Minutes 12-05-2011 - Laserfiche WebLink

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At the work session, the County Commissioners expressed a preference for option 3 and the Manager is recommending that the Board approve option 3. PUBLIC COMMENT: Janet Flowers said that she is from Hillsborough and she is an advocate for seniors. She reads to the seniors for three hours a week. She said that in order to locate the books she needs each week to read to this group, she must ask staff for assistance and the staff are wonderful. She said that, though it is an admiral goal for a book drop, this would require more staff time and the impact on the already limited staff resources would be too much. Jean Brooks said that when she met with the County Manager and librarian months ago they did not know about the property and the ownership. She asked why this was. She said that it seems like it has turned into a struggle to do things and it should not be. There should be some compassion for the older and handicapped. She said that she brought the petitions tonight. Donna Webb said that she wanted to put a face to the email that she sent them this week. She said that she does not understand why a book drop was not placed on the outside of the library when it was originally built. She said that she cannot believe that it is going to cost that much money to put a book drop there. She said that option 3 is not going to work because there will not be anyone there to maintain that five-minute space. Erin Shepherd said that she is a resident of Efland and she has been a patron of the Orange County library for years, especially as a parent. She said that there have been many times when staff time has proven invaluable in enriching the library experience. She spoke about the great resource of the staff. She said that option 3 was the most viable of the three options and she urged the Board to approve this option. Peggie Murray said that she lives in Efland. She said that she is trying to figure out why she is so angry about the new library. She is a teacher and she has received help many times, but she is so angry about the parking and the parking lot. She feels that her library is not accessible to her and she has to figure out where to park. Diane Cates reiterated what Ms. Murray said and said that she thinks it is important to try and figure out a way to help the senior population and to vote for this important need. Lucinda Munger said that, in trying to assist the aging, the staff has been speaking with Janice Tyler, Director of Aging, and she mentioned using the RSVP 55+ volunteers to help drop off/pick up books to help the seniors with library access. Commissioner Jacobs thanked all who spoke. He told Mrs. Murray that the County did invest more money in building another sidewalk so that people could go from the library to Churton Street so that people can actually walk to the library as much as Hillsborough's infrastructure will allow. The parking was also a concern to the Commissioners and it remains a concern because there is an uncooperative parking deck owner. He said that he would be glad to bring the code number to each County Commissioners' meeting and hold it up silently so that anyone who watches can see how they can go to the designated parking spaces and park for free. He would also recommend going to the south side of the parking deck and there are street spaces. Regarding proposal three, he thinks that the County should start here. He said that the Board discussed revisiting this after one year. He has similar concerns that the staff is not going to be able to monitor the five-minute parking space. He said that he is willing to try this option as they work on other options. Commissioner McKee said that he thought it interesting that there were not more complaints and such with the librarians about the lack of a book drop. His main concern over