Published: Wednesday, December 14, 2011, 9:51 PM Updated: Wednesday, December 14, 2011, 10:11 PM
This is a graphic rendering of the proposed new South Hadley Public Library.During the meeting, most people spoke in favor of the project. A group of supporters sat in the back showing signs pushing for a yes vote.
A two-thirds majority was needed to pass the proposal. The 67-17 vote meant it easily passed. When the vote was announced, the hall erupted in applause.
“This is the time to have a new library,” said Robert Robertson, a town meeting member. “I have never had the volume of support from people coming to me.”
In lobbying for the project, Mitchell Resnick, chairman of the Public Library Board of Trustees, argued that the circulation of books and use of computers and other materials has been increasing.
“To build a new library is a popular initiative,” he said, citing numerous letters to the editor and the support of voters in the Nov. 8 election.
But others said the project is not something that the town can afford.
Town Meeting Member Larry Dubois argued for converting the Plains School into a library and said he was opposed to locating the library as close to the Connecticut River where the humidity is higher.
“They are not doing anything to reduce costs,” he said. “We need to have a townwide plan for what we are going to do.”
The full cost of the library is $10.1 million. The town has received a $4.8 million grant from the Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program, but taxpayers had to agree to borrow $4.2 million for the construction.
Private donors are to raise the remaining about $1.1 million. Already the community has raised $400,000.
The town had to secure the finances to build the library by a Jan. 31 deadline or risk losing the grant.
“We should stand up and claim our grant. We use it or we lose it forever,” Resnick, said.
Town officials have been debating replacing the aging, cramped library for at least three years. The existing library is not accessible to the disabled and repairs needed to the roof and carpeting and others would cost about $230,000, said Joseph Rodio, the library director.
Already the location, a brownfield formerly owned by Northeast Utilities at Main and Canal streets, has been selected for the new building by Town Meeting. Architect Philip O’Brien of Johnson Roberts Associates, has been hired to design the building and completed a rendering of the proposed library.
In November, voters passed a referendum asking them if they supported the debt exclusion which would raise taxes for the 20-years of the bond. The vote was close with 1,751 residents voting yes, 1,412 voting no. Voter turnout was 25 percent.
Despite the referendum vote, Town Meeting still had to vote to bond for the money because it it the financing authority of the town.
Library trustees have said the average homeowner would see an increase of $38 a year in their tax bill.
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