Plenty of Misgivings, But No Votes Against Additional Jones Library Borrowing

Report on the Meeting of the Amherst Town Council, December 18, 2023. Part 1

This meeting was held in hybrid format and was recorded. It can be viewed here. 

Present
Lynn Griesemer (President, District 2), Cathy Schoen, Michele Miller (District 1), Pat DeAngelis (District 2), Jennifer Taub and Dorothy Pam (District 3), Anika Lopes and Pam Rooney (District 4), Ana Devlin Gauthier and Shalini Bahl-Milne (District 5), and Mandi Jo Hanneke, Ellisha Walker, and Andy Steinberg (at large). Only Dorothy Pam participated remotely. 

Staff: Paul Bockelman (Town Manager) and Athena O’Keeffe (Clerk of the Council)

Residents filled the chairs in the Town Room.

Although several councilors expressed concerns about the Jones Library renovation/expansion projects, none voted against it. Ellisha Walker (at large) abstained. 

Cathy Schoen (District 1) said, “I am faced with two choices, vote yes or no, neither of which is going to leave me sleeping well at night, because I think both have high risk. I applaud our state and congressional legislative representatives for very successful efforts in raising millions in grants, not to mention community pledges [totaling] over $22 million, yet a gap of 7.4 million remains. They pledged to close this gap, including putting the endowment at risk or taking out a bank loan.” She also stated, “The $46 million budget is very high. However, it doesn’t include sufficient funds for furniture and audiovisual equipment needed. The Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) provides an agreement that the trustees will not come back to the town in FY 25 or FY26 for either of these, but the library will be closed for most of this time. When it reopens, I am really worried that we won’t have enough to do what we need for the beautiful, expanded space. But we have no Plan B that we can turn on a dime to repair and upgrade the failing systems.”

Dorothy Pam agreed, saying, “This is a very difficult vote because I love libraries, but I also love the rest of the town. The main problem has been the lack of any give on the plan. I’d like to see a little tradeoff in favor of the community, and, for example, get rid of the book sorter, which is supposed to despoil the historic director’s office and which is unnecessary.”

Ellisha Walker (at large) was also conflicted about the vote. She stated, “Given the volume of feedback that we’ve received from the community and the financial state of our town, I want to emphasize that my concerns solely revolve around the cost, which is inherently linked to the scale of the proposed project. I want to acknowledge and commend the tireless efforts of the dedicated community members and the trustees who have passionately worked toward advancing this project over the years. I recognize that the project did pass with a significant majority in a town-wide vote. I’m apprehensive about the financial implications and the risk associated with moving forward under current circumstances, but I also understand the challenges in considering a scaled-back version, which is probably not actually an option at this time.”

Pam Rooney (District 4) said, “I do envy those who are able to think about this vote without the pile of antacids that I take every night thinking about it. I have continued to be disappointed that our town, with a population year-round similar to Greenfield, has put forward a project this scale, this size, and this cost. It’s more than double the size of the new library in Greenfield. I’ve always felt a viable Plan B was possible. Unfortunately, that was never a welcomed concept by the promoters of this project. Anyone advocating for this expansion and authorization of a larger amount needs to be aware that it will come at a cost to the capital budget. The cash flow tables we received indicate the best-case scenario of larger and earlier contributions from fundraising. However, there’s no projection indicating the impact on the debt costs for the town if the library doesn’t or can’t meet that timing.”

Jennifer Taub (District 3) stated, “No matter how I vote, fair-minded, well-intentioned constituents will be disappointed by my decision. Personally, I’ve long had misgivings about the project. It’s always felt a bit like a classic case of the tail wagging the dog in that, in order to secure state funding, Amherst is being compelled to build a much larger library than it needs. All of this said, I believe that my personal position on the size of the library should not supersede the will of the voters as expressed at the polls in November of 2021. Sadly the Jones is suffering from what is referred to in historic preservation terms as ‘demolition by neglect.’ The deferred maintenance is now at the point that repairs and renovations will require way more than a new roof and HVAC system.”

Council President Lynn Griesemer then spoke, saying, “It is clear that I support the Jones Library renovation and expansion project, but it is not with the blind eye some people have accused me of. Perhaps I do not like certain aspects of the project, but I respect the trustees and the building committee that have spent hours making these decisions. After our first vote of the town’s $15,751,810, I said then to the library trustees and I repeat it now, ‘This is all you’re getting’ as long as I have a say. But I have worked to help this project get funding from other sources. Except for increased interest rates, this project is not costing the town any more than originally planned.”

Ana Devlin Gauthier (District 5) also voiced her support for the project, saying, “A no vote, in my opinion or based on facts as well, leaves us with the remaining need and a larger bill than the renovation and expansion. The trade-off for the community is clear. We will gain a community hub, a humanity center, a library whose staff can work their actual jobs, versus spending their time trying to plug leaks, literally and metaphorically.”

Taub, Schoen, Pam, and Walker cited feedback from their constituents as additional justification for their votes. All councilors besides Walker voted for the additional borrowing. Walker abstained.

Public Comment Spans Both Sides of Issue
The public comment period began with three Amherst Public School students voicing their support for the expanded Jones library. Jonah Spitzer said that “libraries aren’t just a place to take out books. It’s also a place to do activities. If we do the expansion, it will give us more space dedicated to the teen lounge.” Talia Meyer said, “I enjoy the library, but my friends and I would like you to support having a nicer expansion.” Ago Manken also supported the creation of a new teen center at the library.

Jeff Lee reported that the new MOA looks “nothing like what was requested by several councilors” at the December 4 meeting, with no contribution from the trustees for interest payments on the additional borrowing and no protection against the need to borrow even more money. He said, “Vote yes and you may be handing a victory to the capital campaign fundraisers, Friends of the Library donors, the Amherst Forward lobbyists, and the Jones Library Trustees who have little sensitivity to town-wide needs. But you will be consigning a generation of Amherst residents and taxpayers to maximal tax increases, continued gentrification of the town, delays in addressing more urgent capital needs, and $25 million less to spend on competing budget priorities.”

Karen Cassidy, who lives in Belchertown but has worked at the Munson Library, maintained that “The Jones Library is the best model of serving people birth to death. Although everyone is concerned about fiscal issues, focusing on our community’s health and wellbeing creates a brighter future for all.” 

Bonnie Vigeland agreed, saying, “There is no more democratic institution in this country than the public library. Those who oppose the project, who have really several good reasons for their opinions, seem a bit like election deniers. They keep trying to avoid the fact that the majority has spoken clearly and often.”

Lou Conover reminded the councilors of their answers to the Indy’s pre-election questionnaire in which all promised that the town’s cost for the Jones expansion would not increase. But he concluded, “This project has been advanced with many false and misleading statements. Either we have to raise taxes to pay [the extra borrowing] back or we have to cut back on services.”

Melinda Reed said, “The vision for today’s libraries is to be flexible and collaborative spaces that provide access to new technologies and create a safe hub for the public to engage. The Jones has limited accessibility in a warren of spaces upstairs, around corners, and behind floor to ceiling stacks, and nothing but a nook for a teen room.” 

Tim Neal, Claire Bertrand, Robert Ryan, David Lefko, and Khama Ennis and her daughter Lena also advocated for a yes vote on the additional borrowing, while Sandy Muspratt, Gabriel Davila, and Amilcar Shabazz spoke against more borrowing. Lefko harked back to 1926 when the Jones was conceived as a cultural center for Amherst and urged a vote for the “vision in front of us” 100 years later. 

Amilcar Shabazz said, “I don’t know why this thing has gotten into a Big Dig-looking kind of situation; but be that as it may, I will be one that will fight for it to be a democratic safe space for everybody in this town, from black to white and everything in between.”

Helena Donovan said she voted for the project last fall, but “the plan has changed so much that if we were to have a vote today, I would vote no.”

Erika Zekos disagreed, saying, “Our library is a gem, but it’s a flawed gem, and it doesn’t adequately serve everyone in our town. It’s not a building that’s prepared for the future.”

Finally, Rob Kusner noted that when he was on the Joint Capital Planning Committee in the mid-2000s, they encouraged the library to “get to work on its HVAC system. Somehow, they didn’t do it, even though the monies were eventually appropriated. “Here we are. All I can say is, the ship looks like it’s gonna sail. I hope it will stay afloat.”

What Happens Next
With the approval of the supplemental borrowing for the renovation and expansion of the Jones Library, the project will go out to bid in January or February, 2024, with bids from contractors expected back some time in the spring. The trustees have agreed to turn over several bequest accounts and all donated funds received over the amount spent on fundraising costs to the town. By the agreed upon cash flow plan, the trustees owe the town $2 million by January 31, 2024.