MORGAN HILL
– A chamber full of determined voters is expected to greet the
City Council Wednesday night, two sides trying to convince council
to choose a preferred library site. But perhaps the most volatile
item on council’s agenda is whether to ask the voters which site
they prefer.
MORGAN HILL – A chamber full of determined voters is expected to greet the City Council Wednesday night, two sides trying to convince council to choose a preferred library site. But perhaps the most volatile item on council’s agenda is whether to ask the voters which site they prefer.
Council also will consider a proposed increase in developer fees suggested by the city manager as one way to help pay for a new 28,000 square-foot library to replace the overcrowded 14,000 square-foot library located adjacent to City Hall.
Mayor Dennis Kennedy asked that the matter be placed on the Nov. 2 ballot, a move that would cost the city an estimated $14,000, according to City Clerk Irma Torrez. The item would be an advisory vote only, not binding the council to its results.
“I trust the voters,” Kennedy said Monday, “though I’m comfortable with either site.”
Council was scheduled to decide between the site behind City Hall or an undetermined downtown site – though Rocke Garcia’s East Third Street at Depot site was a popular spot – at its June 23 meeting but delayed the decision until Councilman Greg Sellers could return from vacation and because several residents spoke at the June 23 and 30 meetings insisting that the matter be put to the voters.
Councilman Steve Tate, who is on both the library subcommittee that recommended a downtown site, and on the Joint Powers Authority, the Santa Clara County Library governing board which oversees the Morgan Hill Library, said he hoped council can move ahead Wednesday.
“It’s time for the City Council to be decisive,” Tate said.
He said he has received “a ton of input” and has read and listened to it all.
“I’m struggling hard to figure out what to recommend,” Tate said.
In the meantime, proponents of both sites, Civic Center and downtown, have geared up, gathering petition signatures, deluging council members with calls, letters, e-mails and personal visits, reminding them that most are up for election in November and mentioning the word “recall.”
Councilman Larry Carr said his political philosophy is clear.
“People supported me to research issues and to vote with a clear conscience with the best interest of the entire community in mind and that doesn’t mean simply putting it on the ballot for special interests to decide,” Carr said.
Sellers said his e-mails have largely misunderstood the project, characterizing the Civic Center library as just an addition to an existing site instead of an entirely new building. The tenor of his mail has changed, too, in the past weeks.
“They’ve been more and more vitriolic,” Sellers said.
Sellers was not sure letting the voters make the site selection is the best way to go.
The site division lies largely along access and safety lines, plus a difference of opinion over which site would benefit whom. The Civic Center site is four blocks off Monterey Road, putting it out-of-step with library planning of the past two decades. Most cities locate their libraries in more visible locations.
Civic Center fans like the present location surrounded by homes and across from St. Catherine School and Church.
Plus, the site would allow future expansion. The Third Street site would not.
The Third Street site is considered a bit too small for easy expansion and has safety issues, Civic Center fans assert. Downtown fans claim a library in the middle of town would be more visible, drawing in more users, with the downtown and the library sharing “customers” and parking.
Also Wednesday, council could approve a rise in developer impact fees to $750 for a single family home (from $228 today) and $614 for each multiple family unit. The move would increase revenues by $120,000 annually and help fill a multi-million dollar gap between what the city has on hand and what a new library would cost to build.
City Manager Ed Tewes had found money in several funds, totaling more than $18 million to build a library and (if downtown) to add community-pleasing improvements.
