March 30, 2005 Minutes
Members present: Linda Coates, Charles Pace, Michael Sebille, Pat Zavoral
Members absent: John Cosgriff, Helen Levitt, Herb Snyder
Others Present: Richard Moorhead and Marcia Pulczinski from Image Group, Jeff Scherer from MS&R, Bob Rohlf from Robert Rohlf & Associates, Lowell Wolff of Fargo Public Schools, Terry Schaunaman, City of Fargo staff, public and media
I. Discussion
One issue brought to the surface last night at the public forum was the size of the downtown library. The wording of the amendment included a minimum of 45,000 square feet downtown as concluded by the library facilities plan. The facilities planning process was conducted over a six month period and included public input through public forums and interviews. It would take a supermajority of four votes from the city commission to change the wording of the amendment. As steps were taken to get to this figure, the committee will move forward with the plan as adopted with a minimum of 45,000 square feet downtown.
The Park Board facilities meeting this morning identified all sites yet on the table. The north side Yunker Farm and south side Ed Clapp Park, Stone Bridge Park, Brunsdale Park, and Rheault Farm were all up for discussion. The Rheault Farm carried some reservations due to programming issues. Competition for parking may result. Stone Bridge Park would also require a neighborhood meeting to determine the fit. This will be planned after further site analysis.
It was determined the architects will review Ed Clapp Park, Stone Bridge Park, and the proposed high school campus site at 52nd Avenue South. The north side of this proposed school site will be analyzed as a separate freestanding building. This would allow for a large uninterrupted area still available for the proposed school or for selling purposes of the school district.
No leased space will be considered for the south side due to the 12,000 to 15,000 square foot size of the branch.
It was decided to concentrate on leased space for the north side due to the 5,000 square foot size of the proposed branch and heavy traffic areas that add to the convenience of a small branch library. New construction would increase the cost of a branch this size. Pat Zavoral, Charles Pace, and Richard Moorhead will proceed with conversations of available space in Northport. They will also research availability near the Skills and Technology Center and along 19th Avenue North. Jeff Scherer will put together explanatory graphics for the next public forum why Washington Elementary and Yunker Farm are off the table. This will include national and local issues of child safety and public perception in relation to a library/school partnership.
The parking lot to the east of NDSU downtown is not a viable site. It is limiting in size and parking options. Some opinions last night suggested the right location may not be city owned property downtown and may require acquisition. The committee decided to look at the block to the north of the transit center and study acquisition costs of that site. Other downtown options to be reviewed include renovation and expansion of the current library building, demolition of the current building and rebuilding, and building on the parking lot while saving the current building for re-use.
The next park district facilities meeting will be one moth from today and a long range planning meeting is scheduled April 19. Representatives from the building committee will be in attendance to discuss the site analysis.
The building program draft will be ready by April 19. The library board meets next on April 26 and the building program will be submitted for approval at that time. The next public forum will be April 19th in the city commission chambers. This will address the site analyses and building program. Prior to that, library staff will send previous library studies to MS&R.
Next Meeting
The next meeting with MS&R representatives in attendance will be Tuesday, April 19, 2005 at 10:30am. The next public forum will be that evening at 7:00pm. A follow up meeting will be Wednesday, April 20, 2005 at 9:00am. The next meeting of the Building Committee will be Friday, April 8, 2005 at 9:00am. The meeting was adjourned.