NEW GLARUS - Choosing Glarner Park as the spot for a new library was a swing and a miss Tuesday at the New Glarus Village Board meeting.
But giving the entire village hall to the library is a renewed interest.
The board voted 3-4 for the Glarner Park location, on a motion made by Village Board President Roger Truttmann.
Truttmann said he had lined up a private donation of $100,000 that would "cover a significant portion of the village's share" of the cost to relocate the park's ball diamond to the high school. He felt the relocation cost was "the big issue" holding back the decision to build the village's new library at the downtown location.
"I thought I had that hurdle taken care of," he said.
Petra Streiff seconded his motion, and Mark Janowiak joined them in favor of the park location.
But a majority of village board members did voted in favor of looking into the possibility of giving the library the whole village hall building, which is near the park. Truttmann, Streiff and Janowiak voted against that motion, made by Greg Thoemke.
If the idea carries though, the board would then be tasked with relocating the village hall offices.
Village Administrator Nic Owen said the board gave village staff no further directions to proceed and did not set a time to discuss the idea again.
Truttmann and Thoemke said expanding the library at the village hall is not a new idea.
It was the subject of a feasibility study done "so long ago" that it was not at the "immediate disposal" of village staff, who were hoping to retrieve it for use at the next New Glarus Library Board meeting, Truttmann said.
The library board was scheduled to meet Wednesday with an agenda item to discuss and consider the building project. President Linda Hiland said Wednesday afternoon she did not expect the board to take any action on the village board idea.
But Truttmann said the village board will wait to see what the library board likes before proceeding with any action on the renewed idea.
"I don't know where we're at now," he added.
Thoemke said he made his motion to expand the library at its current location out of concern that the village would be financially overreaching to construct a new library facility that it couldn't afford to operate.
Raising $1.25 million in donations for a new, $2.3 million facility of about 14,000 square feet and its furnishings has fallen short of the library board's goal, according to Thoemke. After 25 months of fundraising with the help of a professional fundraiser, only about 60 percent has been raised, he said. The village was prepared to borrow $1 million to put toward the total cost.
He also added that, while the library board understands it cannot build anything larger than they can afford to operate, it had asked for an additional $48,000 in the 2014 budget to operate in its current site of 2,100 square feet, where it has no expenses for utilities, building maintenance or snow removal.
The library board later reduced its request to $22,000 more for its 2014 operating budget, for a levied amount of $172,000, or 15 percent more compared to 2013.
Giving over the hall is "something possible," and the cost to renovate the hall "would be reasonable," Thoemke said.
Thoemke said he has received a lot of community support for the idea, including New Glarus Brewery owner Deb Carey, who expressed her support for the idea at the meeting.
Expanding the library into the current village hall building would likely satisfy citizens who want the library to stay downtown, rather than relocated near the North American Swiss Center on the southwest corner of the village, Truttmann said.
But giving the entire village hall to the library is a renewed interest.
The board voted 3-4 for the Glarner Park location, on a motion made by Village Board President Roger Truttmann.
Truttmann said he had lined up a private donation of $100,000 that would "cover a significant portion of the village's share" of the cost to relocate the park's ball diamond to the high school. He felt the relocation cost was "the big issue" holding back the decision to build the village's new library at the downtown location.
"I thought I had that hurdle taken care of," he said.
Petra Streiff seconded his motion, and Mark Janowiak joined them in favor of the park location.
But a majority of village board members did voted in favor of looking into the possibility of giving the library the whole village hall building, which is near the park. Truttmann, Streiff and Janowiak voted against that motion, made by Greg Thoemke.
If the idea carries though, the board would then be tasked with relocating the village hall offices.
Village Administrator Nic Owen said the board gave village staff no further directions to proceed and did not set a time to discuss the idea again.
Truttmann and Thoemke said expanding the library at the village hall is not a new idea.
It was the subject of a feasibility study done "so long ago" that it was not at the "immediate disposal" of village staff, who were hoping to retrieve it for use at the next New Glarus Library Board meeting, Truttmann said.
The library board was scheduled to meet Wednesday with an agenda item to discuss and consider the building project. President Linda Hiland said Wednesday afternoon she did not expect the board to take any action on the village board idea.
But Truttmann said the village board will wait to see what the library board likes before proceeding with any action on the renewed idea.
"I don't know where we're at now," he added.
Thoemke said he made his motion to expand the library at its current location out of concern that the village would be financially overreaching to construct a new library facility that it couldn't afford to operate.
Raising $1.25 million in donations for a new, $2.3 million facility of about 14,000 square feet and its furnishings has fallen short of the library board's goal, according to Thoemke. After 25 months of fundraising with the help of a professional fundraiser, only about 60 percent has been raised, he said. The village was prepared to borrow $1 million to put toward the total cost.
He also added that, while the library board understands it cannot build anything larger than they can afford to operate, it had asked for an additional $48,000 in the 2014 budget to operate in its current site of 2,100 square feet, where it has no expenses for utilities, building maintenance or snow removal.
The library board later reduced its request to $22,000 more for its 2014 operating budget, for a levied amount of $172,000, or 15 percent more compared to 2013.
Giving over the hall is "something possible," and the cost to renovate the hall "would be reasonable," Thoemke said.
Thoemke said he has received a lot of community support for the idea, including New Glarus Brewery owner Deb Carey, who expressed her support for the idea at the meeting.
Expanding the library into the current village hall building would likely satisfy citizens who want the library to stay downtown, rather than relocated near the North American Swiss Center on the southwest corner of the village, Truttmann said.