Library project a hot potato

Scott Neufeld is the managing editor of the Vernon Daily Courier. Reach him at 260-4004 or scott.neufeld@ok.bc.ca
Thursday Sept 20 Vernon Courier

Like an overdue library book, the City of Vernon and the Okanagan Regional Library board keep passing the issue of a new library back and forth.It seems neither side wants to be caught having to make a decision.On Wednesday, the library board voted to extend its memorandum agreement with the city until the end of the year. This means the two sides have until the end of the year to come to an agreement on the location for a new library, an architect and a funding arrangement. The idea sounds simple but both groups seem to be content to sit back and see what the other group plans to do. At the last Vernon city council meeting, councillors voted to wait and see what the library board would do. Now the library has sent the issue back to city council by waiting to see what council will decide. As the last council showed, Vernon councillors are no longer in agreement on any aspect of the library project. There’s disagreement on the location, funding formula and even on whether a library is needed at all.

The library board is in agreement that the a new building is necessary in Vernon but appears to be waiting for the city to settle on a location. The board has in the past said they won’t allow the library to be two storeys. They say they don’t want to pay staff to monitor an extra level. With voters overwhelmingly turning down a funding formula that included a significant borrowing component, city council seems to have lost confidence and cohesiveness. Everyone now has their own ideas on what should be done and there’s no consensus on the next step. Some are calling for a referendum. An odd move since the reason council voted against a referendum before because there was no time. If the city was to access government grants they had to finalize the project immediately. However, a quick perusal of the library board’s meeting minutes shows that the city and library board have been hurrying along with the project since November 2006. An architect had already been selected and the location had been set near the current library. The city and library board completed their proposal in time to submit for government funding in January 2007.

So while the public had yet to be told about the plan at all, the library board and city council had already sought a grant for the project. It’s this secrecy and the sense that the project was being forced on taxpayers, that led to collapse of the project. Less than a year later there is no longer a consensus on what should be done next. Less than a year later, with everything now out in the open, the sense of urgency is gone. Hopefully, the lesson has been learned and decisions will be made out in the open with more input from those who will ultimately pay for it – taxpayers. But with the agreement set to expire at the end of the year and the next
round of government funding applications due for January, it may be too late to start on the library.