Madison OKs library funding ... almost

Madison’s board of aldermen has agreed to commit up to $250,000 toward construction costs for a new Madison-Mayodan Public Library.

While representing a significant investment, the figure falls short of the $312,500 amount suggested by the Western Library Building Oversight Committee. But board members did not want to obligate the town’s residents to repaying a debt many considered too high for the construction.

Alderman Leon Wall said Thursday that he could not understand why architects with LS3P estimated the cost of the proposed 13,000-square-foot library at $2.5 million, or $200 per square foot. He compared that price to the $120 per square foot figure Madison United Methodist Church paid for their new addition, which included more then 13,500 square feet upstairs and an additional 5,000 square feet of basement.

“It just seems to me that these numbers that are being quoted are just way out of reason,” Wall said.

Wall suggested giving someone else a chance to give an estimate for the building.

“I fully support the town of Madison sharing our portion of the cost, but I really disagree with the sort of cost these people are talking about,” he said.

According to the plan suggested by the oversight committee, the Rockingham County Public Library’s board of directors would raise half of the estimated $2.5 million through donations. The county and the two municipalities would share the remainder, with the county paying up to $625,000 and the towns $312,500 each.

Mayodan agreed to the plan at their Sept. 8 meeting and the county approved the arrangement Sept. 9. The county also agreed to finance the entire $1.25 million, allowing the towns to repay the county at $25,000 per year for 20 years.

Mayor Micky Silvers believed even that amount could prove a burden to residents.

“If we can’t find it in our regular budget to come up with $25,000 a year, that comes to 1.19 cents (in additional property tax) for Madison to pay that $25,000,” Silvers said.

Alderman Monte McIntosh agreed that was the most likely scenario considering the tight budgets of recent years.

“If we approve the $312,500 they’re asking us for, in the back of our minds, we’re thinking we’re going to have to raise taxes to pay for it,” McIntosh said.

Silvers believed the very request was really more than the two towns should have to shoulder.

“No burden for any library has been put on any municipality, the way this has been put on Madison and Mayodan,” Silver said. “I just don’t think it’s in proportion.”

Aldermen agreed that any tax increase to pay toward a library would have to be set aside specifically for that purpose to maintain existing levels of services to residents.

“We’re not going to not buy a police car just to pay for that,” Silvers said. “That’s what it amounts too — 25 grand is a police car.”

McIntosh suggested the board come up with a figure the town could support toward the new facility.

“We all know we need the library and it’s not going to move forward until we’re all lined up in support,” he said. “At least this way they’ll know we’ll support it up to a certain amount.”

Compromising between the $200 per square foot figure presented in the LS3P estimate and the $120 cost for Madison UMC, the board figured $150 per square foot would bring the total to about $2 million, or $250,000 for each town’s share of the funding.

“We feel like there are some cost savings to be realized in this project that haven’t been expressed in the numbers that have been presented so far,” Wall said. “This is our way of giving an incentive to the process to come in at a lower cost.”

The board voted 5-1 in favor of placing the figure at $250,000. Alderman Art Gwaltney voted against the motion, wanting to table the issue until more study could be done on it.

News editor Steve Lawson can be reached at slawson@reidsvillereview.com or at 548-6047.