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From monroenews.com...
Ida Township to combine library, township hall - 12/13/2002
The township will pay the difference between the costs using the general fund. IDA TOWNSHIP --Officials liked the plans for their new library branch so much that they've decided to move in. What was once to be a library will now be a library-municipal complex as the Ida Township Board in a special meeting Tuesday gave engineers permission to go forward with plans for a bigger, more expensive building. Ida voters in August overwhelmingly approved a five-year, .5-mill tax to help pay for a new library, which was to be a 5,000-square-foot building that cost $500,000. The plans approved Tuesday call for 7,000-square-foot building that likely will cost about $700,000, according to engineers working on the facility's design. Ida Township Supervisor Larry Metz said the township will pay the difference of the cost with money from its general fund. "We're not asking taxpayers for any extra money," he said. The township had planned to use $365,000 from the tax levy, $80,000 in donations and $100,000 from its general fund to pay for the library. Now, more than $250,000 will be pulled from township coffers to pay for the structure, which will be built behind the current township hall. Township Treasurer Denise Horner said voters commented to her at the August primary election that perhaps the board should consider building a new township hall along with the library. "We didn't feel it was necessary at the time," Ms. Horner said. Township officials said it became necessary when bids to renovate the fire hall came in $30,000 to $50,000 high. The township board in May set aside $220,000 to pay for renovations that would give firefighters extra office space. When the bids came in high, the board decided to spend that money on the government portion of the library and give firefighters the current township offices, which are connected to the fire hall. The building will face north and will be constructed on top of what is now the township's bingo pavilion. The library will triple the size of the current branch, located in a trailer next to the township hall. The government portion of the building will be the same size as the main library room, about 2,300 square feet, more than quadrupling the 500 feet of office space township workers use now. The revised plans for the building show a reduction in the size of the community room, where board meetings and elections will be held. The community room decreased in size from 1,700 square feet to 1,200 square feet. Mr. Metz said the room had to be smaller to accommodate proper access to restrooms and other facilities in the building, such as a utility room and a kitchen. "It was the most feasible way and cost effective way to look at the problem," he said. The outside look of the building also has changed. Aside from being longer than the original, the new design has three gables along the front of the structure. There is discussion among board members as to what the building will be called. No decisions were made Tuesday, but plans for the building showed a sign that read "Ida Township Municipal Office" on the main entrance and "Ida Branch Library" on a less prominent part of the structure. That could change, however, as the building is closer to completion. Bids for the project will go out in January. Dave Kubiske, owner of David Arthur Consultants, the firm designing the project, said the six-month construction project should start in April. The Ida Library Branch has about 8,300 books right now, according to library officials. The new building would carry more than 16,000 books if the amount doubles, as branch officials suspect. Nancy Bellaire, assistant director of the Monroe County Library System, said 23,000 books had been checked out at the Ida branch through October, a 9 percent increase from 2001. She added that the library system has provided in its budget for more staff hours at the library and that the hours it's open to the public could be extended, but specifics haven't been set yet. No one doubts that more people will go to the library. "For the first time (the Ida branch) will have restrooms, so people will be able to spend more time there," Ms. Bellaire said.
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