SHUTESBURY - Residents will decide whether or not to build a new library when they go to the polls Tuesday in a Proposition 2½ debt exclusion override vote, the final step in a 15-year effort aimed at building a new library in town.
Tuesday's vote is the second of two needed for a new library, and comes on the heels of a contentious special Town Meeting vote last week. That ended with residents passing the proposal by the exact two-thirds margin needed to proceed to this Tuesday's ballot question. That vote was 268-134.
The coming vote requires only a majority to pass. Polls at Shutesbury Town Hall, located at 1 Cooleyville Road, will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The question of building a new library has divided residents who believe the town's current 900-square-foot M.N. Spear Library is too small to serve the community against those who worry the project is too costly in tough economic times.
The proposed library's total cost is $3.5 million, with $2.1 million paid for with a grant from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. The remaining $1.4 million will be paid for by the town.
Supporters have established a committee with the goal of raising $400,000 to try to offset some of the town's costs. Thus far the committee has secured $129,000 in pledges toward the new library.
"This is a once-a-lifetime opportunity for our town, said Karen Traub, chairwoman of the board of library trustees. "We probably won't get another chance to get 60 cents on the dollar again."
Traub said the new library not only would provide improved services, but be a community gathering space.
Bob Groves, an opponent of the new library, said many town residents could ill afford to see their taxes increase at a time when the economy has been stuck in a rut.
"Our situation is that we have the highest tax rate in the county," Groves said. "The trend has been toward more expensive services and higher taxes. I'm concerned that the people who are self-employed and living on fixed incomes, it puts more pressure on them. It makes it harder to live in town."
Shutesbury Town Administrator Becky Torres said the town could afford the project because it pays off its debt on the elementary school in fiscal year 2015; the next year Shutesbury would make its first bond payment on the new library. She also said that fundraising and the state's contribution make the town's portion of the project manageable.
The project will lead to an average 1.5 percent tax increase over the loan's 20-year lifespan, beginning at 3 percent and declining to 1 percent, she said. And because the town would use bonds to pay for the project, it would not permanently add to the tax rate.
2 comments:
I live in Shutesbury and although I support the current Library, I do not support the proposal of the new one. The fact that someone states that we'll never see another "deal" like this again, is not always a good reason to "buy" into any program. And, just because you pay one debt off, doesn't me you should fall into a new debt. Any numbers that either side research can not be set in stone. But one thing is for certain, we will have assets that we will have to purchase and assets that we will have to maintain that the town absolutely needs whether it be in the areas of education, fire prevention or police security or whatever. And if a new library is built, then it too will need up keep and "surprise" expenses. Don't believe me, just ask the good folks in Pelham about their library. I guess the best way I can sum this up is this. Just because you want something, doesn't always mean you should have it. And just because something is on sale, doesn't mean you should buy it.
Anyone who uses the current library knows that for every item purchased, one must be discarded because of lack of space. This is a sickening waste to me. If you have stood at the checkout and gotten hit by the door, or chased your child away from the shoe burning heat grate or not been able to wash your hands after using the composting toilet or god forbid had to change a diaper or ask the librarian for resources on a sensitive topic- you know the building is inadequate for today, let alone another 20 years.
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