MORGAN HILL
– The clock is ticking on a proposed new library for Morgan Hill
– over where it will be located and where construction funds will
come from.
MORGAN HILL – The clock is ticking on a proposed new library for Morgan Hill – over where it will be located and where construction funds will come from.
The next step will come at tonight’s Library Commission meeting when developer Rocke Garcia will present his plan for a library on East Third Street in the downtown.
Garcia’s plan is to share the former Sunsweet site bounded by East Third, Depot and East Fourth streets. It will cost about $10.25 million.
This site would make the library more visible – which library experts say translates into more people using the library – and make it more accessible to the general public.
Working from the Downtown Plan, Garcia’s public/private partnership plan would include a 30,000 square-foot, two-story building (approved by Santa Clara County Library) with room to expand, about 100 parking spaces for general use and several market rate condominiums for residential housing on the site.
Councilman Steve Tate said he wants to hear from the public after they have had a chance to review both plans, hear presentations and think for a while.
“We want as much public input as possible,” Tate said Wednesday.
The alternative site behind City Hall has always been popular with residents living in the neighborhood and parents of children at nearby St. Catherine’s Catholic and P.A. Walsh elementary schools.
The City Council says it is determined to proceed with the plans for the new building despite limits on library system operating hours caused by the defeat of Measure B in the March 2 election. Instead, the new building will be paid for primarily from city Redevelopment Agency funds.
At Wednesday’s council meeting, Mayor Dennis Kennedy, Councilwoman Hedy Chang and Councilmen Larry Carr and Tate all promised that the money would be found to build the library. Councilman Greg Sellers confirmed Thursday that he thought the same way.
“It’s obvious that we all feel strongly about finding funding for library and revisiting other choices if we need to,” Sellers said. “It’s a matter of how, not if.”
There are currently only $7.14 million in Redevelopment Agency funds designated for library use after the city spent almost $13 million on the aquatics center, slated to open in mid-June, more than $21 million on the community center, and more than $21 million on a planned indoor sports facility and center for seniors and youth and having spent.
By June, the council will have a report from city staff and the Library Subcommittee about where additional money can be found.
Besides the RDA’s $7.14 million, another $3 million could be borrowed from the flood control fund. Some $650,000 expected from the sale of the old police building to El Toro Brewing Co. could be added to the building fund. There is $1 million in RDA funds set aside to spark downtown business activity that could be used for a library built downtown – but not in the current site – and a few other bits and pieces, including library impact fees.
Sellers said earlier that the city should also look outside the city for funds since the library also serves thousands of county residents in unincorporated areas.
The Library Subcommittee started its search for a new site with four but ended up with two – downtown and DeWitt Avenue. Construction costs would be somewhat higher for the Civic Center sites because of slope, water table and utility problems, said Anthony Eulo, assistant to the city manager.
