Council: Longterm Plan for Library Needed

A more conciliatory tone filled chambers Monday night at , two weeks after proposed spending to fix the ’s asbestos problem sparked a pre-election war of words among Borough Council members.

A proposed ordinance would appropriate $30,000 from the General Capital Improvement Fund for asbestos abatement at the library. But that’s a fraction of the estimated $500,000 to $1 million needed to complete the project, a sum that led at least one council member last week to suggest it would make better fiscal sense to build a new library than to keep pumping money into the old one to make piecemeal repairs. It also sparked tensions between council members and library staff who attended the meeting.

A more agreeable atmosphere accompanied a unanimous vote to approve the measure.

To demonstrate the borough’s tangible support for the library, Monday’s discussion began with an explination of library funding put together by borough Chief Financial Officer Robert Kalafut and library staff and presented by Borough Assistant Business Administrator Jim Burnet.

Since 2003, the borough has provided more than $12.7 million to the library, some $2.9 million more than required by state law, which calls for a contribution of 33 cents for every $1,000 of equalized assessed value. Funding, therefore, parallels equalized value, which has declined under pressure from the country’s economic ills over the past several years.

From 2003 to 2011, the borough paid out millions in expenses it described as “above and beyond” state requirements for liability insurance, capital improvements, technology, water and electric, and administrative costs.

Also, Burnet noted that 36.6 percent of the building’s original 1969 construction cost of  $1.104 million and 100 percent of the $1.301 million for the new wing opened in 1993 were paid for without municipal funds. Since 1995, the borough has provided more than $1.6 million for repairs and capital improvement projects. The library is projecting spending needs of almost $740,000 over the next four years, not including as much as $1 million for asbestos removal.

With the library’s average annual capital request rising from about $103,000 from 1995 to 2010 to an estimated $350,000 from 2011 to 2015, and the municipal budget in a squeeze, council members and borough administrators want to take a hard look at future funding sources.

The library currently has $3.3 million in its Endowment Fund.

Library Director Nancy Adamczyk, whose staff in 2010 agreed to pay cuts and as a group is the lowest-paid group of municipal employees, told the meeting that she thought the library was being “targeted” by the council.

“The library is the most heavily used of all the borough’s tax-funded facilities and served 200,000 visitors in 2010," Adamczyk said. "The building problem is immediate. The asbestos has to be dealt with even if you move us out.”

Mayor Mary-Anna Holden muted a repeat of any war of words by calling for a large group to convene similar to the 39 Acre Committee and consider a long-range plan for the library. “Members of the council and community need to be part of a larger conversation and expand the vision for the library.”

Pat Tagg, chairwoman of the Friends of the Madison Library agreed. “Right now we just don’t feel your love, or your support. Let the public know that you’re with us.”

Maureen Byrne, incoming chairwoman of the Friends, pledged the group’s full support for a “roadmap to take the library into the 21st century.”

Councilman Don Links said the conflict wasn’t about the $30,000 ordinance. “It’s about having to get a plan together. Can we continue to do it piecemeal? Not with my vote. We need a vision and a 10-year plan on where we’re going to go with that facility. How will we fund it? We have an obligation as council people to ask the questions.”
 
Council member Jeannie Tsukamoto volunteered to work with Kalafut and Adamczyk "on a business plan to move the library toward a future.”

“If it costs less to tear down than build, we should do it,” Councilman Robert Catalanello said. “An analysis must be done, to make best decision for the taxpayer. If we should build a new building, we should do it.”

Council member Robert Conley, who is running for mayor, called the library a “treasure” and agreed that the project requires partnerships to move forward amid dwindling funds.

“We need to see how we can do the most, for the least [money],” Council President Vincent Esposito said.