Town, library planning to crunch numbers

With the town possibly having to pay anywhere from $1.1-1.8 million to see a new library built here this year, the committee of the whole of council and library building committee are going to sit down in the near future and seriously consider their options.
The topic dominated yesterday’s regular budget meeting, where councillors got a look at four scenarios devised by town treasurer Laurie Witherspoon.

In the best-case scenario, the $3.9-million library would be funded through a combination of currents funds ($1.93 million), $250,000 in FedNor funding the town is waiting for approval on, the sale of the old library for $150,000, and a fundraising campaign which has achieved its goal of $750,000.
This would leave the town financing $1.176 million—either through long-term debt, tax increases (in the 1.3-1.7 percent range), or a combination of both.
In the worst-case scenario, the $3.9-million library would be funded only through current funds ($1.93 million) and an estimated $200,000 in funds raised through the “Building for the Future” campaign between now and the end of 2008.
This scenario would assume that the town does not get the FedNor funding it’s waiting on, cannot sell the old library property, and the library fundraising campaign does not meet its $750,000 goal.
This would leave the town financing $1.8 million—either through long-term debt, tax increases (in the 2.0-2.7 percent range), or a combination of both.
Witherspoon stressed to councillors, however, that the scenarios are hypothetical, and that it’s difficult to actually know what the town’s share would be until all variables become known.
By the same token, the scenarios also assume the bids on the library project would come in at the estimated cost of $3.9 million.
“When I look at these scenarios today, with what we know now, I can really only look at case #1 [the worst-case scenario],” said Coun. Paul Ryan, adding the rest all depend on grants, fundraising, and property sales coming to fruition.
“You know, I have to disagree with you,” countered Coun. Andrew Hallikas.
“We’ve got an incredible committee of dedicated people out there, and when they say they’re going to raise $750,000, personally I would take that to the bank.
“I believe we’re going to get $750,000 over the five years,” Coun. Hallikas stressed. “Personally, I think you would need to include that in your calculations.
“You would need to include the fact that there’s money in the library reserve funds,” he added. “I think you need to include that the building does have some worth in your calculations.
“To me, those are facts,” Coun. Hallikas remarked, noting only the FedNor grant for $250,000 is really a variable.
Councillors also discussed whether the plans for the new library could be changed so as to reduce costs, or possibly the whole project delayed another year until the town could get more funding, but no firm decisions were made yesterday.
“I think the majority of council wants to see something started,” said Mayor Roy Avis. “We want to see it go ahead, and we want to do it in a prudent manner that’s responsible to the taxpayers.
“We have to sit down with the building committee and see what we can come up with, a compromise or whatever it takes,” the mayor added. “That’s the way I see it.
“I hope we can do that soon.”
In related news, Mayor Avis noted the public should be aware that the site of the new library will be near the Memorial Sports Centre, and while some members of the public may not prefer it, this location has been decided upon.
“That’s not on the table,” he stressed. “The previous council made that decision three or four years ago. I was part of that council, part of that decision.
“I still support it.”