Third Deadline Extension Approved for Jones Library Project
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The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) voted at their meeting on March 6, to once again extend the deadline for the Jones Library Demolition/Expansion Project to sign a contract for construction, this time until April 30, 2025. Two previous deadline extensions had been approved from the original June 30, 2024 to December 31, 2024 and then again to March 31, 2025. The meeting was held in hybrid format, in person at the Massachusetts Library System in Marlborough and over Zoom.
Amherst Special Capital Projects Manager Robert Peirent was in the audience and available to provide information as the acting Owner’s Project Manager for the project but the vote was unanimous and taken without any discussion or questions from the commissioners. The extension request was made by Town Manager Paul Bockelman and Jones Library President Austin Sarat but was never discussed or authorized by the Town Council or Jones Library Building Committee. The reason given for the request was that the Section 106 and Environmental reviews have not yet been completed and are required before federal funds provisionally awarded from the National Endowment for Humanities and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, respectively, can be approved. It was not noted during the meeting that an agreement between the Massachusetts Historical Commission, the Town of Amherst, and the Library Trustees regarding the Section 106 review has not yet been reached.
Also not mentioned was the fact that changes to the plan would require rebidding (for the roof and likely the original millwork) and the fact that the general contractor bid is now several months past its hold date, both of which make the final cost of the project uncertain. Fundraising for the project also remains several million dollars short of what is required to meet the $46 million authorization by the town.
Two Amherst residents offered public comment. Arlie Gould pointed out the bidding and funding issues. Maria Kopicki described the town’s extension request as addressing “an emergency of its own making” and suggested that the MBLC change its policies and procedures in several ways to prevent the multitude of problems this project faces rather than continuing to grant extensions.
My public comment at this meeting asked the MBLC to engage in some self-assessment and change its ways as their Library Building Program has contributed greatly to the mess that is this project. Some examples:
1) be more willing to allow projects to decrease in scope, especially if it has been a decade since the application was made and a lot of things have changed (funding, costs, a change in the way people interact with libraries, etc)
2) require an assessment of the municipality’s ability to meet programming needs in other ways, at other locations
3) require grant recipients to demonstrate their ability to fund projects before awarding grants (Interestingly, as opposed to the Town’s apparent stance toward the Jones fundraisers, the state regulations governing the MBLC only allows donations that are in-hand or that have a binding commitment to be counted as “local financial commitment” – see 605CMR6)
4) limit the number of extensions a project can request or be granted
5) instruct their staff not to encourage violating stipulations of MOAs like the Library Project Program representative advocated for with respect to cutting a hole in the front of the Jones for a book drop
6) do a better job vetting projects for conflicts with local, state, and federal regulations and do not try to override those regulations with MBLC preferences. The entire historic preservation debacle should never have arisen if there was a better process at the very beginning.
The MBLC bears a lot of responsibility for enabling this failing project to continue to drain time, money, and resources that would be much better spent on critical town needs.
Maria Kopicki’s observations of a broken MBLC grant program are spot on. Its goal is to increase library programming space regardless of true local need or cost, which is why one-third of grantees in the state have ended up withdrawing from library construction grant awards.
The continued advocacy of State Rep. Mindy Domb and State Sen. Jo Comerford also needs to be questioned. They have applied no small amount of political muscle in keeping the controversial and very expensive Jones Library project alive.
The “political muscle” letter written by Mindy Domb and Jo Comerford embedded in Jeff Lee’s comment is a must read. Perfect example of politicians out of touch with the real needs of Amherst residents.
I find it ironic that an institution based on the ability and importance of people to read has ALREADY spent much more tax money than it would take to balance the school budget and avert layoffs of those who teach our children.