LIBRARY

[Dave Libby]

Once again is OUT OF CONTROL... $ 5  M I L L I O N  Dollars for renovation... 

How bout they figure a way to cover 100% of their operational budget (currently the Town pays for 75% of their budget) BEFORE they fleece the taxpayers of Falmouth for this kind of $$$$... WHOLLY SMOKES !!!!

[David Murray]

I recall when I was on the council in the 1990’s when the last expansion was approved the Library board insisted they just needed capital support, the budget wouldn’t increase.  We we all know how that turned out- the Town’s contribution more than doubled..  Library services are important to the town and I suggest the Council decide how much the Town is prepared to allocate annually for that value.  At that point its up to the library to build a budget and a capital and operating plan (possibly including debt service) that delivers as much library service as that amount plus what they can raise will provide.  $5  million seems like a big stretch. Let’s say they can raise half in fund raising. (Maybe)  At 3% over 20 years that’s around $200k per year in debt service plus the additional operating and maintenance expenses that will accrue to a building nearly double the size.  Is the town prepared to up its current “stipend” from current levels by say $300-350k per year?

 

Time for a reality check.

 

David Murray

 

PS: What about all that space over at the school campus that’s dark at night?

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[JULIEM...@aol.com]

I am still amazed that no one considers the shopping center for all the towns' needs.  Someone once remarked about rents being too high.  They are not getting anything now are they?  It is a real eyesore on Rt. 1.  Someone should negotiate with whomever owns that space.  There is room enough there for Town Hall, The Library and anything else!   I have heard that Town Hall needs millions to fix it up.  Seems to me that building will never hold all the space it needs to.  It would then make the Rt. 1 corridor a village that is wanted.  Rip out half the parking lot and turn it into green space.  Put a Gazebo there, hold concerts there, etc.  The area does not lend itself to being a Village.  However if all these millions of dollars are being tossed around all over town for other projects were combined it would go much further.  Falmouth wants a village, here is your opportunity to create a village from scratch instead of wasting foolish amounts of money! 

 

 

[LisaJPreney]

One design that was ignored had ample space, kept the look of the building, while expanding the first floor, did not require purchasing property, and was about $2M. hmmmmm 

Attached is a scan of that design, which you could see better by asking the library director to see it.

The square footage proposed for the $5M monster is unnecessary by all informed accounts. It exists because Bonnie Rodden asked the latest consultant (80 years old) to tack on a projection for the next 15 years. He had already said he was uncomfortable projecting out five. The square footage is also based on the library's implausible claim that it has 50 people in it every single hour it is open. 

Who is going to run this $5M asset? A board of trustees that answers to whom, when? And whose members turn over every three years? Or will it be the people who have not fixed the basement wetness for eight years?! Basement wetness that structural engineers, architects and realtors acknowledge is common and easily (economically) fixable? Does the operating management of this proposed facility make sense?

This proposal is so unwise and so unnecessary for so many reasons. 

All the library needs is a modest 3900-4400 sf increase, according to the line-by-line square foot numbers proposed by two of the best consultants of their day, which was prior to the electronic age. Both men are now deceased. The most recent consultant was not told about the two-floor, state-of-the-art grammar school library complete with technology center, designed specifically for after-hours community use (as one of the councilors who sat on its building committee well knows. Had the most recent consultant known this, it would have reduced what he recommended for additional children's space.

The library architectural community expects that in five to ten years libraries will be mostly places to download books and/or to have them printed out. 

I hope Amazon or some other online entity doesn't start an online library service. 

[julie macdonald]

Excellent!
 

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From: JULIEM...@aol.com
Date: Sat, 9 Nov 2013 07:03:56 -0500
Subject: Re: Falmouth Citizens for Sound Choices LIBRARY
To: falmouth-citizens...@googlegroups.com

I am still amazed that no one considers the shopping center for all the towns' needs.  Someone once remarked about rents being too high.  They are not getting anything now are they?  It is a real eyesore on Rt. 1.  Someone should negotiate with whomever owns that space.  There is room enough there for Town Hall, The Library and anything else!   I have heard that Town Hall needs millions to fix it up.  Seems to me that building will never hold all the space it needs to.  It would then make the Rt. 1 corridor a village that is wanted.  Rip out half the parking lot and turn it into green space.  Put a Gazebo there, hold concerts there, etc.  The area does not lend itself to being a Village.  However if all these millions of dollars are being tossed around all over town for other projects were combined it would go much further.  Falmouth wants a village, here is your opportunity to create a village from scratch instead of wasting foolish amounts of money! 

 

 

[David Murray]

AMEN  And the space is wide open and flexible to accommodate changing need sin the future.  Plenty of convenient parking too!

[Bob Hunt]

One major flaw in your suggestion – the shopping center is (1) privately owned, (2) not for sale and (3) if every put on the market would cost far more than the town could possibly afford.

Town Hall is where it should be and can be renovated for less than “millions”.

FML is where is should be and can be expanded and renovated for @ $2M

There will never be a village in Falmouth notwithstanding what few misguided folks thank and want!

 

-----Original Message-----
From: falmouth-citizens...@googlegroups.com [mailto:falmouth-citizens...@googlegroups.com]On Behalf Of JULIEM...@aol.com
Sent: Saturday, November 09, 2013 7:04 AM
To: falmouth-citizens...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Falmouth Citizens for Sound Choices LIBRARY

 

I am still amazed that no one considers the shopping center for all the towns' needs.  Someone once remarked about rents being too high.  They are not getting anything now are they?  It is a real eyesore on Rt. 1.  Someone should negotiate with whomever owns that space.  There is room enough there for Town Hall, The Library and anything else!   I have heard that Town Hall needs millions to fix it up.  Seems to me that building will never hold all the space it needs to.  It would then make the Rt. 1 corridor a village that is wanted.  Rip out half the parking lot and turn it into green space.  Put a Gazebo there, hold concerts there, etc.  The area does not lend itself to being a Village.  However if all these millions of dollars are being tossed around all over town for other projects were combined it would go much further.  Falmouth wants a village, here is your opportunity to create a village from scratch instead of wasting foolish amounts of money! 

 

 

 

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[Bob Hunt]

Well put.

[Bob Hunt]

AMEN!!! The library can and should be expanded and renovated for less than $2M. For those who think there is private financing (personal, corporate and philanthropic foundations) to the tune of $5M+++ I say good luck!!!!

 

-----Original Message-----
From: falmouth-citizens...@googlegroups.com [mailto:falmouth-citizens...@googlegroups.com]On Behalf Of Dave Libby
Sent: Friday, November 08, 2013 7:50 PM
To: falmouth-citizens...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Falmouth Citizens for Sound Choices LIBRARY

 

Once again is OUT OF CONTROL... $ 5  M I L L I O N  Dollars for renovation... 

 

How bout they figure a way to cover 100% of their operational budget (currently the Town pays for 75% of their budget) BEFORE they fleece the taxpayers of Falmouth for this kind of $$$$... WHOLLY SMOKES !!!!

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[Bob Hunt]

The trustees and their architect ignored the recommendations to two world famous library space experts, Jay Lucker and Nolan Lushington coming up with a total 18K+ square feet. The additional SF teen space is a joke!

The current 18K+ figure is based in significant part on the notion the library has a heavy per capita usage (allegedly every Falmouth resident check out 16 volumes every year – nonsense) and annual circulation is skyrocketing. Both notion (even if accurate) are red herrings and no basis for the conclusion Falmouth “needs” an 18K+ square foot library.

Some enterprising individual or company will start an online lending library service in the not to distant future, which will render traditional lending libraries obsolete. Until that happens,  the traditional community lending library will serve the dual role of custodian of intellectual content and community meeting space.

Unless Dilbert was right that “logic is futile”, there ought to be enough thoughtful, commonsense, realistic Falmouth residents to put this run amuck train back on track for a safe trip to the station.

P.S. What a waste of $25K tax dollars for this hideous preliminary plan!

-----Original Message-----
From: falmouth-citizens...@googlegroups.com [mailto:falmouth-citizens...@googlegroups.com]On Behalf Of LisaJPreney
Sent: Saturday, November 09, 2013 8:17 AM
To: falmouth-citizens...@googlegroups.com

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