Library board discusses plans for new library, satellite facility

At its Nov. 14 meeting the Belleville Area District Library Board discussed plans for the new 31,401-square-foot library building to be constructed at a cost of $10,035,163 in downtown Belleville, along with the satellite facility in Sumpter Township.
As part of the overall library project, the satellite branch in Sumpter Township will be put in place in an existing hexagon building. Sumpter Township has about $200,000 in escrow for this and the district library has $250,000 in its budget. The branch is expected to open by fall of 2018.
Library architect Dan Whisler advised the board that the budget for the Sumpter project has to be updated because of issues with the mechanical system in the hexagon building that has to be replaced to bring it up to code for a library. He said Sumpter just replaced the furnace but it doesn’t meet the code for a library.
“The whole thing is kind of snowballing,” Whisler said, adding he is unsure how much it will affect the budget. He said currently three or four people work out of that building and it is going from office use to library use with more people who will be coming in.
It was noted the roof leaks, an exterior door sticks, the building is located on a septic system, and there is duct work underneath the slab which may factor into the acoustics of the building. Building committee chairperson Joy Cichewicz said she called Sumpter Clerk Esther Hurst and left a message asking if there has been any progress on the proposed agreement the library had presented in October and she hadn’t heard back.
At its one-hour-and-ten-minute meeting on Nov. 14 , the board also:
• Discussed the policies being considered for art acquisitions for the new library building and then approved them all. The funding for art will come from sources other than the tax money constructing the building;
• Heard architect Whisler say the engineering team had a Nov. 3 meeting with the City of Belleville’s Building Official Rick Rutherford, a representative of the city’s engineering consultant Hennessey Engineering, and the city’s appointed Fire Marshal Dave McInally. Whisler said McInally is requiring a standpipe inside the stairwell and it’s a part of the Fire Code, but Whisler said he’s never had a fire chief ask for that before. If it’s too costly, they will go back to the city to discuss it. The city also wants a new fire hydrant, which the library was going to install, anyway, and the underground storm detention has to meet Wayne County standards. He said the City of Belleville has control over its stormwater detention, but it wants the library to follow the county standards. Whisler said the library is asking for elimination of the city’s required rooftop equipment screening;
• Approved the low bid of $7,900 by Sloan Environmental Services, Inc. of Taylor for asbestos abatement in the house at 360 Charles Street that has been purchased by the library as part of the construction project. Global Green Service Group of Dearborn Heights bid $9,000 and Environmental Maintenance Engineers of Inkster bid $12,800. Environmental Testing & Consulting will be on site each day to monitor air quality while the abatement company removes the vermiculite insulation. The work is expected to take two days and Environmental Testing cost is $400 a day;
• Learned the next step is to go out for bids for demolition of 360 Charles Street so the work can be done by the end of the year. The board voted unanimously to let the Building Committee make the decision on the demolition, hopefully prior to the next meeting on Dec. 12. The committee selected low bidder Blue Ribbon Contracting of Romulus; and
• Approved adding an extra hour to the hours the library is open on Friday and Saturday. It will be open until 6 p.m., instead of 5 p.m. on those days, starting in February.