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February 27, 2009

Library Ôdo over' doesn't add up

Friday, February 27, 2009
Once again, Washington Township Council has reneged on the library project.

Spurred by new Mayor Matt Lyons, the council voted to cancel its contract to purchase the Education Information and Resource Center, leaving library patrons in the lurch.

Based on state guidelines, the Margaret E. Heggan Library is about half the size that a town of 23 square miles, 48,500 residents, and six ZIP codes should have. After years of scrambling for a larger building, officials found an ideal location in the EIRC building on Delsea Drive.

Now, what seemed like a marriage made in heaven has ended with a broken engagement. The Heggan library came with a dowry of surplus funds that could have financed the multi-million dollar EIRC purchase and renovation.

Before former Mayor Paul Moriarty left office, the township had introduced a $4.6 million bond ordinance and signed a contract with EIRC owners to purchase the building. Officials assured residents that the bond could be paid down with the library's annual budget allocation at no additional cost to taxpayers.

Before Lyons took office, Council President Michelle Martin urged the council to hold off on the library for reasons that were never made clear. Was a better building suddenly available? Was it a tactic to reduce the EIRC price?

But, the contract was finally OK'd. Then Lyons came in, and his recommendation to delay briefly the bond ordinance seemed prudent: By financing other township items at the same time, taxpayers could be spared the cost of a separate bond issue.

This week, the situation took a turn for the weird. Lyons said a new Assembly bill would nix the library deal. The bill would let New Jersey towns reduce library allocations that are now dictated by a strict financial formula. The mayor said that should the bill pass, it could affect current library operations and make it "impossible" to pay for the EIRC building.

In a word, balderdash.

The bill in question was just introduced, has only one sponsor (no co-sponsors) and lots of opposition. And, it would merely permit, not mandate, lower library allocations.

The reasons for canceling the EIRC purchase sound like excuses. If there's a really valid reason, the public should be told.

Posted by tumulty at February 27, 2009 6:02 PM

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