All Woodstock voters will have the opportunity to choose, on Tuesday, May 10, whether to allow the Woodstock Library to borrow $3.95 million to purchase and renovate the former Miller/Howard Investments building on Dixon Avenue in Bearsville for its new home.
At their March 17 meeting the Library Trustees also approved a proposed agreement with the town to bypass zoning regulations to allow the move. The town board has yet to agree, but will consider the Library’s proposed Memorandum of Understanding at its March 22 meeting.
In addition to the $2.596 million purchase price, the amount to be borrowed in the bond issue would cover a $1.3 million renovation to make the building withstand the load of book stacks and make it more accessible. The loan will also cover moving costs.
Trustees also opted to move onto Phase II of the state-required environmental assessment after research found contamination left from the site’s former use. “The building had had a Phase II done in 2012. Our engineers feel that they wanted to get more information than that Phase II that was done in 2012,” library board President Jeff Collins said. “It’s basically concerning some dry wells that were there when it was an industrial building. We want to make sure that they understand what, if anything, is in those dry wells and how it’s affecting the soil.”
From 1970 through 2012, a firm called Model Optics manufactured lenses. Waste produced during the manufacturing process was disposed into a settling tank and discharged into dry wells, according to the environmental report by Colliers Engineering & Design commissioned by the library.
The 2012 environmental study found elevated levels of lead and arsenic on the site and the presence of chlorinated solvents near the dry wells, according to Colliers Engineering research.
“Those dry wells are 18 feet below the ground. They’re not going to affect anybody at the surface, but they just want to see what’s happening below the ground,” board president Collins said. “The next thing they want to check is that there was a burn pit decades ago. It got covered over. They want to check what’s in the burn pit and make sure that’s okay,” he said.
The 2012 engineering work did not include results of the burn pit remnants and Colliers Engineering recommends further investigation of its contents as well as the status of the septic system.
“And then the last thing they want to do is they want to do some tests around the septic and leach field to make sure that if anyone poured something down the drain 30 plus years ago or whatever, that it’s not contaminating the ground,” said Collins.
Trustees also approved transferring $20,000 from the library General Fund to cover an estimated $17,500 for the Phase II environmental study and any overages. The board intends reimburse the General Fund with proceeds from the bond, should it pass in the May 10 election.
Presenting the town board with MOU
At the March 17 meeting, Trustees voted to approve and present to the town board a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) subject to the town’s approval, that will allow a library at the 10 Dixon Avenue location where one is not currently permitted. As a separate taxing entity, the library believes it is exempt from town code and zoning regulations, similar to a municipal or school building.
In an effort to maintain transparency, Library trustees have decided that they will still seek Planning and Town Board input.
“So the intention of this is to basically say legally, we don’t have to follow town zoning code. However, we’re going to do all the processes that we need to do for the town,” said Collins. “We’re going to go to the Planning Board, we’re going to listen to them, we’re going to take the comments and react to the comments,” he said. “I don’t want this to sound like we’re trying to avoid doing the right thing. I want to be clear that this is a way to expedite what we’re doing while still working with a town in a responsible way.”
Collins said the Planning Board will likely hold a public hearing on the matter.
The Town Board may discuss and vote on the MOU at its March 22 meeting.
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