Library trustees vote for old NKMS as permanent home

Heritage Public Library’s Board of Trustees is in favor of the main building at New Kent County’s old middle school serving as permanent home for the library’s New Kent branch.

Trustees voted unanimously during a recent special meeting to accept an offer from county officials to utilize the space. Results of the vote were delivered to county Board of Supervisors members during the board’s Nov. 25 work session.

“It was truly unanimous,” trustees representative Susan Brucker told supervisors concerning the vote.

“We took time to fully deliberate,” she said, adding that the entire 11-member library group was involved. “There were no reservations.”

Trustees had been considering a new library facility to be built somewhere in the county, including a possible location on county-owned land next door to New Kent Post Office. But no mention was made of a new building or alternate sites during last week’s work session. Economics, apparently, is driving the decision to occupy the old school building.

County officials have estimated the cost for a new library in the 15,000-20,000 square-foot range, which would accommodate space needs voiced by library staff, at $4.5 million based on figures in the county’s current Capital Improvement Plan.

Last month, county General Services Department staff unveiled a proposal to renovate the old middle school’s main building at a cost of $1.1 million, roughly one-fourth the price tag of a new library. Supervisors applauded the proposal, but library officials opted to wait until the entire trustees board could be consulted.

But the ongoing economic crisis in the U.S. also figures into the library situation and raises the question of how to pay for renovations. Library officials, meanwhile, would prefer to have a permanent location secured before the lease on the New Kent branch’s temporary location on Route 155 runs out in 2011.

“We have to figure out how to pay for it,” County Administrator John Budesky said during last week’s session. “Will it be a New Kent construction project and given to the library or a library project or a third party project? All have pros and cons.”

Performing the work in-house, Budesky said, could reduce some costs. But he added that every alternative must be fully discussed and studied before a decision is made.

Supervisors’ chairman Jimmy Burrell, meanwhile, noted that the economic picture appears bleak for the next two to three years.

And District 5 Supervisor Ray Davis added, “Not every taxpayer feels we should be funding a library.”

Earlier, supervisors instructed Budesky to devise a budget proposal that lists no new borrowing for the next fiscal year.

The proposal advanced by General Services calls for renovating 16,000 square feet of the main building over a 3½-year timetable. Eventually, the building’s lower level could be phased in, upping overall space to 20,000 square feet.

Work would take place in phases with $400,000 of the $1.1 million price tag spent during each of the first two years and the remaining money applied to the final 18 months. The project would include replacing the existing heating and air-conditioning system and upgrading electrical wiring. Interior walls can be demolished or added, depending on library needs.

Supervisors are opting not to move forward on any proposal until they can consult with county school officials. Board members, meanwhile, appear eager to endorse the project.

“[A library] is a really great use for that space,” said District 4 Supervisor Stran Trout.