Local News from Marbletown, Rochester, & Rosendale
On Wednesday, May 6, a public hearing was held at the Town of Rosendale for the Rosendale Library Expansion project. The standing-room only hearing drew over 100 members from the community. Town board members Bob Fade, Ashley Sweeney, Carrie Wykoff, Marc Cassidy and Supervisor Jeanne Walsh were all in attendance.
Rosendale Library Board of Trustees Jeffrey Graf, Casey Conlin and Carl Welden sat at an adjacent table to the town board. Graf introduced himself first and delivered a brief history of the Rosendale Library and its quest for expansion.
Graf stated: In 1958 and ’59 the Snyder family ceded the property to the very you know, beginnings of a library. And that's when the library began. The library continued from that point growing from modest beginnings until 1976 when, unfortunately, there was a fire at the library. That fire necessitated a small expansion, not to the historic section of the chapel, but to the section a little bit north of that, which is where the circulation desk is today. So that was in 1976 and that is the last change that has occurred physically to the building. Meanwhile, all along the way, the library has grown, because the community has grown and their expectations of what libraries are supposed to provide has grown.
Graf continued: In 1999 there was a proposal that started to emerge about expansion, and it so happened that just at that time, a building next door to the library, over in the direction of Stewart's, became available, and there was a vote. The community decided on whether they wanted to do this, and ultimately the community said no, that was 1999. The needs were still there. In fact, they were still growing. So now you move ahead, forward here, a few years ago, as part of our evaluation of what our options were, it so happened that the Bell Tower Building down on Main Street became available, as in on sale, and we considered whether we should move there. It would have satisfied a bunch of our spatial needs and the parking problem, which is the separate thing. There were many people that had very strong views on whether that was the right thing to do. There were a lot of people that were supportive of it, but there were a lot of people who were not. A lot of people thought that the library is great where it is, and they wanted to just not move fine at the end of the day…we heard what was happening out there, and the decision was made to withdraw from that project. So that gets us to essentially where we are today.
Following Graf’s statements, Supervisor Walsh clarified the bonding process.
“I just want to make sure everybody understands the library does not have the power to borrow money, and that's what it is when we go, when we do a bond, when we have a bond resolution, and when we have a public hearing about borrowing money, and the municipality has to borrow money. It has to be done through the town board because the library does not have the power. So that's a law that's in place. It's not like we choose to be the ones that do this. The law says the library cannot borrow the money. They must ask the town board to borrow that money. We are not making a decision about borrowing the money. A lot of misconception is that the town board is deciding to borrow the money and that we're voting on that. We are not voting, there will be a public vote where every person in the town of Rosendale who is eligible to vote will be able to vote on whether they want this project, and that will decide whether the town board bonds for the money.”
Conlin thanked Walsh for clarifying the process. He then delivered a detailed description of the proposed project. This was followed by a PowerPoint presentation given by Welden with a visual representation of the expansion.
The renovation will create a dedicated children's room, an additional space for expanded programming, a second restroom, a water fountain and add a new lower pitch roof. The expansion will add an additional 868 square feet. The renovation will only affect the 1133 square feet part of the library that was built in 1976. The historic section will remain intact.
“We also want to make the building more accessible. There are definitely some limitations to the building in terms of accessibility. The staff works very hard to overcome those things, and we don't have a ton of them, but it definitely could be more accessible to all people. As we go through all of this, we're actually going to be improving the efficiency of the building in terms of energy, so anything we touch is going to get a reasonable and high level of insulation in it,” Welden stated.
Mini-splits will also be added to lower utility bills.
After the presentation, the town board was given the chance to ask any questions before opening up to the packed room full of patrons for their comment. Several board members advocated for holding the vote at the Rosendale Rec Center as opposed to the library.
Wykoff stated: “There are probably about 4,400 registered in the town of Rosendale, and I know you're saying you haven't decided where it will be, I would strongly advocate that you go to the Rec Center, which has better parking, as we know, it's also better accessibility, and people are used to voting there. So I strongly advocate that if you really want to have the public make the decision that you give them that accessibility.”
Ulster County Legislator Lindsey Grossman, who attended in the crowded audience, echoed these sentiments, after clarifying what the maximum tax increase would be for residents. The increase is dependent on the full market value assessment of the taxpayers home. “So the worst case scenario is $48 a year over the course of 15 years, if your property is assessed at $200,000. The point I want to make is that when everyone looks at those baselines, that's the worst that it's going to get… you're telling us you're actively seeking additional funding, and there's a chance it'll get even cheaper for people… I wanted to really strong plus one what council member Wykoff said as someone who had an election that beat county records, in terms of voter turnout, you want to really have a big space when people drive by and they can't park it is a real issue. And so I just want to say, I really believe it should be held at the Rec Center.”
Rosendale resident Rita Sorge said if the vote was held at the Rec Center, the use of the new billboard on Route 32 could potentially help attract more public members. “We're losing the Commons, and the library is someplace you can go and see other human beings without having to spend money. And we are not seeing enough other human beings. By and large, in this era, we are becoming more and more isolated and insulated, and the kids and the elders suffer from that the most,” Sorge added.
Ted Dixon, who read a letter on behalf of his wife Sheila Dixon, library board president, said “Every community has a heart. Especially a small community whose residents and leadership believe that it is in their better interest to be a diverse community, that our differences and how we navigate them makes us better. I believe this is true, and that the library is the heart of our community, not a house of worship, not a school, not a retail store, not a restaurant, but the Rosendale Library, as with the heart in our body, the Rosendale Library exists to benefit everyone. I cannot think of any non-governmental Rosedale institution that positively touches so many people day to day.”
Rosendale resident Emily Stan praised the new accessibility features offered in the renovation. “I have a neighbor who's a young person, but she's disabled. She's in a wheelchair. She's a very active person. She uses the library, and she has told me it's very difficult for her to get into the library. The building itself is what the handicapped person needs – the physical facilities to allow them easy access into the library with a wheelchair and also a bathroom that's handicap accessible. So I just want to mention that the building itself is very important. The new building and the new facilities for her,” Stan said.
While the majority of the audience expressed support for the project and the many benefits the library provides, Joseph Roddy questioned “how much has been going into preventative maintenance on the existing building. Because if you put a brand new building there and don't keep it maintained, we've got the same problem in 10 years.”
Despite strong support for holding the public vote at the Rec Center, the library board of trustees ultimately vetoed this idea at their meeting on May 12. At the Rosendale Town Board Meeting on May 13, Amy Helm from the library board of trustees, announced during public input that the vote will be held on June 9 from noon to 8 p.m. at the Rosendale Library.
“In keeping with the tradition of 37 years of library votes at the library and as well as other libraries in this region, all budget votes, Trustee elections and bond votes occur at the library. So it's not to break with tradition to ensure that voters know exactly where the vote is going to be held. And also, we thought it was useful to have it at that location so that it's very clear that this is a library tax vote and not a town tax vote,” Helm stated.
Following the announcement of the vote and location, Wykoff stated, “I think it's disappointing to not have the space that's more accessible to more people.”
To combat some of the accessibility concerns, the library plans to have a parking attendant while the June 9 vote is happening.
Deputy Supervisor Ken Hassett said the library should, “consider making it easier for the people to vote,” and suggested a shuttle to bring voters to and from the library. “You can have a parking attendant, but you're still going to have 12 parking spots. You're going to have people running your election. Where are they going to park? So now we're down to maybe under 10 parking spots for 6000 people,” Hassett stated.
“I'm disappointed that you chose not to utilize the Rec Center… In light of the fact that you're insistent upon it being in the library, I can assure you that this town will come alive to get people out to vote one way or another, and I think your position of not having it at the Rec Center to give our populace the best opportunity to vote may be detrimental to your cause,” Hassett continued.
Helm clarified that although the total project cost is $1.95 million, the actual bond amount is closer to 1.53 million due to grant-funding and capital expenditure.
“One thing I just wanted to emphasize is the number that was discussed at the public hearing, which is $1.95 million, that is the full project cost for the entire project. We're actually bonding for $1.53 million, because we secured $350,000 in grants, and we have an additional $100,000 capital funds to knock out about a quarter of that total cost.”
In order to secure the grants, the Rosendale Library must first show proof of funds for the total project cost. The number Rosendale voters will see on the ballot therefore is $1.95 million. The deadline for the New York State Construction Grant Program is in July, which is why the vote date of June 9 was decided. Those who cannot attend the vote can fill out a form online or at the library to receive an absentee ballot in advance via mail, or pick a ballot up at the library to post back.
