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02/04/2019 11:00 PMAfter a difficult 2018, the E.C. Scranton Memorial Library started 2019 off on the right foot. As of late January, work on the renovation has begun and, unlike last year, plans for the upcoming library budget are moving forward without a hitch.
The plan to renovate the E.C. Scranton Memorial Library was approved by the voters in 2017. Specifically, voters approved bonding $9 million for the renovation project and the library pledged to raise $6 million to cover the remaining project costs.
In 2018, the Library Building Committee went through a series of building design changes and funding scares but with all approvals in place, the committee put the project out to bid this past fall. Eight qualified bidders participated and the winning bid went to Enterprise Builders for a total cost of $9,847,952, under the roughly $11 million construction threshold for the project.
Now, committee members report that the contractor is set up on site, has installed the perimeter site fence, abatement of asbestos is taking place inside the building, the shed behind the white house on the property has been demolished, and some trees have been cleared to facilitate construction. Actual construction is expected to begin sometime this month.
At a town budget workshop meeting on Jan. 26, members of the Library Board of Trustees reviewed the construction timeline with members of the Board of Selectmen (BOS) and Board of Finance (BOF). Library Board of Trustees Treasurer Richard Davis said construction is expected to take 13 months.
“We expect that the construction will begin sometime in February, which means that the construction will be completed by the end of March 2020,” he said. “That would be entering into the fourth quarter of this next fiscal year.”
The town is currently working to build the fiscal year 2019-’20 budget. The library request came in flat, keeping the budget request the same as what was approved last year because the library is still in a smaller, temporary space. However, Davis said because of the construction schedule, the library might need more money toward the end of the next fiscal year.
“What we may need is some money in anticipation of migrating into the new facility at that time to bulk up and get ready for that transition,” he said. “Those last three months will be about getting fit out and moving things back into the new building, so right now roughly summer 2020 is our best guess at when we expect to get back into the facility fully.”
The library budget was a subject of much debate last year when the BOS, BOF, and ultimately the voters approved a $300,000 reduction to the library budget because it was moving to a smaller space for construction. At the time, the BOF promised to put that $300,000 back into the library budget once the new building open and it seems the town is already working to make good on that promise.
At the budget workshop, Finance Director Stacy Nobitz said the town can consider putting $150,000 into a line item in the approved budget that the library could have access to in the last quarter. BOF member Ken Kaminisky said the line item would avoid the library having to ask for a special appropriation, essentially unbudgeted dollars.
“We are trying to get away from having them require a special appropriation,” he said. “The idea is to think about what their budget is going to be with a full-functioning library and try to use this year and next year so soften putting the money back into their budget, so it would be $150,000 this year in this budget and another $150,000 in the next.”
Initially the library had included roughly $42,000 in additional requests for the boards to consider adding back to the budget. That amount would beef up a bit of programming and pay for an additional part-time employee. However, Library Board of Trustees President Beth Coyne seemed pleased with the $150,000 suggestion.
“The budget we gave you is flat and is what we need today,” she said. “We are expecting in January 2020 we will start really thinking about the hiring process and doing interviews, so in that last quarter it is terrific to know there is some thought to putting aside and keeping it on the town side so if we can need it we can come. Thank you for that. I think it’s a good way to go from our perspective.”
The $150,000 library line will be considered as the boards continue to move through the budget process. However, early budget meetings show that the library and the town have put in a greater effort this year to work together on the library budget.
“The way we are working together now makes it a lot easier for everyone to understand what is going on,” said First Selectman Tom Banisch. “We appreciate the cooperation you guys have shown in working with us.”
Library officials said they felt the same.
“We are in a really good place and we are so appreciative of the support of both the boards,” said Coyne. “I say that publicly. We feel really good about the relationship and the support we are getting from all of you so thank you.”