus that includes various operations, including the Daniel and Gloria Blumenthal Cancer Center, the George R. Jaqua Same Day Services Center, and the Valley Health Pharmacy.