While some came to a packed reading room February 20 to implore the library board not to continue the contract with architect Stephen Tilly for a new building, many spoke in support of Jeff Collins, whom trustees voted unanimously to appoint to replace Jill Fisher on the board. Collins, who recently ended his state Senate Campaign to help Michelle Hinchey get elected to represent the 46th District, must run in the October board and budget election to stay on as a library trustee. He replaces Fisher, who was chair of the building committee, but resigned amid plans to move back to Duluth, Minnesota.
Other candidates were Jim Dougherty, member of the Library Alliance, a group that is against the proposed new building and Stacy “Zim” Hager, who said she would support a bond to fund the new building.
Collins has spent countless hours volunteering for the library, most recently by helping defeat a referendum to dissolve and terminate the library district that the opposition to the new building had petitioned to get on the ballot. He is also on the capital campaign committee.
When asked by Trustee Selma Kaplan, Collins said he will stand by any decision of the board, even when he is opposed to it because that is how democracy works. Collins, who started the Hudson Valley Sudbury School, wanted it to run as a democracy. “Everyone in that school gets a vote and sometimes they don’t vote the way I want them to vote. It happens,” he said. “However they vote is what I had to support because that’s how democracy works. So, when the board votes for something, the board has a position, and as a member of the board, I need to support that position publicly.”
Trustee Selma Kaplan said she was glad she got to ask that question because she was in exactly that position as a new trustee. She was in favor of a renovation and addition, but respects and supports the board’s decision to build a new library.
Opposition speaks out
“I urge the board to stop the payments” to architect Stephen Tilly, said Carol Anderson, one of about a half dozen to speak out against the new building. “The building design does not fit with Woodstock nor is it a functional library,” she said, calling out “serious design flaws” such as having the children’s area near the entrance and away from the line of sight of the circulation desk. Anderson also said use of composite material is dangerous because it off-gasses chemicals that can be carcinogens, a claim Construction Manager Agent JC Alten later refuted.
Gay Leonhardt called for transparency and said the library has not told the public how much money it has raised for the project. She also said total costs are not included, such as communication and security equipment and the cost of a temporary library.
Toni Weidenbacher said taxes are a concern and the board needs to plan for a library the town can afford. “I think we need to think about what we need the library to do for us,” she said, adding taxes “are going to gentrify this town to the point where nobody can afford to live here.” She said the library can work within the town’s means by utilizing some of the many local builders.
“I am hurt and insulted as a taxpayer that you have not invited us to the table to discuss the budget and the plan,” said Dolores Lynch, another opponent who has recently become more vocal. “Already there’s been so much wasteful spending going nowhere,” Lynch said. She noted schools are closing because of a dwindling youth population and many in town are struggling to make ends meet.
Former trustee John Ludwig said Alten’s own analysis fails to demonstrate the building can be built for $4.4 million. “He scaled the cost down by 11 percent because he recommends scaling the size down by 11 percent, but it’s false to assume costs scale down with size because so many of the elements, the geothermal system for example, do not scale down 11 percent in size or cost.”
He also said there are hidden costs. “You haven’t been telling donors about the costs of the information technology equipment, including the whole IT infrastructure and computer equipment for the building. Is the cost zero?”
Longtime opponent Hera accused the board of a history of wasting money.
“The demolition of our landmark town library and the destruction of vintage trees surrounding it are not something which you want to have on your resume,” she said. “Now is the time to show some decency and self respect. Re-examine the trajectory you have mistakenly followed.” Hera also accused the board of illegally spending taxpayer money on the new building costs.
Board president defends resuming work
Trustees have asked Tilly to revise the schematic design so it will stay within the stated $4.4 million budget and not the $6.9 million Tilly had projected, President Dorothea Marcus said. She noted there are consequences of trying to be transparent by having every committee meeting open to the public because things get taken out of context.
“People snatch things in a conversation and it gets bandied about like it’s going to happen,” she said.
Marcus said she understands the frustration of people who are attached to the current building. “If there was a way we could do the renovation and it was cost-effective, we would do it,” she said, noting it would be much easier politically. She also noted after the next phase, design development, Tilly isn’t going to be getting much money until after the bond vote in November.
“Like everyone, we have library war fatigue,” she said.
Responding to some of Ludwig’s claims, Alten said to trustees and the audience that reducing the building size is the initial step and “not the end-all and be-all at all.” Alten said he will go through all the components and seek other savings.
In response to a concern about off-gassing from composite materials, Alten said he chooses only quality materials that don’t have that issue. “The intent is not to make a cheaper building,” he said. “It’s to make a high-value building at a lower cost.”
While trustees briefly left the room to discuss appointing a new trustee, Alten took the opportunity to answer any questions from the audience. Nobody took him up on the offer, though he did have brief conversations with architect and new building supporter Marty Nystrom and Curry Rinzler, an architect who has proposed alternative designs.
Stop harassing the staff
Director Jessica Kerr said “certain individuals who are riled up with misinformation” about the building progress are coming to the library and giving staff a hard time.
Anyone who comes in or has been sent in to harass employees will be asked to leave, Kerr said.
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