The Community Word

Two years of planning, one year of programming, and six months of meetings and campaigning have boiled down to the Peoria City Council’s decision to keep moving forward and the Library Board’s settlement on a new North branch.

In April 2007, local citizens cast a 72 percent landslide vote on behalf of a $35 million bond referendum to upgrade and expand the Peoria Public Library system. The referendum passed in every one of the city’s 93 precincts and awaited Peoria City Council approval this spring. The Library Board appeared confident. Citizens day dreamed of spending lazy Sunday afternoons sipping mocha lattes and leafing through bookshelves while students received technology-based assistance with their homework.

“When (library) technology is upgraded to meet twenty-first century standards, I know I will make more use of it and visit the library more often,” says Helen, a city resident for 27 years.

“I grew up going to the library and reading books,” adds Elizabeth Towns-Law, a Peoria resident who plans to major in Library Science and Archiving at Monmouth this fall. “It’s important that government—even local government—supports reading and not just online reading. Holding a book and having the actual experience (of learning from reading) is very important.”

Despite citizens’ enthusiasm, by the end of May 2008, the council issued a deferment of the vote to approve the project until June 24th, citing several unresolved concerns having to do with utility costs and the impact of technology on future libraries. The unexpected turn of events left several hopeful citizens addled and Library Board members in a fog, creating a ripple effect of happenings that began with City Councilman-at-Large Gary Sandberg’s sudden resignation as library liaison and finally climaxed this summer with the city council’s “okay to go” and the Library Board’s acquisition of a North branch site.

The Waiting Game

The Peoria City Council’s decision to defer the vote to approve the Library Board’s $35 million bond drew a plethora of emotions from Library Board members who felt they had met all the requirements asked of it by City Hall. In his resignation letter immediately following the deferment, Sandberg expressed frustration at the council’s decision, yet council members remained optimistic. “I believe Gary’s resignation brought focus to the way things should be handled in the future,” says City Councilman Clyde Gulley Jr. “We should only continue to move forward.”

Several Library Board members, including Library Board President Mike McKenzie, wondered why the council’s concerns were not raised earlier. “The Board has always tried to make negotiations with the council and the citizens as open and inclusive as possible,” he says. “It’s been well-known what the library’s plan was for the last year and a half.”

However, council members claimed they had little time to digest information. “A big misconception was that the information the library board gave us had been out there for two to three years,” says City Councilman Robert Manning. “We received no communication on any information from the library board until May 15th or 16th of this year, just one and a half weeks before the May 27th meeting. The proposal was hundreds of pages in length and did not accurately describe how the library would be transformed into the twenty-first century. For the most part, all it talked about was a floor plan. All things considered, the council had every right to ask its questions.”

The Bigger Picture

The council’s forty-nine questions, which the Library Board later answered in a neatly packaged forty-two page document, addressed numerous concerns, the primer of which was the high cost the library expansion will have on the city’s budget, especially at a time when other city projects demand attention, such as new District 150 schools and a combined sewer overflow project estimated to cost about $100 million.

“These are all bond issues that translate into millions of dollars in taxpayer money,” says Councilman Manning. “The bottom line is this: we want to improve the libraries. But at the end of the day, there are still the numbers.”

Community groups the council spoke with claim that taxes are already too high and that tax increases are chasing people out of the City of Peoria. Manning and other council members believe that the new libraries and the new schools will simply compound this problem, making Peoria an unaffordable place to live. Manning claims he’s spoken with both upper and middle-class residents who agree that the library project needs to be implemented but on a gradual basis.

“The city council has always tried to look at the bigger picture,” he says.

Another council concern is technology and how it will increase the strength of Peoria’s library system in years to come. In response, library officials put together a “library use index” that evaluates the use of library technology, such as computers, email, reference correspondence, and interlibrary loans. Data shows that the usage index has increased since 2005.

City Councilman Bill Spears, whom Mayor Ardis quickly appointed as library liaison following Sandberg’s resignation, claims that the main goal should be to make good use of taxpayer dollars. “The buck stops with the taxpayer,” says Councilman Spears. “We want to make sure we have a top-notch library system. The voters said they want upgrades and they want change. At the very end of this process, we want to be able to look back and say we did our due best to give the citizens the library they wanted.”

Forging Ahead

City Councilwoman BarbaraVan Aukin conceded that when it comes to moving forward with the project, both governing bodies have strong arguments. “This whole issue is one of those intractable problems in life where both sides are right,” she says. “The library does need to be upgraded, but we do have an uncertain economy, and we want to spend wisely. I would definitely like to see this project proceed but in stages.”

And so it will—on the terms of the city council. Rather than give the library permission to use the $35 million bond advisory referendum, the council endorsed a $28 million bond issue on June 24th by a 10-1 vote. Missing from the original package is the $7 million to expand the Lakeview branch.

“We were trying to come up with an alternate figure in light of the budget,” says Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis. “The council has always been behind this project 100 percent.”

Sandberg was the only council member not to vote in favor of the decision to withhold the $7 million, although other council members also disapproved of the outcome.

“I was not in favor of leaving out the $7 million,” says City Councilman W. Eric Turner. “My goal from the beginning was to follow through with what the citizens originally desired to do and approve expansion using the $35 million bond. I believe that $28 million in bonds is not going to be enough money to make the library all it can possibly be. It’s clear the citizens liked what they saw in the original agreement. I say, let’s do what the citizens want!”

“Gary thought we needed the full $35 million dollars or we would be doing a disservice to the community,” adds City Councilman Jim Montelongo.

Despite scattered voices of disapproval, City Councilman Patrick Nichting believes it was wise of the council to use discretion when deciding the amount of money to approve. “It’s important to note that the original referendum stated up to $35 million can be used,” he says, “so the council really didn’t go back on the original agreement.”

“The reason the $7 million was left out of the deal was the result of concerns over what will happen to the Lakeview branch if a North branch opens,” says Councilman Montelongo. “Library usage at Lakeview has already gone down. The council is waiting to see whether or not usage will increase before we consider expanding that branch.”

Councilwoman Van Aukin agrees. “The Library Board claims that with the expansion of Lakeview, usage will increase; however, there is no data to support that. We want the Board to make sure that when they spend a certain amount of money they have a need for it. I don’t think we need to expand Lakeview plus build a new branch.”

Councilman Montelongo suggested that if Lakeview’s growth rate proves substantive over the next three to five years, the Board may revisit the option of Lakeview’s expansion.

All things considered, council and Library Board members believe the compromise among Mayor Ardis, Spears, and McKenzie in late June will benefit everyone involved with the project.

“There’s no strings attached as far as how the Library Board chooses to spend the $28 million,” says Councilman Montelongo. Another plus is that the reduced price tag could mean a reduced responsibility for taxpayers. McKenzie claims the property tax rate could decrease from 16 cents to 11 to 13 cents, which would mean a $36 tax increase on a $100,000 home. McKenzie says he hopes to get the entire package approved but will settle for the “compromise” between the Board and the city council at present.

In With the New

With the city council’s long-awaited approval secured, the Library Board wasted no time securing a site for the new North branch, which the Peoria Public Library Board of Trustees approved unanimously. On July 1, the Board of Trustees approved the purchase of six acres of land located in the Medina Plains Corporate Park behind the new Menards building. Attorney Bob Coletta negotiated the deal. The Board spent $1,067,600 on the property, a wise purchase according to McKenzie who remarked that the location was the least expensive of those being considered. The low price, nearly $400,000 less than the market value, now leaves room for discussions regarding Lakeview’s interior renovation as part of the $28 million.

Aside from sporting a fair price, the site’s location is “family-friendly” due to the fact that the contract restricts the types of businesses that can surround the library, helping to ensure a peaceful neighborhood environment. Roads and utilities have been installed on the Medina property that will be zoned for commercial use. The downside is that the library will not be accessible from Illinois Route 6 but will be accessed off an interior road in the Medina Park area off Townline Road, the latter of which can be accessed from Allen Road. The Board dismissed from consideration all sites visible from Allen Road due to high cost.

McKenzie lauded the Medina Plains site as well priced and easily accessible to city residents coming from the northwest.

Selection of the Medina Plains site now puts an end to earlier discussions among Councilman Spears and Mayor Ardis regarding the use of District 150 property located between Exposition Gardens and Richwoods High School, a site the council favored due to its placement near schools and its significant presence to a major highway. However, the Board believed the parcel of land did not adequately meet the needs of the city.

“The Expo Gardens site is too close to Lakeview,” says McKenzie. “The coverage area would not adequately serve the growing areas of Peoria.”

The selection of the Medina Plains property also blocks consideration for other sites formerly considered, including the former Festival Foods Grocery Store on North Knoxville Avenue as well as land behind the Suds Auto Dealership on Allen Road. Both sites came with drawbacks, including size and additional costs, respectively.

Closing on the selected North branch location is likely to take place in late summer with construction expected to begin as early as Spring 2009. McKenzie claims that the site selection is a “major milestone” in moving forward with the project.

“I do think good libraries are important to communities,” says Mayor Ardis. “The council is focused on the importance of education, and this is another component.”

“What we ultimately desire is a much better library than we have today—second to none,” adds Councilman Spears. “We want a library that moves us into the next millennium and creates a better system than we already have.”

With the first steps taken, it appears the library is well on its way.

Tags: library