|
Joint committee to evaluate downtown library sites
By Lynn Hotaling
and Carey King
An optimistic spirit seemed to fill the conference room Tuesday (Feb. 3) as supporters of a downtown library listened to town and county officials hash out preliminary details for evaluating sites close to Main Street.
Jackson County commissioners and Sylva town board members, discussing library plans together for the first time since a controversial joint-use library plan was unveiled almost a year ago, easily reached consensus on the composition of a committee to study potential downtown library sites. Members of the two boards also seemed to agree that, ideally, a new library in Sylva would be within easy walking distance of the central business district.
Four of the six committee members were already selected as part of commissioners' Jan. 13 decision to hold a November referendum to determine whether voters prefer a joint-use library facility with Southwestern Community College constructed on the SCC campus or a new downtown library. The agreement reached that night included the formation of a new study group to evaluate possible downtown library sites in advance of the ballot initiative.
Committee members chosen Feb. 3 were Commissioner Joe Cowan, who will be chairman, and Sylva board member Maurice Moody, an outspoken proponent of a downtown library.
Commissioners agreed last month that their chairman, Stacy Buchanan, would serve on the committee along with Sylva Mayor Brenda Oliver, Sylva Manager Richard McHargue and Jackson County Manager Ken Westmoreland, with one at-large member to be appointed from each of the boards.
With regard to location, all seemed in agreement with Moody's suggestion that locations within a half-mile radius of the old Sylva Supply (now Jackson's General Store), the historic town center, would be the most desirable, though flexibility to consider all possibilities was necessary.
Buchanan suggested that some sites recommended to him (one on Skyland Drive near Southern Lumber and the Cooper property near Wal-Mart) could be eliminated because they are too far from downtown.
Moody indicated that his primary reason for advocating a new library downtown is to avoid harm to the central business district and Sylva's Main Street revitalization efforts.
Members of both boards agreed that all of the library committee's meeting should be open.
"I know there will be a lot of public interest," Buchanan said.
"(Property) negotiations have to be confidential," Moody said. "Once we've negotiated a price, there's no reason to keep (the price) confidential - the only reason for confidentiality is to try and save money."
Mayor Oliver expressed her appreciation to the commissioners for their willingness to work with the town on possible sites for a library in Sylva.
"I really appreciate your willingness to come to the table," she said.
Buchanan said he might have erred in past decisions, noting that "hindsight is 20/20," and that once he learned the total cost to the county for the proposed joint-use library at SCC, such a facility "wasn't as attractive as it once was."
"One of the strengths in this process is that sometime in the next 18 to 24 months we'll start a new library," Buchanan said. "It really doesn't make any difference to me personally where it is."
When questions were raised by citizens in attendance as to whether property already owned by the county or town would be considered, Buchanan said no site has been ruled out and that the committee will consider all suggestions including Courthouse Hill and a possible second floor on the existing library.
The new committee set its first meeting for Monday, Feb. 23, at 4 p.m. in Room A-227 of the Justice Center. Members are expected to choose an architect to assist with site evaluations and cost estimates. They also plan to draft a letter to all area Realtors asking assistance in locating suitable property.
The formation of the new town/county library study group supplants the previously-appointed five-member Joint Library Task Force, which last met in November. The $50,000 allocated to the JLTF will now be used by the county/town committee to compensate the architect to assist with site evaluations and estimates, Buchanan said. The chairman also indicated his willingness to "tie up" or option the study committee's preferred location to ensure that it will still be available pending the outcome of the referendum.
Since its June inception, the JLTF was a lightning rod for controversy. County commissioners appointed the group and gave it a budget of $50,000 to study the joint library plan. That decision was made despite the objections of Build Our Library Downtown members, who asked commissioners during a June meeting to hold that money in reserve to help pay for a library in the downtown area.
Though initial discussions of a joint-use library at SCC hinged on eliminating the downtown library, Buchanan in June proposed a "tri-library service area" that would have county libraries in Sylva, Cashiers and on the SCC campus.
During a May 22 public hearing, 33 of 36 speakers spoke against moving the public library to SCC, and some 2,700 county residents signed a petition in favor of keeping the library downtown.
Opposition to the proposed joint-use facility centered around concern that the missions of a public and an academic library would conflict and the negative impact the loss of a library would have on downtown revitalization efforts.
|
