Three years ago, the council, then under Democratic control, began working with the borough library board on plans to replace the cramped, 6,200-square-foot library at 2484 Plainfield Ave. The borough bought land on Plainfield Avenue near the South Plainfield Funeral Home, at 2456 Plainfield Ave., to house the new library.

Initial estimates priced the new library at $3.5 million, and officials expected a quarter of that money to come from a state library grant. In late 2007, former Democratic Councilwoman Kathleen Thomas presented the final plans for a 15,000 square-foot library to the borough council, and by then the cost had increased to $4.5 million, with no grant money expected, because of state cutbacks.

As her term ended, Thomas urged the incoming Republican majority to bond for the money needed to complete the library, saying the planning was almost finished and warning that the cost of building supplies would only increase if the council waited. But Monday, the council chose instead to put the matter to a nonbinding public vote.

"If the borough wants the library, the library will get built," said Councilman Ray Rusnak, a Republican.

The vote will effectively resurrect the borough's fabled "Democracy Day" tradition in which the public votes on all municipal expenditures over $1 million. The formerly annual event was started by the Democratically controlled council in 1995, but a "Democracy Day" has not been held in several years.

In bringing the event back, the GOP will morph it into "Democracy Week," giving residents five or six days to come cast a ballot at borough hall.

Thomas, who is also a member of the library board, said "Democracy Day" was unnecessary because the public had had sufficient input on the project, in the form of public hearings and planning meetings. She said too much time and money had been spent on the project to halt progress now.

"Democracy Day is a great idea, and it's great to solicit the public's input," she said, "but not when you've already done that."

Thomas said the public won't feel the new debt because it would coincide with other borough debts being paid off.

But resident Jake Cataldo said he was still concerned about the impact of the $4.5 million on the borough's residents.

"As a senior citizen in this community, we can't absorb any more tax increases," he said. "So what you're doing is you're actually chasing people out of town."

Thomas was at the meeting with library board President Eric Aronowitz, who asked the council if they would follow the public's nonbinding recommendation. All council members agreed that they would build the library if the public approved it, but the council's two Democratic members and the borough's Democratic mayor made a point of saying they supported the new library regardless of the vote.

"As an elected official, it's my job to take action when I feel there's a need," said Councilman Raymond Petronko, a Democrat.

He said he respected the voters' "intelligence," but "we're up here to make decisions."

Councilman Joseph Scrudato, also a Democrat, agreed, saying he was "dead set" against holding "Democracy Day" for the library."

It will likely be May before a vote is taken on the project. Councilman Matthew Anesh, a Republican, said he doesn't think the delay will hurt the library plan, and said he trusts voters to understand the consequences of their votes.

Jared Kaltwasser can be reached at (908) 707-3137 or jkaltwasse@gannett.com.