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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1984-11-19 CC MIN Special Meeting ('230 . . \ . SPECIAL MEETING STILLWATER CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 19, 19B4 7:00 P.M. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Peterson. Members Present: Councilmembers Bodlovick. Farrell. MacDonald and Mayor Peterson Members Absent: Councilmember Kimble Others Present: City Coordinator. Nile Kriesel Finance Director. Caruso City Attorney. Magnuson Secretary, Schnell Councilmember Elect - David C. Junker Citizens: Helen lawson. Susan Doe. Dode & Jean Simonet. Lynne Bertalmio. Bill Funari. Sally Evert. Sue Collins. Anlta Buck, Polly Webster, Mr. & Mrs. Don Hansen. Mr. & Mrs. M. K. Thompson. Mary Jo Jacobs. Neal Casey, Gerr; Granquist. Mr. & Mrs. James Graham, Maureen Farrell, Jim McKinney. Jean Morse. James Wells. Press: Jeanne Landkarrmer. St. Croix Valley Free Press MAYOR PETERSON announced that this public hearing was scheduled to explain the facts re- garding the possible merger of the Stillwater Public Library with the Washington County library System. MR. KRIESEL explained the Summary of Expenditures. the Changes in Operating Cash Balances. Comparison of Mill Rates in the Metropolitan Area. Change in Taxes Payable. and Change in Taxes Payable if merged with the County. (Copies of this data was made available to all in attendance. ) LYNNE BERTALMIO. Stillwater Public Library Director. presented the recorrmendations of the Stillwater Library Board and the Washington County Library Board if a merger were to take place. The recomendations included the following: 1. Retention of ownership of the building by the City of Stillwater and a lease agreement wi th the County; 2. At least one member of the Stillwater Public Library Board be appointed as an interim non-voting member to the Washington County Library Board and after the merger. at least one citizen of Stillwater be appointed to the Washington County library Board; 3. That certain major repairs be made to the building by September of 1985; 4. That certain items of historical value remain the property of the City (such as the John Runk photos); and 5. The present City personnel be employed in like classifications at a salary that is equal to or greater than (if re-classified) their present salary. MR. JAMES WELLS. Washington County Library Director. explained the details on the merger as far as the County was concerned and particularly the transfer of the personnel from the Stillwater Library into the County system. COLLEEN MlECOCH inquired if the mill rate data and the cost of operating the Stillwater Library were included and the maintenance costs. MR. KRIESEL confirmed that they did. How- ever. Capital Outlay costs were not included. Questions were asked about the reorganization of the building which would be done to make library operations more economical and to better serve the public. MR. KRIESEL said the average debt service for the bonds would be about one mill per year. The cost of this work was estimated to be about $450.000. Bonds would be sold to finance these costs. Questions were also asked about changes in Library services and the response was that it would get rid of some duplication of services. There would also be more hours for public service and larger collections would be maintained in Stillwater. One of the disad- vantages of the merger would be that fewer individuals from the City would be on the Board. Another advantage would be the use of services such as Cable T.V. and a variety of other telecomunication services. DAVID JUNKER asked which collections would be moved. Valley Collection and the John Runk collection would donating family. LYNNE BERTALMIO stated that the St. Croix remain here as per the bequest of the MRS. JACK THOREEN inquired about the number of persons on the County Board and the response was seven. She also inquired as to how many libraries are under the control of Washington County. MR. WELLS stated that there are seven directly under the County. Six branch libraries and one merger with the Newport Public Library. They offer various other kinds of services for three other libraries in the County. ANN TAYLOR said that it looks like the City is trying to get rid of the service in ord~r to maintain the cash flow and she did not want the Stillwater Library to become a part of the County as a branch library -- she is very pleased with the child librarians that we have and she would be willing to pay more for library services. ~ . . , ' " . . . . . ,--. ..J . November 19. 1984 - conti "ued MR. KRIESEL said that the City looks very closely at every department every year at budget time and at the services that are provided by the City. The cash flow situation and budget limitations have been a problem for several years and the City's decision to study the pass;. bility of merging with the County was done after careful consideration of other solut;ons. MR. KRIESEL referred to the Ice Arena and the cOlllllittee that was formed to look into the operating losses of the arena to eliminate or minimize the losses. MR. KRIESEL said that the City chose to look at the Library because it appeared that the only change would be one of control and not a loss of services. MR. KRIESEL also said that the City would not want to merge if a cut in services would come out of a merger n that the City was hoping that the services would actually be increased because the County could afford to finance the Library more adequately than the City. QUESTIONS were asked if the City had considered other alternatives. MR. KRIESEL stated that the citizens had a chance to change the tax levy limits in order to increase cash surpluses by way of a refer~ndum in 1982. :Iowever, the question was defeated by a two to one margin. A question was asked as to what percentage of the users of the Stillwater library are from Stillwater, and the response was 70 per cent. BILL FUNARI a~ked aboot the range of per capita costs and the response was that in the City of Stillwater, it is $20.00 per capita and in the County, it is $11.00 per capita. Questions were raised about the reorganization and it was stated that this is something that has been studied for some time by the Stillwater Library Board and that is something that is needed whether or not there is a merger. Questions were asked about the maintenance of effort of the local library. LYNNE BERTALMIO stated the City or the County could not reduce the operating dollars from one year to the next without losing eligibility to receive support from MELSA. MR. MAGNUSON cited some of the facts from the resolution passed in 1901 regarding the owner- ship of the Stillwater Public Library. MAYOR PETERSON stated that the records would be kept open until December 4, 1984 for additional comments and at that time the Council would vote on the proposed merger. THE MAYOR CLOSED THE HEARING AT 9,00 P.M. ~ #.' I' 7.~~.."J / A,vor ~'~ . Attest, <<___. I ~ CitV~k 231'\ . . \ , . .