Morgan Hill
’s hopes for $14 million in easy money from a state bond issue
to build its new library have gone out the window for now, and
probably have been lost for the foreseeable future.
Morgan Hill’s hopes for $14 million in easy money from a state bond issue to build its new library have gone out the window for now, and probably have been lost for the foreseeable future.
With only $102 million remaining statewide to be assigned early next year and grants from needier communities still popping up, hopes that our fair city will succeed where we have failed twice before are dwindling. We must find another way.
Fortunately, there is one if the City Council would choose it.
Morgan Hill’s Redevelopment Agency fund, where part of property taxes remain in town for community use, still has enough money unspent to build the library.
Wednesday at 5 p.m. the council will meet to take another look at how to spend what is left of this $147 million RDA money. The public is invited to attend this workshop and contribute opinions.
The council should seriously consider putting a hold on building the scaled back, $26 million indoor recreation center and, instead, use the money to build the new library – a facility that will serve far more people and at far less cost to everyone.
Actually, there are two ways the council could go. Either build the library with enough recreation center money to do the whole thing, and wait to build the actual recreation center the people said they wanted, from future expansion of the RDA – or council could use enough recreation center money to reduce the amount it asks from the state library bond money.
Asking the state for $2 or $3 million instead of $14 million might shake loose a few of those dollars in our direction.
Except for the early design stage and land acquisition, nothing has yet been spent on the IRC.
Other RDA funds have built the community and cultural center, been reserved for a low-cost outdoor sports center and are building the aquatic center for mega bucks.
The council should consider alternating recreational facilities with those of broader appeal and no public facility has wider appeal and potential use than a library. Everybody can use the library. Not everybody wants to or can afford to swim or do aerobics.
Additionally, a library is the central core of a community’s educational and cultural life, a place where anyone can check out books and movies, do research, maintain an e-mail account, use the Internet, hear stories or join a book group – all totally free of charge.
You can’t say that about any other facility the city plans since they must charge for use and services. RDA funds cannot be used for maintenance and operation – and maintenance and operation there must be.
On the other hand, the Morgan Hill Library is part of the Santa Clara County Library System, which pays all or most of such costs. It is a partnership designed to work in tandem between city and county, sharing the work, the cost and the public gets the benefits.
Another good thing that would come from council rearranging its priorities is that the library would cost less than the indoor recreation center, reserving money to renovate the Friendly Inn, now in use as a senior center. The seniors who use it are reluctant to move to a new facility; other seniors are able to find their recreation elsewhere.
The IRC, as it is now designed, is greatly reduced from an original $32 million plan. Instead of building a cut-rate recreation center for some of the people, lets use the same – or less – money to build a fabulous new library for all the people.
If no money comes from the state or the RDA, the only source of funds to go from a 14,000 square-foot library built for 7,000 people to one of 40,000 square-feet serving more than 35,000, is a bond issue. Let’s take the easy way out.
RDA fund prioritizing meeting, 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5, City Council Chambers at City Hall, 17555 Peak Ave. Details: 779-7271.
