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MEMORANDUM |
AGENDA #10 MANAGER’S OFFICE phone (919) 968-2743 fax (919)
969-2063 |
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To: |
Mayor and Town Council |
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From: |
Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager |
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Date: |
April 23, 2007 |
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Subject: |
Response to Petition from Aaron Nelson |
Attached is a memorandum from Bill Letteri providing basic information for Council as you consider the appropriate response to the petition from Aaron Nelson regarding options for library expansion. In addition to reviewing this information, I have also talked with Aaron Nelson, Liz Parham of the Downtown Partnership, Gene Pease of the Library Foundation, Bob Schreiner and Ken Broun of the Library Board of Trustees and Kathy Thompson, our Library Director.
Observations. From the attached information and those conversations, I have developed some observations I would like to share:
- Time is money. With finite resources and continuously escalating costs of construction, each month that passes diminishes the value of the Town’s dollars in achieving the original goals of a project.
- We are at an appropriate time in the design process to pause to consider whether the current proposed design solution meets the Town’s interests.
- Changing conditions downtown and renewed interest in actions to stimulate its continuing development, such as the Downtown Development Initiative, may merit new thought about how the Town’s interests in both its downtown core and its library services intersect differently.
- The Town’s current debt service requirements severely restrict our ability to make additional capital investment in any project. New funding partners, such as the private sector, the University and the County, may be required to do anything much different from the current course.
- The Town’s library staff is creative in outlining alternative approaches to additional and adaptive library services. One idea is a bookstore-style branch to provide a collection of popular topics and titles and a library store as an enterprising approach. Another is a partnership with the UNC School of Information and Library Science to create a laboratory for new library approaches for the future. Some of these ideas could be explored downtown even as the current expansion project continued.
- Finding the right site for a downtown alternative could be time consuming. Any new library initiatives by Carrboro and/or the County must be identified and considered. Currently underserved populations, such as the Northside community, might point to a west end site.
- Council could consider building only a portion of the proposed program additions at the current site, such as just the meeting space or just the library related space, while it considers alternatives.
Recommendation. Given the information we have and the observations I have identified, I recommend that the deadline for a decision on direction should be within 60 days. This deadline provides for direction to staff and design team before the summer break and minimizes the effect of time on the scope of the project achievable with current resources.
To achieve this goal, Council could consider either a committee of Council Members to meet with the interested parties, including those listed in the first paragraph above or direct the Town Manager to meet with the interested parties, to develop additional information and a recommendation for Council consideration within 60 days. Either a council committee or a direction to the Manager can be achieved in less time than appointing a broader task force without diminishing the direction to ensure that all stakeholders are consulted and considered in the recommendation.
An alternative is to direct that the current design process continue and the Town Manager bring back recommendations for additional creative approaches to align the Council’s interests in downtown and expanded library service outreach. This will require a deadline with longer delay time but also will not interrupt the current efforts.