Unless the Belleville Area District Library Board is able to come up with sites for two new library buildings, architectural drawings and an estimate of their costs, the question won’t be put before voters in November.
At the library board’s April 10 meeting, the board voted unanimously not to apply for the November 2012 ballot until it has further information.
Board vice chairman Christina Brasil, who brought the tabled item back for consideration by the board, said more information is needed before this can be brought before voters.
She said she thinks the board doesn’t have enough information to go for a bond.
Board member Michael Boelter said the proposed contract with Anders C. Dahlgren of Library Planning Associates in Illinois is a part of the equation. Later in the meeting the board approved a $2,970 expenditure to have Dahlgren update the space needs for the Belleville library, since his last assessment was in 2004/05.
Dahlgren noted the second site added to the equation since then is an important shift from the initial planning efforts. He said questions have been raised recently as to whether a plan with core work dating back seven or eight years is useful.
“As I like to say, the tectonic plates of library service keep on shifting,” Dahlgren wrote in a March 26 letter to Library Director Debra Green.
“After all, when we worked together on that earlier plan, neither iPod, iPhone, nor iPad had been introduced yet.
“In response to these and other changes, we’re starting to see libraries adjust how they forecast collection needs,” he said.
For the $2,970, Dahlgren will do a study and update resource and service inventory needs and an estimate of the library’s corresponding space need.
An optional service would cost $1,825 to have Dahlgren come to Belleville to present the updated findings to the library board and/or to an open community meeting.
The board did not approve that part, but left it open for a future decision.
As to the bond vote, everything must be filed with the county by Aug. 15 to get on the November ballot.
Board member John Juriga said he would feel better if board members Joe Monte and Elaine Gutierrez were present at that night’s meeting to make the decision to put off the vote. Monte was out of town and Gutierrez was working at an income tax service.
“We have to have a site. We don’t,” said board chairman Mary Jane Dawson.
Juriga, a retired school teacher, said he always told his students, “When in doubt, leave it out. We’re not ready.”
“There are three board members up for re-election,” pointed out Brasil. “I’d like us to be unified.”
She said the last big bond vote in the community was for the high school and it took a while, and several site proposals, before it got passed. She said the library board is talking about three to four sites for the main library building and has made no decision.
Resident Mike Renaud advised the board to work on a list of what it needs to accomplish, such as site and architectural drawings. He noted South Dakota had five potential sites for a library with a drawing for each one and cost for each one.
He said they could put checkmarks next to items on a list for what they need as they get them.
“As far as the board members changing, that’s the point of having a board,” Renaud said. “It flows. Eighty percent of the board is enough to make a decision. You shouldn’t hold off until you get a full board.”
Juriga said the board is dealing with the DNR for the property north of the bridge and that’s almost impossible to do, since there are three separate offices involved. He said the board is waiting for questions from the city concerning the board’s request for the city donation of property. Also, the city is waiting for its new attorney to come fully on board.
Barbara Rogalle Miller asked which board seats were up in November and she was told the seats up were now filled by Michael Boelter, John Juriga, and Joy Cichewicz.
At the April 10 meeting, the board also:
• Heard Vera Howell discuss reports in the media that citizens are disrespectful to the board and she noted if the board doesn’t refute that, people think it’s true. Board members said they did not think public comments at the meetings were disrespectful. Dawson said it’s not a good idea to get into a debate in the local newspapers. Howell said the people are united in the goal to get a nice library in a place that is right for all the citizens. “We don’t mean to be disrespectful.” Howell said the people who wrote about being disrespectful don’t come to the meetings;
• Heard Miller say people should write letters to the editor to discuss the location, size, and the city attorney issue. She said since these proceedings aren’t recorded and shown on television the public at large doesn’t witness the discussions;
• Discussed problems with the present library building and whether the canopy, which is being held up by nine rusted supports, should be torn down or fixed. Juriga said Davenport Brothers is currently working on the barrier-free ramps. He said Davenport said he could fix the canopy for $11,250, but an engineer is needed to look at it before any money is spent. Bids must be taken, Brasil stated;
• Heard Dawson report that she and library board attorney John Day met April 5 with the appraiser hired for the DNR property. They walked around, took pictures, and also looked at the “outlot”. He also will be contacting the museum to see if there are old maps of the site before the road was put in. The appraiser will get back to the board in a month or so. He’s been paid $2,000, half of the $4,000 total;
• Noted the district library had to refund $6,108 in taxes to Wolverine Power Supply in Sumpter Township after Wolverine appealed its 2010 assessment to the state and won; and
• Heard Dawson remind everyone that the new Other Book Group will be meeting around the community on the third Thursday of the month. The next meeting is at 7 p.m. on Thursday April 19, when it will meet at the Bayou for book discussion, food, and drink. The book for April is “Faith” by Jennifer Haigh. Dawson said the first meeting drew seven people on the night of the tornado warnings in March and those attending saw hail hit the front window of the Bayou.