SHUTESBURY- Library supporters said the town is facing a unique opportunity to build a new library and noted that a state grant could pay up to 60 percent of the $3.2 million that the new library is projected to cost.
Residents at a public information session at the Shutesbury Elementary School Monday seemed to have mixed responses to the presentation made by members of the Library Facility Needs Assessment Committee and the design team from Oudens Ello Architecture.
Some residents expressed reservations about the town taking on a large building project at a time when the economy has achieved only a tepid recovery. Others pressed for details relating to cost of the proposed library. Still, the prevailing mood seemed to favor construction.
"This is the right project at the right time," said Susan Personette in an interview following the meeting. She noted that under the proposed plan the town stands to pay $1.3 million, a good investment, she reckoned, for a project that is estimated to cost $3.2 million.
"We're in an unstable economy, but if you could invest $1.3 million to get $3.2 million you would all rush to get it," Personette said.
Jim Lee, also a supporter of the proposed building, said he was persuaded the town could afford the project due to Shutesbury's falling debt payments.
"The total debt service for the town would be halved by year 2020 even with the worst case scenario of financing for the new library," Lee said.
Loan payments for the building of the elementary school are due to come off the town's books in fiscal year 2013, with the town's loan payments falling from approximately $306,000 in FY13 to around $149,000 in FY14 and then $45,000 in FY15, according to a Finance Committee handout. If the new library were built it would add $78,000 to the town's debt in FY14 and $148,000 in FY15, bringing the town's total debt load to $227,000 and $193,000 in each of those respective years.
Those estimates assume the town receives a bond with a 6 percent interest rate, said Finance Committee member Wendy Houle, which would amount to a worse case scenario for financing the library.
The information session came as library supporters gear up to seek Town Meeting approval this Saturday to seek state funding for the project.
The Library Needs Assessment Committee is seeking approval from Town Meeting to apply for a Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners grant, which would provide funding for a new library in Shutesbury. The application deadline from the MBLC grant is January 2011; awards will be announced in June 2011.
The MBLC grant would provide nearly $1.8 million of the $3.2 million needed to complete the library, Sullivan said, leaving the town with a $1.3 million share. He noted that the town would likely receive a land credit from the state, estimated at $75,000, for purchasing the 22 acre property on Leverett Road, the proposed site of the new library. Furthermore, Sullivan said, the library could be eligible for additional grants.
The Friends of the Library are planning a fundraising drive as well, said Library Director Mary Ann Antonellis.
In response to a question regarding increased operating costs at the new library, Antonellis, said the new building was designed to be staffed by one person, an attempt, she said, which was designed to maintain the library's operation costs at current levels.
Another resident asked if there was any flexibility in the design plans once the grant has been awarded. Matt Oudens, a member of the architectural team, said that nothing about the building's design has been finalized.
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