Minutes 05-06-2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Library system, and they made the argument that they would increase Orange County Library funding by a similar amount. This is even more problematic because of the budget situation. He said that Chapel Hill was very specific that they needed to know by this deadline of May 24th. This is impossible, since the Board will not even hear the Manager's recommendation until May 1 gtn Frank Clifton said that there is some logic to support Chapel Hill Library at some level. He said that the budget recommendation is to keep funding as it is now because there is no money. He said that he has a problem with the concept of the County paying the Town of Chapel Hill more to support its library than it spends on the rest of its library system. John Roberts said that there is a state statute that mandates that if a municipal library system receives funds from the County, then that county's citizens should have free basic services at that library. He thinks that if the Town is going to start charging the County's citizens for use of the library, then the County should withdraw all funding. Commissioner Yuhasz asked if there was any discussion about the County's participation in the governance of the Chapel Hill Library being commensurate with the percentage of funding. Commissioner Jacobs said that it was pointed out that the County has representatives on boards that deal with other governments to whom they issue no instructions and from whom they receive no reports. There was no discussion about this. Commissioner Yuhasz said that he believes that when the first contribution to the Chapel Hill Library was made, the Orange County Library's system consisted of one small library in Hillsborough. Since that time, the County library system has expanded substantially. He thinks it is not reasonable that the County should be supporting the Chapel Hill Library at the same proportional level as it did initially. Commissioner Gordon asked for clarification on what was involved in the discussions. She asked if Chapel Hill would get more funding because 40% of the users are outside of Chapel Hill. She asked for more details concerning the reported discussion about the library locating into the Skills Development Center (SDC). If the library were to locate there, where would the current functions of the SDC go? There are a lot of issues. Frank Clifton said that when Commissioner Jacobs brought this issue up about the Skills Development Center for a future southwest library the idea was to relocate what is there now. Commissioner Jacobs said that he brought this up as an illustration that this may impact the usage by Carrboro residents of the Chapel Hill Library. The formula should reflect this change. He said that Orange County owns this site, it is on the line of the two towns, it is on public transportation, and it is walkable. It is much more desirable than the McDougle branch. Frank Clifton said that the reality is that the Town of Chapel Hill wants a commitment of somewhere between $700,000 and $1 million a year to subsidize operational costs for the expansion of the library. Commissioner Jacobs said that for the County's library plan, this could be an option and could have an impact on what the County pays Chapel Hill. He said that he and Commissioner Nelson brought up the issue of interoperability. Commissioner Gordon said that if the SDC building were vacant, it would make more sense, but the County has the Skills Development Center there now. If the solution is to move the SDC services to Hillsborough, then she wonders what kind of services will be offered for Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Also, if the County wants to conduct a search for a site for the Southwest Orange Library, then there should be a clear set of criteria for the search. Commissioner Nelson said that institutions get in trouble when there are no clear sets of criteria. He said that Commissioner Gordon is right about the Skills Development Center. It