Woodstock voters will decide November 3 on a $5.8-million bond to fund a 12,500-square-foot library building, with an additional “soft” costs of just over a million dollars budgeted to come from a fundraising campaign.
In a series of resolutions passed at the August 20 meeting, trustees declared the project will not have a significant environmental impact, set the project cost at $6.995 million, and crafted language for the bonding referendum.
The negative declaration was necessary under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act to proceed with bonding. “It’s your responsibility as an agency to make sure project is implemented constructed and designed in a way that has a negative impact as far as the environment,” said library legal counsel Robert Schofield.
After much discussion, trustees settled on borrowing $5.8 million instead of the entire cost. Had the library opted for the full amount, the cost to a taxpayer with a home assessed at $340,000 would have been about a hundred dollars a year. That is not what voters will see on the ballot.
“Those levels of details are difficult to get to a majority of voters,” said trustee and capital campaign committee chair Jeff Collins. “They’ll look at this long referendum and fixate on this one number.”
The borrowed $5.8 million will cover construction, financing, legal and architectural fees, contingencies, materials and labor. The remainder to come from fundraising is for so-called soft costs such as furnishings, computers, security and telephone equipment, storage, relocation and rental of a temporary library. A pledge of $150,000 will be released once construction starts.
Trustees plan on sending each taxpayer a postcard with their individual tax impact, board president Dorothea Marcus said. The bond referendum will be on the same ballot as the presidential election.
Early voting starts October 24 at the Woodstock Community Center and will be at the regular polling places November 3. For absentee ballots, contact Ulster County Board of Elections at 334-5470.
The complete bond referendum reads as follows:
“Shall the Board of Trustees of the Woodstock Public Library District, located in the Town of Woodstock and County of Ulster, New York, be authorized pursuant to law (1) to finance the demolition, construction, and site work necessary or desirable for the construction, expansion, development and/or redevelopment of the library building located in Woodstock, New York at 5 Library Lane, including the acquisition of related furnishings, collection materials, equipment, and apparatus, by financing an amount not exceeding $5,800,000 through the issuance by the Town of Woodstock of bonds (and bond anticipation notes); (2) to authorize and direct the Town of Woodstock to levy therefor an ad valorem real property tax on real property located within the Woodstock Public Library District payable in annual installments over a maximum of 30 years in an amount sufficient to pay the debt service payable on the bonds issued by the Town (inclusive of all preliminary costs, interest, amortization of principal, costs of issuance, and other related and incidental expenses thereof); and (3) to assign and pledge all of said tax to the Town of Woodstock, which tax shall be in addition to the amount presently raised annually by tax upon the taxable property of the Town of Woodstock for the Library?”
Budget vote, trustee election
Trustees unanimously voted to adopt a $672,200 operational budget, which represents a 1.83 percent spending increase, but no tax-levy increase through the use of $29,355 in prior-year surplus funds.
None of the operating budget will be used toward the construction of a new library.
Voters will also elect two trustees to five-year terms. Jeff Collins and Linda Lover have filed petitions for candidacy. Collins, who was appointed to fill a vacancy, is running for his first elected term. Linda Lover is running to fill the second seat now held by Selma Kaplan, who is not running for re-election.
Those interested in running for the board must submit a petition to the library with signatures from 18 registered voters by September 1. Petitions are available at woodstock.org or at the library.
The election is October 1 in the library or by absentee ballot.
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