05/15/2012

Councilors vote to have library construction proposal on November 2012 ballot

The Town Council has decided to let the voters decide whether the town should go ahead with a proposal for a new Thomas Memorial Library and Cultural Center.

By a 5-2 vote May 14, 2012, the council approved on a motion to have the library on the Nov. 6 general election ballot.

The move reverses the council's decision last month to put the final decision on the library on its October meeting agenda. The October vote was part of a "public engagement timeline" adopted for the renovation/construction project.

Jessica Sullivan, one of the three councilors who reversed their stance from last month, said the "waters had muddied" so that discussion was focusing not on the needs of the library, but on who would decide its future and how. "It's sort of mushroomed into this other issue," she said. While she does not typically support referendums, she said she would support this one. "I want the discussion to go back to the issue, which is the library," she said.

When she came on the council in 2010, the library was the next municipal building in line for attention, she said. The last major renovation occurred in 1985. A study conducted in 2008 listed more than 100 deficiencies, many dealing with construction-code and Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.

Setting improvements to referendum would shift focus back to those needs, Sullivan said. "I think it will help people understand what the problems really are. And there are many."

The project, currently in the "concept design" phase, is estimated to cost $8.5 million. The Town is also looking at private donations to help with funding.

The vote to send the library to referendum was one of three taken by the council May 14 that related to public approval of capital expenditures. The first vote was to have the council discuss at a future workshop a possible charter amendment that would automatically trigger referendums for capital projects over a certain threshold. The second vote, taken after the one to set the library referendum, was to have the council determine the language of that referendum at a future workshop. The June 4 workshop was suggested for both discussions, and the motions to schedule them passed unanimously.

Councilor David Sherman made all three motions, but he and Councilor Kathy Ray voted against the library referendum, affirming their April votes to have the council decide the future of the library.

Councilors Frank Governali and Caitlin Jordan, who last month voted against the timeline that included a Town Council library decision, voted for the referendum. "It's important to have this go to referendum," Governali said. "Particularly given not only the dollar amount, but the importance of the library in terms of its central nature in our community," he said.

Councilors Jim Walsh and Sara Lennon, along with Sullivan, reversed their stance on having the council decide the library question. Walsh's reasoning was similar to Sullivan's. "A lot of people just want to talk about the process," he said. "It looks as though the referendum is the only way to put this in front of the voters to get the serious involvement of everyone," he said.

As part of the public engagement timeline, the Town Council will has invited residents to attend a meeting on May 31 at Town Hall to talk about the project. The meeting begins at 7 p.m., and is scheduled for live broadcast on CETV Channel 3.