NEW GLARUS - A new chapter in building a library in New Glarus may be the story's turning point in April, when voters will get a chance to voice their opinions via two referendums.
One question will weigh the community's support of the board's decision in 2012 to borrow up to $1 million and to allocate an additional $40,000 of undesignated funds from the capital projects account for the new library.
The second question will ask voters for a preference between two sites - near the Swiss Center of North America on the west side or near the village hall downtown, where the library is currently located. Both parcels are owned by the village.
Because the referendums are non-binding, their results may not be the determining factor that some village board members are looking for. The village board trustees have been equally split on nearly every vote concerning the library this past year, leaving President Roget Truttman to break them.
Whether New Glarus should have a new, improved and expanded library facility is not the issue coming between board members.
Usually on opposite sides of issues regarding building the new library, village trustees Kevin Budsberg and Greg Thoemke in interviews last week agreed the community would benefit from a new library.
The current one is overly crowded and unsafe, Budsberg noted, with books stacked on shelves eight feet high and sitting in piles on the floor. And, while library patrons like the programming, the library has too little space for story time or adult programs and only one table for craft time and after-school studying, he added.
Even so, Thoemke maintains that the village cannot simply "throw caution to the wind and take money from basic services," such as police, fire, ems and public works, to build and operate a larger facility.
After whittling down its original requested increase of $48,000, the library board asked for $22,000 more for its operating budget in 2014 for a levied amount of $172,000, 15 percent more compared to 2013.
Thoemke noted the library at its current site and level of operation has no expenses for utilities, building maintenance or snow removal, but its new location will add those costs to its increasing budget.
"I have seen nothing from the library board that leads me to believe, if we build it, we will be able to operate it," Thoemke said. "There's no easy place to get more money (from the village budget)," he added.
The current library is 2,100 square feet, while the new facility was planned to be 14,000 square feet.
"If a majority of the residents want to committee $1,050,000, I'll vote for it in a heartbeat," Thoemke said. But only "if we have a clear plan to operate the facility," he added.
It would be a "big financial commitment" that would pile up village debt and increase property taxes, he said.
Budsberg said the library has recently lost county library aid funding because its staff has become more efficient in cutting circulation costs, and its budgets have remained flat for a few years by the library board "pinching" staff wages.
The Village Board passed the 2014 budget with the library receiving $150,703 of the total required levied amount. The library is expecting $82,093 in other revenues.
The village board decision in 2012 to borrow $1 million and allocate another $50,000 gave the library board confidence to move forward on fundraising the remaining $1.25 million by mid-2013, to build a $2.3 million library facility next to the Swiss Center of North America, near the corner of Durst Road and Wisconsin 39. Groundbreaking was expected in the spring of 2013.
Pledged funds, based on the west side location, reached nearly $650,000 by Jan. 21, 2013, meeting the village board stipulations and making the library board eligible to receive the $1 million from the village. The campaign had reached about $720,000 before cooling off this summer.
"More money is out there, if the village acts in a clear way to support the deal," Budsberg said.
Opposition to the library being on the far west side of the village came from some residents and village board members and led Truttman to reopen talks about finding an alternative location.
The people who "really want the downtown to do well are the ones who want the library downtown," Budsberg said.
Glarner Park, just west of the fire department and about one block from the village hall, was eventually deemed to be the best alternative spot.
But the park is the site of the community ball fields, which are also used by the school system. Talks that began this spring with the school to build new diamonds near the school have subsided. "Sticker shock" and the difficulty for the school to raise money for new diamonds, as well as a change in the school's superintendent, have slowed those talks for the time being, Budsberg said.
Other downtown sites are too small for a one-story library, would increase the cost of building a library of two stories and of staff to maintain it, and would remove more property from the tax rolls, he added.
Glarner Park is the "last green space downtown," he said.
It is also next to a flood plain.
Budsberg said there is not much space to build, even though proponents for the site say the library building would fit on the area not in the flood plain, leaving only the parking lot in the flood plain. Budsberg also said a street project would be involved in the construction to deal with the rain water running down 3rd Avenue.
The site next to the Swiss Center of North America, besides being too far from the center of town, has severe safety problems, according to Thoemke.
The 10- to 12-minute walk from downtown lacks some sidewalks to the location. A majority of homes in the village are south of the highway, and some blocks also do not have sidewalks.
Patrons, including elderly and children, using sidewalks along the south side of Wisconsin 39 would be required to cross the state road near a 55 mph speed zone, to reach the library, Theomke pointed out.
The library board planned for a 10,700 sq. ft. library with 4,000 extra feet of space - part of which would become offices for the Town of New Glarus.
In negotiations for 2-3 years with the village for a cooperative boundary agreement, the town now wants its compensation, paid in exchange for no annexations, to be used toward the village library.
"I do not agree the town can dictate how to use that money," Thoemke said. He also said he is not willing to restrict future boards to how they use the money.
One question will weigh the community's support of the board's decision in 2012 to borrow up to $1 million and to allocate an additional $40,000 of undesignated funds from the capital projects account for the new library.
The second question will ask voters for a preference between two sites - near the Swiss Center of North America on the west side or near the village hall downtown, where the library is currently located. Both parcels are owned by the village.
Because the referendums are non-binding, their results may not be the determining factor that some village board members are looking for. The village board trustees have been equally split on nearly every vote concerning the library this past year, leaving President Roget Truttman to break them.
Whether New Glarus should have a new, improved and expanded library facility is not the issue coming between board members.
Usually on opposite sides of issues regarding building the new library, village trustees Kevin Budsberg and Greg Thoemke in interviews last week agreed the community would benefit from a new library.
The current one is overly crowded and unsafe, Budsberg noted, with books stacked on shelves eight feet high and sitting in piles on the floor. And, while library patrons like the programming, the library has too little space for story time or adult programs and only one table for craft time and after-school studying, he added.
Even so, Thoemke maintains that the village cannot simply "throw caution to the wind and take money from basic services," such as police, fire, ems and public works, to build and operate a larger facility.
After whittling down its original requested increase of $48,000, the library board asked for $22,000 more for its operating budget in 2014 for a levied amount of $172,000, 15 percent more compared to 2013.
Thoemke noted the library at its current site and level of operation has no expenses for utilities, building maintenance or snow removal, but its new location will add those costs to its increasing budget.
"I have seen nothing from the library board that leads me to believe, if we build it, we will be able to operate it," Thoemke said. "There's no easy place to get more money (from the village budget)," he added.
The current library is 2,100 square feet, while the new facility was planned to be 14,000 square feet.
"If a majority of the residents want to committee $1,050,000, I'll vote for it in a heartbeat," Thoemke said. But only "if we have a clear plan to operate the facility," he added.
It would be a "big financial commitment" that would pile up village debt and increase property taxes, he said.
Budsberg said the library has recently lost county library aid funding because its staff has become more efficient in cutting circulation costs, and its budgets have remained flat for a few years by the library board "pinching" staff wages.
The Village Board passed the 2014 budget with the library receiving $150,703 of the total required levied amount. The library is expecting $82,093 in other revenues.
The village board decision in 2012 to borrow $1 million and allocate another $50,000 gave the library board confidence to move forward on fundraising the remaining $1.25 million by mid-2013, to build a $2.3 million library facility next to the Swiss Center of North America, near the corner of Durst Road and Wisconsin 39. Groundbreaking was expected in the spring of 2013.
Pledged funds, based on the west side location, reached nearly $650,000 by Jan. 21, 2013, meeting the village board stipulations and making the library board eligible to receive the $1 million from the village. The campaign had reached about $720,000 before cooling off this summer.
"More money is out there, if the village acts in a clear way to support the deal," Budsberg said.
Opposition to the library being on the far west side of the village came from some residents and village board members and led Truttman to reopen talks about finding an alternative location.
The people who "really want the downtown to do well are the ones who want the library downtown," Budsberg said.
Glarner Park, just west of the fire department and about one block from the village hall, was eventually deemed to be the best alternative spot.
But the park is the site of the community ball fields, which are also used by the school system. Talks that began this spring with the school to build new diamonds near the school have subsided. "Sticker shock" and the difficulty for the school to raise money for new diamonds, as well as a change in the school's superintendent, have slowed those talks for the time being, Budsberg said.
Other downtown sites are too small for a one-story library, would increase the cost of building a library of two stories and of staff to maintain it, and would remove more property from the tax rolls, he added.
Glarner Park is the "last green space downtown," he said.
It is also next to a flood plain.
Budsberg said there is not much space to build, even though proponents for the site say the library building would fit on the area not in the flood plain, leaving only the parking lot in the flood plain. Budsberg also said a street project would be involved in the construction to deal with the rain water running down 3rd Avenue.
The site next to the Swiss Center of North America, besides being too far from the center of town, has severe safety problems, according to Thoemke.
The 10- to 12-minute walk from downtown lacks some sidewalks to the location. A majority of homes in the village are south of the highway, and some blocks also do not have sidewalks.
Patrons, including elderly and children, using sidewalks along the south side of Wisconsin 39 would be required to cross the state road near a 55 mph speed zone, to reach the library, Theomke pointed out.
The library board planned for a 10,700 sq. ft. library with 4,000 extra feet of space - part of which would become offices for the Town of New Glarus.
In negotiations for 2-3 years with the village for a cooperative boundary agreement, the town now wants its compensation, paid in exchange for no annexations, to be used toward the village library.
"I do not agree the town can dictate how to use that money," Thoemke said. He also said he is not willing to restrict future boards to how they use the money.