Morgan Hill wants, needs and deserves a new library. We have
sufficient funds available in our Redevelopment Agency (RDA) to
build one, without sacrificing our recreation, youth and senior
services goals. We need to quickly but carefully do the planning
for the facilities that best meet our needs, and get them
built.
Morgan Hill wants, needs and deserves a new library. We have sufficient funds available in our Redevelopment Agency (RDA) to build one, without sacrificing our recreation, youth and senior services goals. We need to quickly but carefully do the planning for the facilities that best meet our needs, and get them built.
When the RDA was extended in 1999, we said it should “assist” in funding a new library, expecting that the county library system would also contribute to a new facility. No sooner had the RDA been extended than we learned that the county library system could not substantially fund a new facility, needing to use almost all of their funding for ongoing facility operation. In 2000, California voters approved Prop. 14, a bond measure to fund new library construction based on a competitive process.
Prop. 14 has three rounds of funding and we have been unsuccessful in the first two rounds. While our need is very large, there are many communities in California with no library facility whatsoever or facilities in much worse shape than ours. Our city and county library staff have excelled in the quality of our applications, but our need is simply not as great as others. We are submitting a third application to exhaust all possibilities of potential outside funding, but we do not expect to be successful. In any event, we do have the $5.5 million share or match set aside in RDA funds required to qualify for Prop. 14 funds.
Because of our lack of success on Prop.14, library boosters have mounted a campaign to encourage the City Council to reprioritize the RDA so that a library can be built. They are modeling their efforts on those of the aquatics boosters, who successfully established the aquatics center as a top priority. The crux of the debate is over the Indoor Recreation Center (IRC), a $26 million project that is “next in line” after the aquatics center and believed by the Council majority to be necessary to fulfill a commitment to recreation. I disagree.
The IRC justification is to provide both a Senior and a Youth Center with cross-pollination between them so that it will really be a multi-generational center. To operate the facility, however, we need an income stream, so an indoor pool, aerobic workout facilities, weight-lifting facilities, and a gym have been added to provide income in order to operate the entire facility, including the youth and senior components.
Are the recreational facilities of the IRC really necessary to provide recreation to Morgan Hill residents? I think not. An indoor pool is nice, but with our outdoor facility for all aquatics needs, we can live without it. Gold’s Gym, 24-Hour Fitness and others already provide many of the fitness opportunities planned for the IRC, we don’t want to take away from their business. And there are other private businesses looking at opportunities in Morgan Hill for indoor recreation – roller hockey, basketball, volleyball and more – why not encourage them? Can the city really be competitive and still cover the operational costs of the facilities? It isn’t clear.
At a recent City Council hearing on the library, fellow Councilman Greg Sellers said that we could find a win-win situation for both the library and for recreation, and I totally agree with him. However, I do not agree that the IRC is part of that solution. Our priorities for recreation ought to be completion of the aquatics center followed by construction of playing fields for soccer, baseball, softball, football, volleyball, basketball, etc. Our reliance on school fields is getting more tenuous as school budgeting problems mount, and the schools really don’t have enough fields as it is. Fields are a priority, much more than an indoor gym or pool.
When the RDA was extended, we talked not only about a new library and recreation, we also talked about facilities for youth and seniors, and we need to find a way to provide for these needs without an IRC. I’ve thought long and hard about how to accomplish this and honestly do not have the answers yet. We’ve made great progress in the last six weeks on the design of these facilities. By getting our Advisory Committees – both Youth and Senior – involved and having interactive dialog with our architects, we’ve developed a great conceptual design for a space of about 8,000 square-feet. I believe this can go anywhere, with a library or maybe standalone at the current Friendly Inn/Senior Center site. The need to fund the operations and maintenance is the tricky part that will require some serious study.
Priorities for Morgan Hill include a new library, new recreational playing fields and a multi-generational center for our youth and seniors. The IRC as currently conceived is unneeded except for 8,000 square-feet of youth/senior space. We need to take the $26 million of RDA funds currently targeted for an IRC and figure out how to best apply it toward these priorities, with focus on the need to operate and maintain the Youth/Senior Centers.
Our library is our community focal point for learning, knowledge and entertainment. It is our most important asset and on the absolute top of my priority list. But, as an old swimmer, a soccer coach/dad and softball dad, I recognize our need for recreational facilities. And our youth cry out for a place to “hang”; a place where they can build the assets they need to succeed. As we build for the future generation, we cannot forget our seniors who have done so much for us and deserve their own place for social interaction. Greg was right, with good planning and proper prioritization, we can meet our library and recreation needs as well as accommodate our youth and seniors.
The City Council will be discussing new library alternatives and RDA priorities at our Jan. 21 meeting. Please feel welcome to attend and give us your opinion.
Steve Tate, who has been active in the community as a parent and as a Morgan Hill resident, is one of five City Council and Redevelopment Agency members. Readers interested in writing a guest column should contact editor Walt Glines at ed******@*************es.com or 779-4106.
