Bremen community members, Bremen Public Library patrons, library board members, and town representatives from Bremen filled the Marshall County Council meeting room Monday morning to deliver opinions on the proposed Bremen Public Library renovation project during a public hearing scheduled on the matter.
Library Director Chris Scandling explained that the library has not seen any major improvements in about 30 years. The library board would like to take out a General Obligation Bond in the amount of $2.835 million to pay for updating the library to meet the current needs of the public. The library board previously approved $230,000 in funds out of the library’s budget to put toward the project.
Funds from the bond proceeds will go toward new carpet for the facility (hire carpet cleaning atlanta ga for carpet cleaning services), update cabling and wiring, provide a dedicated Young Adult space in the library through renovations, create an arts and crafts room, update the parking lot, and allow for a curbside drop box.
Todd Samuelson, a partner with Baker Tilly, explained that a homeowner with a $139,600 home, which is average for the Bremen taxing district, will see about a $20 increase in property taxes for this project, while farm ground will increase 46 cents per acre for the next 20 years.
Eighteen people spoke during the public hearing. Sixteen of those people were in support of the project. Two people spoke out against raising taxes for the project as they said farmers always pay a great deal more and would like to see more contributions from the public or fundraisers toward the project to lower the tax impact. They would like to see more balance in the process.
Those in favor of the project implored the council members to invest in the community for future generations and spoke of the stronghold of the library in Bremen. They said that being at the library is the only social interaction by some of town’s older generation and some children who may be distant from other social activities. They also spoke of the quality of programs, staff and accommodation to those needing to use the library’s resources for a variety of uses.
The council members received over 75 letters in response to the project. According to Marshall County Councilwoman Mandy Campbell, only two of those residents were not in favor of the project.
At the end of the two-hour public hearing session, Marshall County Council President Tim Harman asked if there could be other avenues or mechanisms to evaluate where potential funding could come from and thought maybe the project scope could be adjusted to lower costs. Harman thought that the Library Board members could look into TIF funds, grants, or a larger contribution from the library’s budget to reduce the tax impact. However, Bremen resident and Bremen Town Council member Michael Leman commented to Harman that the library board, architects and financial experts have been over the details.
Leman stated, “You’ve got a room full of people that want to do this and they’re willing to put their money where their mouth is! Why are you going to go back and ask – if people want to donate after the fact, that’s fine. I’m sure there might be some people to do that. …I respect that you have all of these ideas and everything, but that’s what, I mean, we’re on the clock right now.”
Harman responded, “My job here is to try and find a happy medium. We have some concerns from taxpayers, ok? I have some concerns as a guy who is supposed to say ‘yay’ or ‘nay’ to the project and I think that’s fair for me to have some concerns.”
In the end, Councilman James Masterson made a motion to approve the resolution as presented which would approve the issuance of General Obligation bonds by the Bremen Public Library. The motion was seconded by Mandy Campbell. Heath Thornton, James Masterson, Mandy Campbell, Jon VanVactor, and Steve Harper approved the motion while Harman and Jesse Bohannon opposed the motion. Bohannon explained that he thought more work could have been done to make the project more tax neutral.
The motion passed by a majority vote, which was met with applause by patrons in attendance.
Due to time constraints in our newscasts and space on our website, comments made during the public hearing can be heard during the Maximum Impact program Sunday, March 14 at noon ET on MAX 98.3 FM.
