NEW GLARUS - Plans for expanding the New Glarus library have been dead in the water now for several weeks.
The village's contracted building inspector, Mike Fenley of Fenley Total Inspections, Mineral Point, is waiting on the delivery of an old set of plans for the idea of expanding the library to take over the entire village hall.
The village had some thoughts on the conversion idea - and even went so far as to have some preliminary plans created - sometime in the early 2000s.
The idea was resurrected in July, after the board and the residents split on where to build a new library facility. The board is now asking for more investigation, this time on the viability of the building, to see how feasible the plan is.
Fenley attended a village board meeting in October, seeking direction on the type of inspection the board wanted for the hall.
He said Wednesday that he wanted to know what the village intended to do inside the building before he conducted an inspection. Without knowing the extent of reconstruction, his "inspection would not be productive," he said.
Reconstruction "impacts building codes," he said. Also requirements to follow the Americans with Disability Act could kick in. Reconstruction could require state permits and trigger additional heating, ventilation and air conditioning compliance.
Fenley also said he needed to know the goals for the interior to determine whether systems, such as furnaces, needed to be replaced or redesigned to accommodate new configurations.
"I can't give them an idea until they know what they want to do," he said.
What he learned from his discussion with the board in October, Fenley said, was that the village was eying the removal of walls to create more open space and adding more restrooms, which would require a high level of reconstruction.
He left the meeting with instructions to prepare an evaluation of the building and its utility and mechanical systems, using the preliminary plan previously prepared by Trustee Greg Thoemke and assuming a level-3 reconstruction will occur. His evaluation would not include cost estimates.
Village Board President Roger Truttmann said Wednesday that the inspection report would help the board in its decision to convert the hall and to develop cost estimates for the reconstruction. He also said the village board is waiting to hear from the library board on its decision to use the hall.
Linda Hiland, library board president, said the building inspection is in the hands of the village. And library board members are waiting to see that inspection report before weighing in on a decision to use the hall.
The future of the library expansion may boil down to and balance on cost analyses - not just for the library but also for the village hall, which would have to find a new home to rent, buy or build.
When the library board was poised to build a new $2.3 million facility about four years ago, some village trustees insisted on seeing an anticipated, future library operating budget, to determine the viability of the project without additional tax levied revenue.
Now, positioning its village hall for a move to a new facility, the village board may have to consider its own viable, future operating budget.
The village's contracted building inspector, Mike Fenley of Fenley Total Inspections, Mineral Point, is waiting on the delivery of an old set of plans for the idea of expanding the library to take over the entire village hall.
The village had some thoughts on the conversion idea - and even went so far as to have some preliminary plans created - sometime in the early 2000s.
The idea was resurrected in July, after the board and the residents split on where to build a new library facility. The board is now asking for more investigation, this time on the viability of the building, to see how feasible the plan is.
Fenley attended a village board meeting in October, seeking direction on the type of inspection the board wanted for the hall.
He said Wednesday that he wanted to know what the village intended to do inside the building before he conducted an inspection. Without knowing the extent of reconstruction, his "inspection would not be productive," he said.
Reconstruction "impacts building codes," he said. Also requirements to follow the Americans with Disability Act could kick in. Reconstruction could require state permits and trigger additional heating, ventilation and air conditioning compliance.
Fenley also said he needed to know the goals for the interior to determine whether systems, such as furnaces, needed to be replaced or redesigned to accommodate new configurations.
"I can't give them an idea until they know what they want to do," he said.
What he learned from his discussion with the board in October, Fenley said, was that the village was eying the removal of walls to create more open space and adding more restrooms, which would require a high level of reconstruction.
He left the meeting with instructions to prepare an evaluation of the building and its utility and mechanical systems, using the preliminary plan previously prepared by Trustee Greg Thoemke and assuming a level-3 reconstruction will occur. His evaluation would not include cost estimates.
Village Board President Roger Truttmann said Wednesday that the inspection report would help the board in its decision to convert the hall and to develop cost estimates for the reconstruction. He also said the village board is waiting to hear from the library board on its decision to use the hall.
Linda Hiland, library board president, said the building inspection is in the hands of the village. And library board members are waiting to see that inspection report before weighing in on a decision to use the hall.
The future of the library expansion may boil down to and balance on cost analyses - not just for the library but also for the village hall, which would have to find a new home to rent, buy or build.
When the library board was poised to build a new $2.3 million facility about four years ago, some village trustees insisted on seeing an anticipated, future library operating budget, to determine the viability of the project without additional tax levied revenue.
Now, positioning its village hall for a move to a new facility, the village board may have to consider its own viable, future operating budget.