In the end they took no vote. The City Council, minus Councilman
Greg Sellers, spent two hours Wednesday hearing why the library
subcommittee recommended a downtown site for the new library and
explaining why they were leaning toward choosing the downtown site
themselves.
In the end they took no vote.
The City Council, minus Councilman Greg Sellers, spent two hours Wednesday hearing why the library subcommittee recommended a downtown site for the new library and explaining why they were leaning toward choosing the downtown site themselves.
Council heard from a parade of earnest and eloquent citizens telling why they thought the library should stay at the Civic Center on Peak Avenue and from another group proclaiming the benefits of a library downtown.
Council members sought answers to downtown site weaknesses and explained why each of the four would probably follow the subcommittee recomendation and choose the downtown site.
But they did not vote for two reasons.
Sellers had asked to be present at what every council member said was a highly important vote and because Mayor Dennis Kennedy and Councilwoman Hedy Chang wanted time to talk to the public and explain why they would likely not follow strong public opinion favoring keeping the library in its neighborhood location.
Council did, however, give the go-ahead to two of four recommendations in the subcommittee report: that city staff begin to implement already identified ways to finance the new library – wherever it is ultimately built – and that City Manager Ed Tewes work on an alternate and less expensive method of managing construction, also already identified.
Approval of an implementation plan, negotiating contract discussions with Rocke Garcia, owner of the downtown Sunsweet site, (if that is the downtown site chosen) and the actual site selection were both delayed to the July 21 meeting.
If the city receives a state grant, a larger library might be built.
“… the important news is that we found a way to build a new library, despite being unsuccessful in our grant proposals,” Kennedy said.
Tewes explained that the subcommittee, composed of Kennedy, Tate, members of the Library Commission and the general public, had compared the two sites with a magnifying glass.
“The subcommittee concluded that the library is good for the downtown and the downtown is good for the library,” Tewes said.
The committee drew up a list of potential problems with each site and asked staff if ways could be found around them. Most were the same objections to the downtown site brought up by pro-Civic Center residents who expressed their opinion in a straw poll asking site preference: parking, noise, safety, lot size and school access.
Voters who preferred downtown did not point out the flaws in the Civic Center site: a sloping terrain, underground springs and utilities and, least fixable, the fact that it is five blocks away from a main thoroughfare and the center of town.
“The committee decided their concerns could be mitigated (fixed) with good planning and a good budget,” Tewes said.
The straw poll results were two to one in favor of the Civic Center, a point which was puzzling to Marby Lee, who spoke to the council.
“The most disheartening part and biggest frustration is that it seems the council is listening more to people interested in the business aspect rather than to families,” Lee said. “We are still being disregarded.”
After the meeting Lee asked why the council sent the survey out if they weren’t going to heed it.
Tate explained why during council discussion.
“The easiest thing to do as a representative is to poll,” said Councilman Steve Tate. “But I keep coming back to the fact that, to be true to myself and my office, I must do what is best for the city as a whole.”
He said he would be “totally fine” with the Civic Center site but he chose the downtown site because it would be best for the library.
“Everybody says if you put a library in a mainstream location it will get more users in,” he said. “What will serve the greatest amount of the public.”
Chang was worried about parking. As planned by Garcia’s architects, Field Paoli, the Sunsweet site on East Third Street would have more parking than is planned at the Civic Center and, with the extra money, more can be found. The Civic Center, however, has plenty of room for more parking should the city decide it was needed.
Councilman Larry Carr said he regularly walks to the current library with his wife and two small children.
“But, even so, I wholeheartedly support the downtown site,” Carr said. “The council has the opportunity to be innovative and bold with this decision.”
Noise was another issue mentioned.
A more detailed report on the Library Subcommittee’s report appeared in Tuesday’s Times and can be found on line at www.morganhilltimes.com
