On May 10, the voters of Woodstock spoke when they overwhelmingly approved the bond to fund the Woodstock Library District’s purchase and repurposing of 10 Dixon Avenue. Unfortunately, there are members of our community who made it their mission to overturn the election and the will of the people. They have done this by filing a lawsuit against the library which will cost Woodstock taxpayers an estimated $25,000 and they have done this by publishing an “op-ed” in Hudson Valley One that is rife with misinformation. As a subscriber to Hudson Valley One, I am personally appalled that they would publish an “op-ed” that is so inaccurate and so divisive.
Many of us thought that the controversy over the Woodstock Library building was finally resolved through the approval of the bond. Evidently, this is not the case. Initially, I had wanted to ignore the HV1 “op-ed”, but after some thought, I realized that I could not let the misinformation published by HV1 go unanswered. This will address each of the inaccuracies and misrepresentations. Hopefully, this will resolve the issue as we move on to complete the will of the people through the repurposing of 10 Dixon Avenue.
In her “op-ed.” Pat Jackson points out that a library facility of 12,000 sq. ft. would serve the purpose of the community and could be built on the existing site. Has Ms. Jackson forgotten that was exactly what was proposed in 2020 and voted down by the community? Perhaps she also forgot that the town was against tearing down the current library building and that the budget for the teardown-and-replace plan was over $7M as compared to the budget of under $4M that was approved by the community for the 10 Dixon Avenue project.
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Ms. Jackson makes the erroneous claim that the Woodstock Library has not performed any environmental reviews of the 10 Dixon Avenue site. This is incorrect. The library has performed both Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment and a Phase 2 Environmental Site Assessment. Both of these reports can be downloaded from the library’s website. The key findings of the reports are that there are NO environmental concerns at 10 Dixon Avenue. This assessment was supported by the Woodstock Environmental Commission in a letter. This letter is also available on the Woodstock library’s website.
There has been a claim that the library will need to replace the septic system at 10 Dixon Avenue. This is not the case. There are no plans to replace the septic system as there is no need to replace it. Ms. Jackson has stated that the previous occupants of the building “numbered between 15 and 25 employees.” This is not true. The previous occupant employed up to 75 people full-time in the building.
Ms. Jackson would like people to believe that changing the Use Table in the Woodstock Zoning code to allow libraries in an LI district is an example of “spot zoning.” This is false. Spot zoning is defined as “the process of singling out a small parcel for a use classification totally different from that of the surrounding area.” That is not what is being done with the change in the Use Table. 10 Dixon Avenue will be treated no differently than any other parcel in an LI district.
Anyone who has attempted to park at the current location of the Woodstock Library, negotiate either backing into or backing out of parking spots from or onto a street, and then turning on to Tinker Street with its poor visibility to the east knows how dangerous that can be. Ms. Jackson seems to believe that somehow Dixon Avenue is more dangerous than Library Lane. Anyone who has driven to both locations knows that this is clearly not the case.
Finally, Ms. Jackson claims that the “vote held on May 10 was not a genuine representation of all Woodstock voters” because it was a Special Election. Really? Every voter in Woodstock was made aware of the election through multiple mailings, through news reports, through social media and through signs throughout the town. During the actual vote, there was a line that stretched from the Community Center door all the way to the street. My family and I waited 45 minutes in that line to vote. The bond was approved by a 63% to 37% margin (maybe give total number of votes?). In a presidential election that would be called a landslide! In a Democracy, we settle our issues through a vote. That is what happened on May 10, 2022!
The voters of Woodstock have spoken. It is time to move on!
Jeff Collins is the President of the Board of Trustees for the Woodstock Public Library District.
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