Library prepares for projects
Funds won’t cover all the repairs neededBy KAYLEIGH KARUTIS/ The Leader-Herald
Article Photos
GLOVERSVILLE - Over the next few months and years, the Gloversville Public Library will undergo some drastic changes, library officials said this week.
After receiving the green light from the Common Council last week, library Director Barbara Madonna hired Steven E. Smith, a local engineer, to conduct a $10,000 study of the library's basement and its severe water problem. After the $10,000 is spent, it is doubtful the funds left in the library's capital project fund - about $20,000 - will be enough to cover every bit of repair and preventive maintenance, Smith said today.
The library's fund is provided by the city.
"The cost [of the project] will probably exceed the money the library has to spend," he said. "We will just do the parts [of the basement] that are wet, and we'll leave the parts that are dry and hope for the best."
Madonna made several pleas to the Common Council to allow her to use $10,000 to study the problem and plan a solution. She said without the fix, the building could deteriorate to the point of no return.
Smith said a variety of factors could have contributed to the water problem, but those factors don't matter. What matters is making sure no further damage is done, he said. He said he will use a technique he recently used at Fulton-Montgomery Community College to waterproof the basement. The method involves placing a thin layer of expanding clay on the walls of the leaking basement. When water touches the clay, it will expand and form a waterproof barrier, preventing water from leaking through.
Madonna said if the $20,000 left isn't enough to cover the cost of the repairs, the library will have to make do with what it has.
"[Maintaining the building] really is the city's responsibility," she said. "At the same time, if they won't do anything, we can't let the building fall apart. It is what it is. We'll just keep putting one foot in front of the other trying to do what's best for the community."
Work on the library's basement cannot start until the spring, Smith said. Trying to fix the problem while digging through frozen ground would create an added expense, plus the clay needs a certain level of warmth in order to set properly, he said.
While the library only has about $30,000 to study the problem and make as many repairs as fiscally possible, another area of the library's budget - about $68,000 of it - has been earmarked to redesign the building's historically inaccurate vestibule and revamp the library's interior.
Madonna said the vestibule was created in the 1970s and leaks hot air "like a sieve."
The library will use a combination of state grant money and money from fundraising efforts and the library's fund balance to redesign and rebuild the vestibule and paint the library's interior.
Madonna said state Sen. Hugh T. Farley, R-Niskayuna, secured about $20,000, and fundraising has generated about $22,000. The library will use about $25,000 of its own funds to pay for the projects.
The money the library has set aside for the vestibule and renovations cannot be used for the basement's moisture problem due to stipulations in the grant and legal obligations.
"The grant states it can't be used for maintenance and repair," Madonna said.
Maintenance and repair projects, she said, are supposed to be covered by the city, according to the library's lease with the city.
At a board meeting Tuesday, library officials met with county Planning Department Director James Mraz, who presented the library with tips to best move forward with its upcoming capital project.
"Proposals have already been sent out to architects," Madonna said. "We're hoping to get moving toward this long process of renovating the building. It's very confusing but also an interesting challenge."
Mraz said the presentation went well and the library is off to a good start.
"It's a very healthy process," he said. "We discussed what the capital project entails, [such as] getting cost proposals, interviews ... how to make the best decision."
Mraz said the library and the engineers and architects it hires will likely solicit comments from the public and elected officials on how to best spend the money.
"It will give the patrons the opportunity to say, 'here's what we think,'" he said.
While library officials and others involved in the capital project process are excited about the prospect of renovating the building, that excitement must be tempered by a hard look at the numbers, Mraz said.
"This process produces visions and plans that are healthy [for the library], but they will have to be balanced by the fiscal reality," he said. "You have to figure out what you can do with what you have."
Kayleigh Karutis covers Gloversville news. She can be reached at gloversville@leaderherald.com
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SaitoSan
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11-21-08 11:13 AM
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Joey Kitty Cat Nowak used to love the library. Sob...
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Discobulous
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11-21-08 12:24 AM
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Wow! Somebody musta got his wrist slapped by the Librarian for talking or something. Libraries will be with us for along time yet. The only people who don't know this building needs to be preserved are the ones who are supposed to give the money. I say, throw the book(s) at 'em.
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westielover
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11-20-08 11:33 PM
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My mom, who has Alzheimer's cannot be exempted from the library tax. The family cares for her home care, and pays the taxes on her property, but there are no exemptions, and we pay this tax with bitterness. The library is an awesome building, but can we use it more efficiently? We're paying $10,000 for someone to tell us how to fix the leaks in the foundation. How many of us have that luxury to spend money to research our homes inadequacies? Times are "a changing" and I don't think it's for the best.
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TiredOfTax
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11-20-08 7:59 PM
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There aren't going to be many people that are going to be willing to fund what is soon to become a museum, a washed up useless storage area for antiquated books. In today's economy funding is going to be tough. With electronic devices that hold more information in your hand than in ten libraries why not let it close. The city is broke, the school is overspending and will soon be broke (so I hope the improper library funding from our school taxation will stop) and the state is looking to axe as many $$ from their budget so likely will cut school and other programs to the bare minimum. Our Governor is begging the feds for cash now and just where is that money going to come from? Stop the spending! Look to consolidate services and even if someone cries, stick to the hard facts that to maintain a city you must find ways to fund the necessities and dump what isn't. How many books were signed out this year? Going down!!
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BMadonna
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11-20-08 3:12 PM
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I am looking for funding in other areas IN ADDITION to the city. The city also has a grant writer that they could use to procure funding.
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teebzz
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11-20-08 2:19 PM
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this building is an awesome work of art.
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Discobulous
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11-20-08 12:17 PM
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Of course the city government won't do anything.....around here, people vote people into office because they don't want them to do anything, especially spend money...for anything. But sometimes it has to be done. This Librarian should be out beating the grant circuit for repair funds to implement whatever the study recommends and just ignore the fools who sit in chairs and spy in each other at city hall.
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