The Long and Winding Road (to Nowhere)

For those of you with your long-term memory intact, I applaud you and would also like to pinch you. My long-term memory consists of theme songs to every kid's show and numerous commercials from the '50s and '60s. Fodder for another column, for sure, but not particularly helpful with regards to Mo’town’s civic projects.

After yet another town council meeting where the township complex and the fields project were pitted against each other like gladiators, the husband asked me when all the hoo-ha with the library began. I had to admit to having some vague recollection of a contractor-induced debacle, but I had to consult my library gurus, Joe Galbraith and the lovely Maria Esche, for the low-down on what happened and when.

Let’s go back in time to April 1993, when a long-range plan for renovating and expanding was published. This project was to be completed by 1995. Yikes! That means various architects and project consultants have been making money on the township’s dime (and the library’s) for close to 20 years, with no library improvements to speak of.

In 1996, the library board unanimously approved a feasibility study on the expansion of the library, which divided adult services between the first and second floors and expanded children’s services on the first floor. There was no doubt a huge celebration featuring the Dewey Decimal Dancers and the creation of special edition cologne of the library’s distinctive scent, which was given gratis to the elated townspeople. The fact that one can still smell the cologne at the library is a testament to its continued popularity.

In April 1997, according to the library board minutes, “given the current Township Budget situation,” the board of trustees deferred further action on the project until 1998. There is no mention of the expansion plan again until 2000. What happened with this project between 1997 and 2000 is a mystery Geraldo Rivera hoped to resolve on one of his Fox TV specials. He and his crew ended up in Morristown by mistake, and filmed a poodle beauty pageant scandal instead. He won an Emmy.

More money was passed around in 2000 when the library board authorized up to $20,000 for consultants to prepare a building renovation grant application. The state library was making grant money available for building projects, but the township would have to commit to contributing 300 percent (or three times) of the grant amount. This meant the state library would pay for one-quarter of the cost and the municipality would pay for the rest.

The deadline for the application loomed over the board in July 2001. The board adopted a resolution to apply for $750,000 from the Public Library Grant Program. A presentation was made to town council and “after a public discussion, Council indicated it would take the request into consideration.”

But in the words of Bugs Bunny, “That’s all folks!” This was the year that all of Mo’town was consumed with the Toll Brothers/Winner Farm/Open Space melodrama. No other mention of the library project was found in the town council minutes that year.

In February 2002, council members were bombarded with questions from the public as to why the library building project was not included in the 2002 budget. They were told town council had other priorities. In April, the library board unanimously agreed to let the building project rest until the next budget cycle.

Fast-forward to February 2003, when the board was once again told by town council the library building project was not a priority. They did throw the library a bone by encouraging the board and staff to develop a $250,000-300,000 project for a face-lift and reorganization of the first floor.

By 2004, the budget proposal for renovating the library was $4.5 million, $500,000 more than the year before. (Please note, dear readers, that all the back-and-forth on the library was about renovating NOT replacing this municipal building.) Later that same year, town council requested a plan with a budget of $2 million dollars. This is when architect team number three (four? five?) suggested moving the children’s department upstairs with all the spiders and boogeymen. According to library board minutes, “the board unanimously adopted a motion to approve in principal the pursuit of an alternative project with a $2 million budget and Mr. Terry (township manager) has provided for a $2 million project in his recommended budget.” When the plan was presented to council on July 26, 2004, Mayor Howard Miller and others were adamantly opposed to locating children’s services upstairs. More pingpong-ing discussion ensued and the library was asked to come back with two plans, one with children’s services downstairs.

The library board again authorized additional work from the architects and the building consultant, paying for the services from library reserves, which are apparently located next to Fort Knox. In January 2005, the new and improved plan, which was a marriage of the 2001 plan and the 2004 plan, was presented to town council. On June 20, 2005, Ordinance 19-2005 was read for the first time appropriating $3,550,000 and authorizing the issuance of $3,329,750 in bonds or notes, to be used for the renovation of the municipal library. A public hearing was scheduled for July 11, 2005. On July 25, after more of the same old upstairs/downstairs discussion, the ordinance was voted on and passed unanimously with all council members present.

If you’re still with me, hang in there a little longer. This is where all the subplots and character threads get neatly wrapped up into one incomprehensible ball of madness. For brevity’s sake, I am going to list the events of 2006, according to minutes from both town council and the library board:

February — The library will not be allowed to stay open during renovations. A small public service reading room will be located in the lobby of town hall. Temporary borrowing privileges will be offered at local libraries and children’s services will move offsite.

March 16 — Construction bids come in too high for an award to be made.

May 4 — Second round of bids begins.

July — Town council and library board hear presentation on joining the Burlington County Library System (7/12). Library board reaffirms support for the building project and goes on record as informing town council they do not support joining the county library system (7/19).

September 18 — A contract is awarded to Fox General Contractors for base bid of $3,625,000, plus desired alternates (huh?) for $99,400, for a total award of $3,724,000. Don’t start celebrating yet.

November 20 — Uh-oh! A special town council meeting is called to discuss contract negotiations in connection with the library expansion project. At that meeting, council voted unanimously to rescind the Fox contract “based on input from the library board and a potential fatal flaw wherein the contractor proposed substituting the electrical contractor originally outlined in the proposal.”

November 27 — Resolution 191-2006 rescinded the contract to Fox General Contractors, Inc. for the renovation of the library.

December 4 — Town council meets to discuss how to restore library services either in the current building or somewhere else. Some councilmen wanted to nuke the building while others advocate reopening the existing library. Councilman Miller was absent, the vote was 2-2, and so the library remained closed.

December 18 — Town council approves the reopening of the library in Resolution 215-2006. As the year rolled to a close, with no plan in place for the much-needed renovations, the library was scheduled to reopen in early 2007.

It seems fitting to end this column as 2007 begins, because what happens in 2007 changes the library plan from renovating to rebuilding. Stay tuned.