NEW LIBRARY JOINT COMMITTEE

MINUTES

SEPTEMBER 27, 2007

The New Library Joint Committee met on September 27, 2007, at the New Library site (221 N. Main). In the absence of Chair Juhl, it was motioned by Shadlow, seconded by Kasper to have Fritz act as chair for the meeting. All were in favor. Committee members present at role call were Roger Fritz, Lisa Kasper, Tammy Shadlow, Catherine Steward, and Britany Danielson. Jeri Neely arrived later. Also present was one member of the community.

It was motioned by Shadlow and seconded by Danielson to approve the agenda. All were in favor.

Sam was not present to clarify the minutes that he took from the August 22 meeting. It was suggested that notes prepared by Steward be used as the minutes. There was discussion on the need to get minutes posted on-line to keep people up to date. It was motioned by Kasper seconded by Shadlow to use the notes as the minutes with the addition of the roll call paragraph from Sam’s minutes. Motion passes 4-0-1, with Danielson abstaining.

There was no public input at this time.

Fritz reported that there was a general feeling from the Council that they would be ok with the Library moving temporarily into 221 N. Main.

Steward reported from the Library Board that they passed a motion stating the only reason the Board would be in favor of moving the Library temporarily would be if the current library, the building to the north, and the fire station were in the process of becoming the new library. Kasper added that the Board was in the process of establishing a policy to offer programs and services in an alternative manner for patrons who are physically unable to access the building. This would temporarily meet the ADA code.

Danielson stated that the Library Foundation’s main contribution to the project is funding. The Foundation felt it would be ok to move temporarily if there was a plan that included the current site.

The Committee reviewed the two quotes received by the City for some remodeling of 221 N. Main. Fritz stated that the Story Construction quote included two bathrooms and zoning of the HVAC. There was discussion on the number of restrooms that would be needed to use the building as a library versus as a city hall. Danielson stated that the City needs to decide the use of the building before it spends money on it.

Shadlow asked if the discussions that the NLJC has been having about different options for the building were tabled. Kasper asked if City Council was against having a library at the 221 N. Main location. Fritz stated that the subject would be on the next Council agenda. Neely stated she would vote no to spend $40,000 to $50,000. There was discussion that without adding on to the building it would not meet code to hold the collection.

Danielson stated that the Foundation feels it will be harder to raise large donations for a remodel project than it would be for building new. Their concern is if we are doing a remodel, it will limit the Foundation’s ability to raise funds. The Foundation’s contribution to the project would then end up being a smaller percentage of the total. The Foundation has already raised $75,000 even though they have not been soliciting funds since the vote on the bond. There was discussion on the fact that there was not as much cost savings from the remodel/addition plan versus building new as had been anticipated.

Steward handed out charts comparing the two contractors’ quotes with the two engineers’ reports. Shadlow stated that SVPA had not gotten back to her to answer questions. Most of the issues from the engineers were addressed in the quotes. Neither addressed repair/removal of the pole shed.

Fritz stated that he feels people think the building is good enough to serve some city function. Marvin Wright (as a member of the public) stated that he has heard this is one of the newest buildings on Main Street; it’s structurally sound. Why would you knock it down? Steward stated that building new would save 5% to 6% over remodeling and that is why the Design Committee recommended to build new. Fritz stated that the Council understands that, but feels that since the building could serve another purpose, there could be another site for the library. He also feels the Council would be ok with a library larger than 3,500 square feet. He feels there is no need to tear the building down when it could serve a city purpose.

Shadlow feels the community would be irate if the focus was shifted to put money into city hall (or another city function) instead of the library. It would be a disservice to the community to spend the money on another city function before the library was addressed. Let’s just compromise on this site. The purpose of this committee is to get a plan together that will work for all three groups.

There was discussion on remodeling 221 N. Main with an addition to the south to create a rectangle of almost 5,800 square feet. The current library would need to be used for programming until additional space could be added to the west. Steward stated that by extrapolating from the RMH numbers obtained by the Design Committee, the cost for this idea would be about $713,000 to $808,000. This would not include a program room.

There was discussion on building new at 218-220 N. Main & 200 E. Ash. Concern was raised about having to move the fire station before it needs more space. Fritz stated that his idea was to build only on the two N. Main street sites, and not include the fire station. If the town grew to where we need more than the 6,000 square feet for the library, then it would also have grown large enough to need a new fire station. Shadlow stated that NLAC looked into using those three sites. The concern the group had at that time was the inclusion of another fairly major city project. Steward stated that if the library were to include a program room, we would already need more than 6,000 square feet. It’s not that if we grow we’ll need more than 6,000 square feet, it’s that we already need more than 6,000 square feet.

It was motioned by Neely, seconded by Shadlow, to have Steward contact Randy Cummings to find out 1) if there is a fee to get cost estimates for a plan, 2) can we get an estimate with only a rough plan, 3) if possible, get cost estimates for remodel/Boyd addition plan. All were in favor.

There was public input at this time from Marvin Wright that he is happy to see this moving forward.

The next meeting date will be determined via email after a time frame to acquire numbers is determined.

Motion to adjourn by Neely. Second by Kasper. All in favor.

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