Opinion: Town Leaders Need to Get Real

Prolonging Pursuit of Runaway Library Project is Misguided
To paraphrase Elizabeth Warren, the Amherst Town Council needs to put on its big-boy pants and face the fiscal reality confronting the Jones Library Renovation-expansion.  The financial metrics for the ambitious project are dismal.  These include

• Cost escalation that has seen the already expensive estimated cost of the project rise from $36.3 million in April 2021 to $46.1 million in December 2023 to a lone construction bid last week that raises the project cost to at least $52.6 million, not counting increases in soft costs and interest payments.
• Failure of the Jones Library Capital Campaign (JLCC) to achieve its fundraising objective that would have enabled it to remit a planned $2.5 million to the Town by January 2024.
• A library fundraising obligation that now exceeds $13 million against which it has pledged to use its endowment.  The value of the endowment is currently $9.1 million.
• Town expenditures approaching $2.5 million for design and preparation of construction documents.
• Ten years of project proponents insisting that the bloated plan is the only possible way forward.

Despite the alarming numbers, there are signs that some town leaders may be angling to soldier on with the plan.  Town Manager Paul Bockelman wrote in an email to the Town Council last Sunday that his staff are working on an “assessment of the situation” that will be presented at the May 6 Town Council meeting.

Bockelman describes the high construction bid as “disheartening, especially given the overwhelming support the town has shown for the project, including votes in favor from Town Meeting, Select Board, Library Trustees, Town Council, and a general vote of the public.”  This characterization smacks of political posturing aimed either at preparing the public for a council push to spend more town money to keep the project alive, or a face-saving explanation of the more than $2 million spent on the unhappy initiative to date.

Whether this statement comes from Bockelman or Town Council leadership is hard to say, as the town’s current home rule charter requires the town manager to serve as Amherst’s CEO while following the policy decisions and direction of the Town Council.  Council President Lynn Griesemer has justified her continued advocacy for town investment in the troubled library project by saying that abandoning it would damage Amherst’s credibility with state funders.

A comment by JLCC Manager Ginny Hamilton in the Amherst Current gives further clues as to what town leaders may be thinking about the controversial and costly library plan.  Says Hamilton. “The Town Manager, town hall finance folks, library leaders, the architects, and the Owners Project Manager have met multiple times since this [high bid] announcement on Friday. They’re exploring the options, including whether an MBLC extension [to the grant-imposed June 30 deadline to start construction] is possible. I personally have not been part of those meetings.”

For town councilors who may be considering risking more money, time and energy on the library plan, Kenny Rogers’ old hit song The Gambler offers some advice.

You’ve got to know when to hold ’em
Know when to fold ’em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run.

For the star-crossed Jones Library Renovation-expansion project, now is the time to run.