Mayor Brown supports the library.

Mayor Mike Brown

The Special Election for the proposed Grand Forks Public library project is just 12 days away.

When I delivered the State of the City address in February, I talked about the many exciting things that are happening in our City. I mentioned the Library and I acknowledged that I had questions about the proposed project that needed to be addressed before I was ready to support it with a “yes” vote. I encouraged my fellow citizens to study the issues and become informed voters.

Today, I am here to tell you that I have done my homework.  I’ve visited the library, studied the reports, researched the usage levels, and talked to the experts.  Concerns have been addressed, and questions have been answered to my satisfaction.  I’m ready to vote “yes” to the plan for funding our Library Project.  I support the proposed 1% sales tax to raise the necessary $20.8 million to build a 21^st Century Library for the citizens of Grand Forks.

The problems here have been clearly documented.  Our library is well used and valued, but increased population and expanded offerings have pushed this 40-year-old structure well past its limits. The Grand Forks library has the largest circulation of any public library in the state. Usage has increased every year since it was built.  More than 825 people a day visit this building.  Based on current usage, we need a facility nearly twice this size to accommodate the existing patron traffic.  We need more room for materials, but also for children’s activities, computers, meetings, study groups, teens, staff and parking.

Since lack of space is the biggest issue, a remodeling of the current building will not solve our problems.  We have opinions from multiple experts, and this building is not structurally capable of supporting an additional floor.   We’ve learned that the mechanical system in this building is the most inefficient model ever made, with heating and cooling running simultaneously 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  We also have serious issues of accessibility in this building, which prevent some of our residents from fully utilizing their public library.

These are significant problems that require big-budget solutions.  I have looked at the proposals, and it would cost approximately $18 million to remodel and add on to this building.  That is not a cost-effective solution, and it would force us to make compromising adaptations that are necessary when joining new construction with an existing building.  Total new construction is definitely the best solution.

The three-year Library Revitalization process that was spearheaded by local volunteers was effective in its fact-finding, research, comparative studies and planning. Their proposed solution has been thoughtfully developed, and it is the right one for our city at this time.

There is quite a bit of misinformation out there, and I want to help clarify a few things that may have been inaccurately represented in the past few weeks:

• The proposed library project will not exceed the $20.8 million budget as stated on the special election ballot.  All funding for the project will be provided by the temporary 1% sales tax.  As soon as the $20.8 million is raised, the sales tax is retired.  It’s ended.

•  The library will be located right here where the existing building stands, with adjacent property as needed to accommodate the plan.

• Voting “no” is not a solution.  There are serious deficiencies at our library. Many of these problems need to be corrected immediately.  Voting “no” will only prolong the problems, and in some cases the costs for correction will grow higher as each month passes.  How will we deal with the safety and accessibility issues?

• The public library is our responsibility.  The money for necessary upgrades, improvements and corrections must come from us.  A 1-cent sales tax is a funding mechanism that is less burdensome to residents, with a defined sunset that will be retired in three years or less.

• It is not a Taj Mahal that’s being proposed here.  It’s a functional library.  A library to provide our citizens with the necessary resources to compete in the classroom, the workforce, and everyday life.

If you are undecided on this issue, it’s time to do your homework. Ask questions, read the consultant reports, learn about the site selection process, and get a better understanding of the project scope.  This information is all available at the library website: www.gflibrary.com  If you prefer, you can request copies of the documents at the reference desk right here in the library.

To post specific questions regarding the project and to review the ongoing dialogue within our community, visit www.speakupforyourlibrary.com.  Information on this site is updated several times each day.

Most important of all, prepare yourself as an educated voter and go to the polls on Tuesday, May 3.

I urge you to join me in voting “yes” to lifelong learning.  “Yes” to informed citizens of all ages.  “Yes” to a resourceful and connected community.

Vote “yes” to fund the proposed project that will provide our residents with the 21^st Century Library we deserve.

As Mayor Brown said – educate yourself and ask questions before you vote. We invite you to ask questions right here in the comments.

Energy inefficiencies at the library: Dave McFarlane weighs in

One question we’ve heard is, “Can’t the current library be renovated to accomodate future needs?” We’ve addressed some reasons why a remodel is not the answer in this blog post, and earlier this week Dave McFarlane further clarified why the library’s current HVAC system needs more than minor renovations. Here’s the transcript of his radio interview:

Transcript of the Jarrod Thomas Show, KNOX AM-Radio
Wednesday, April 20, 2011 – 9 a.m.

In-studio guests: Rick McCarthy and Susan Mickelson
Phone guest: Dave McFarlane, president, McFarlane, Grand Forks, ND

Dave is the head of all engineering functions at McFarlane and has overall responsibility for Design-Build, TAB, Commission and Retro-Commissioning projects. A nationally-recognized expert in the field of energy commissioning, Dave is a NEBB-qualified supervisor with more than 25 years of experience. His expertise has helped form U.S. national standards for environmental balancing in HVAC systems. He has often served as guest lecturer for industry professionals and has written numerous trade journal articles on the subject.

McFarlane:
“About three or four years ago, we started working with the City of Grand Forks to identify the energy use in all of their buildings. We also looked at the County buildings and anything that was kind of City-related. The library was one of those. Of the 30 or 40 buildings we looked at, the Grand Forks Library was in the top five most inefficient buildings. Now, my memory isn’t that good, but it maybe even in the top three.

“It was built in 1972, at a time when energy was cheap. I don’t know if you remember this… NSP Electric, at the time, had a Reddy Kilowatt guy running around, and their logo was ‘Electricity is penny-cheap at NSP.’ Because of this, the design professions at that time did not concentrate on energy usage – electric, gas, or anything. Because of that, the system that was put in there was just a very inefficient system.

“Right now, Susan [Mickelson] asked me to look at it, so we’ve taken the last three years’ energy bills and we’re in the process of reviewing that to determine exactly how much energy per square foot the building has used over the last three years. We’ll get back to her this week with that information.

“Once we see what the energy usage is, we can determine what it should be — from a lot of the work we’ve done — and tell you exactly how much the library is spending over what it should be. But it’s significant. It’s one of the worst buildings the City owns.”

Thomas:
“Is there a way to make the building more energy efficient?”

McFarlane:
“To do so would mean, basically, shutting the library down for a year, gutting the mechanical system, replacing with something new, and putting it back in. This building is almost 40 years old. The life expectancy on equipment like this is 25 to 30 years. Because of that, you need to gut it and start over, basically.”

Thomas:
“So, if we were to build a new library, would the energy efficiencies that were to be put into it today, would they be only  good for 25 to 30 years?  Or have we moved far enough along in this arena, where we can make sure that if we want this building to be around for 40, 50 years or more, that it’s going to continue to be energy efficient?”

McFarlane:
“The energy efficiency sequences and control logics, the design strategies that are used are state-of-the-art right now. But, I’ll bet you anything – 30 years from now – someone will have come up with a better way of doing it. They will be efficient by today’s standards – which are much more efficient than they were 40 years ago. Mechanical equipment, by its nature, is going to wear out. So, once you get more than 40 years out of a system, you may end up having to replace components anyway.”

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We expect to receive a complete report from Dave McFarlane next week on the library’s energy usage, and we’ll post that information as soon as we can. As always, if you have questions, please comment below.

Q+A with Mayor Brown: growing our future leaders.

Here, we will share a weekly update addressing Mayor Brown’s questions, which are probably your questions, too. (And, if you’re still puzzled, be sure to comment directly on this post or ask us here. We want to be on the same page.) Answers to questions 1 & 2 regarding location can be found here. The answer to question 3 regarding demographics can be found here and question 4 about the sales tax here.

Mayor Brown’s Question 5: Does the library currently serve as a safe place for kids after school?  Is this a continued, diminished or expanded role for the proposed new library?

Library Board’s A: If you have visited the Grand Forks Public Library recently, especially after school and on the weekends, you know that school-aged children are using the library in record numbers.

Children come to the library to:

• ask a librarian for help locating materials for their homework assignments,
• to study,
• to meet other students to work on school projects,
• to use the computers,
• and to find something fun to read.

They also come to the library for various programs and events. A sample of recent events for school-aged children includes:

• Kids in the Kitchen: Mission Nutrition,
• the 39 Clues Book Club,
• Wimpy Kid Day,
• a LEGO event,
• and twice-weekly story time events for the younger children.

The number of programs and events for children has expanded dramatically in the past two years. However, that expansion is limited because the library has only one meeting room, which needs to be shared with all other library events. With increased space in a new facility, the Grand Forks Public Library would be able to meet the community’s demand for more children’s programming and events.

Children often come to the Grand Forks Public Library to study. The library is used by students of all types, including homeschooled, distance education, tutored and college students. However, group work is very difficult in the current facility since there are no private areas for students to use. Instead, groups must sit at tables in the main library where they may disturb or be disturbed by other library users. The new facility would address this problem by providing several small, quiet study rooms and group study rooms.

Teens

There is also a great need for space in the library for the community’s teenagers. Too old for the children’s area with its knee-high book bins and pirate’s ship play area, yet too young for the hushed atmosphere near the adults, teens are in desperate need of a place to call their own. They are at an age where it is essential to keep them reading and hooked into literacy-promoting activities, yet our current facility isn’t welcoming to teens and doesn’t have the space to create the needed area for teens. A new facility would not only offer that space and the resources teens want and need, it would give teens the chance to help design that space.

The Grand Forks Public Library is an important place for children and their families, particularly after school. The current facility is being used to its capacity but is not large enough to meet the community’s wants and needs. A new facility would help to ensure that the children of Grand Forks today have all they need to become the leaders of tomorrow.