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Commissioners discuss allocations for Fairview, library
By Justin Goble
County officials discussed how much room is in their budget for improvements to Fairview School and the construction of a new library during a work session last Thursday (March 30).
County Manager Ken Westmoreland told commissioners that plans are on the table to build a new kindergarten building at Fairview.
The new building would include six classrooms and cost $2.2 million. There are also plans for an expanded building with room for special education classrooms along with the kindergarten rooms, which would cost $2.8 million.
Whichever plan commissioners choose, Westmoreland said going ahead with construction of the new building would cause renovations set to begin at Smoky Mountain High School to be postponed until the next fiscal year, since the county does not have the funds to have both projects going on simultaneously.
Westmoreland said the decision as to which project should be first to be completed would have to be made by the school board.
“They may be willing to make the kindergarten building a priority building,” he said. “But are they willing to put the other stuff off?”
Commissioners’ Chairman Brian McMahan said if the school board chooses to go ahead with the kindergarten building, it would help avoid the need for further construction in the near future.
“The alternate building would give Fairview some space,” he said. “They wouldn’t need to worry about expansion for several years.”
McMahan also offered the option of waiting a year to complete both projects. He said the money available for one project would transfer over to fiscal year 2007-08, which would allow the renovations at SMHS and construction at Fairview to go on at the same time.
“Because of the projected start time of construction at Fairview, we would really only be putting it off for a couple of months.”
Officials also discussed plans for the new library during the budget session.
The first item of business on the library was deciding whether money should be set aside to hire a fund-raising consultant.
Earlier this year, library board members said they would turn to the community to raise money to furnish the new building. According to estimates, those costs will run between $1.75 million and $2 million.
“If we’re going to raise that kind of money, we’re going to need some professional help,” said Commissioner Conrad Burrell.
With the county committing money to the project, McMahan said fund-raising may not be as difficult as expected.
“Now that we’ve dedicated $4.2 million, it may be easier to ask for money from the citizens,” McMahan said.
Officials decided money for a fund-raising consultant would be set aside for this fiscal year. Friends of the Library President Mary Selzer said the consultant’s fees for conducting a study would be between $15,000 and $20,000.
Commissioners also discussed the size of a new building. Library board members went before county officials to request a 25,000-to-30,000-square-foot building be constructed. Most felt these numbers were excessive and would be hard to fund with county money.
“I’d like to see a new facility started as soon as possible,” Commissioner Joe Cowan said. “But I don’t think we have the money in the budget for what was recommended.”
McMahan said he thought if library plans could be scaled back, the county would be able to pay for the building and most, if not all, of the furnishing costs.
“What if we build a 15,000-to-16,000-square-foot building, and build it so that we can expand it?,” he asked. “That would be more than double the size of the current library (which is 6,500 square feet). Maybe we can use the $4.2 million the county is putting up for that and have enough to pay for most of the furnishings. I’d rather have a small library that people can use instead of a large library with empty rooms.”
If sufficient funds are raised from the community, that money could be pooled with county money to build a larger building, McMahan said.
Westmoreland suggested the library board meet with the commissioners to discuss these suggestions and decide how best to proceed with the project.
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