Stevensville library relocation proposal meets with criticism

by John Dowd

During the last Stevensville town council meeting, Mayor Steve Gibson brought up the idea of donating land at the Lewis and Clark Park to the North Valley Public Library. The suggestion was met with considerable disapproval from some members of the public in attendance at the meeting. According to Gibson, “It was just a public discussion to open it up. There was no deception.” He said this regarding comments by those who attended and spoke out against the idea. Several of the comments during the meeting suggested that the idea was surrounded by suspicion and was in some way brought forward with a hidden agenda. 

One person vehemently against the proposal, though not present at the meeting, is Stevensville local and previous town mayor, Jim Crews. According to Crews, “It was sneaky, the way the town met before the meeting.” Crews also explained that he was against the idea because of the “loss of public recreation areas.” This point would be echoed by those who spoke against the proposal. Crews confessed to having been the one who saw the item on the agenda before the meeting and “sounded the alarm.” He also mentioned that he was “stone-walled” by the town and the library while trying to find more information about any proposed projects. He explained that he asked several questions about the proposal, including details on the construction, timeline, etc.

According to town officials, there was no prior meeting between the library and the town, except that the mayor reached out to see if the library would even be interested in anything like the proposal. 

Crews brought up a restriction within the original deed, signed in 1947, when the park land was annexed into the town, which reads “said second party (the town of Stevensville) shall hold the property and keep it for use by the public as and for a community public park and playground.” That restriction defines all uses, for perpetuity, of the park land, and narrows it to park-only uses. 

“We’re losing valuable public land for recreation,” said Crews. “Park land is for outdoor recreation. A library should be for educational and informational activities.” His concerns about the land use were echoed by Town Council member, and Town Park Board member, Stacie Barker. Barker said, “I think we need areas where kids can grow, and be active in sports and the outdoors.”

Barker clarified that these spaces should be “in town,” and mainly for youth sports. Being with the youth soccer program for years, she is familiar with the struggles. “There is not enough space in the existing fields.” She referred to the sports fields behind the school, which are leased out to use by various extracurricular youth sporting groups. She also admitted that the idea is going to be controversial either way. “No matter what way we go, it’s going to cost taxpayers.” 

According to Crews, also in fear of the monetary repercussions for the town, “How can we support a several million dollar project?” Fortunately, according to library board members, who have been looking into the proposal, the town may not have to. Library Board Chair Dianne Snedigar explained that the board has been addressing numerous issues with the current library location for some time. 

They have been looking into the possible move for so long that, Snedigar said, “we were excited, as a board, to hear the possibility of being allowed to use the park.” The reason the library has been looking into moving is mainly because, “the building is old,” said Snedigar. Aside from obvious parking limitations, the entire top floor is closed due to asbestos and structural issues, and the basement has recurring mold issues. Though these concerns have been mitigated to meet public health standards, the building has many areas in disrepair. The maintenance process is becoming very expensive and the library has also reached a point where it needs to expand. This is not possible at the current location. The library currently does not have enough room for all the public events, youth and adult programming it houses, and certainly cannot add any more. 

The library board has already gotten an architectural firm to help them plan and streamline a possible project, since they long ago came to the conclusion that moving may be necessary. “We are concerned about the costs, in fact it is the main thing,” said Snedigar. She and other board members are hoping to do the entire project with only private donations and grants, and without any bonds or levies. This is partly thanks to a side organization associated with the library, called the North Valley Public Library Foundation. This group is planning to run a capital campaign for donations.

Library patrons and stakeholders have consistently said that they want the library to remain as close to the downtown as possible. Of all areas available for a new library building, there are three that are most plausible. According to library board members, the first and possibly most expensive of all available options would be to move the library onto property owned by the school district, which has offered to sell some land to the library. However, that space is not annexed within the town, and there would be an unavoidable cost of approximately $350,000 to add the building into the town’s sewer and water system. That cost would be on top of the base construction cost, and would only be offset by the sale of the current location.

The second option would also be expensive. This would involve keeping the building located where it is. This space would be limited for several reasons. That area in town has a restriction on the height of all new buildings, set to 40 feet. Adding a usable second floor would require hiring more staff, because each floor would need to be staffed. This would increase the cost significantly, and in perpetuity to the taxpayers. There is no option to expand at street level, as the current library is limited by existing adjacent buildings. Staying in the same spot would also carry additional one-time costs of demolition, renovation and relocation and storage of library property. It would also require the closure of the library for as long as deconstruction and reconstruction would take. This could be several years. 

The third and final option is the most cost effective, but could be the most controversial: putting the new library in the park. Though several persons against the idea have voiced the concern that such a proposal is unprecedented, the fact is that it would not be in any way unusual. For example, the Coeur d’Alene Public Library, in Idaho, is located in the city’s McEuen Park. The idea is not even odd in the state of Montana, with most notably the Bozeman Public Library being located in Lindley Park. These are among many others.

The space in Lewis and Clark Park is also within the town and has easy and cheap access to both sewer and water. According to several in favor of the idea, there are more than just monetary reasons to put the library in the park. Along with remaining within walking distance for those that walk to the current library location, “in my opinion it enhances the park,” said Mayor Gibson. “You take your kids to the park, you take them to the playground, you go to the pool, then you go get a book.” Gibson, and others, also brought up the point that a library would both increase parking area, and would increase year-round use of the park. When the weather cools, citizens will continue to be able to enjoy the park space inside the library. This is especially true for the older generation of citizens. “The library is such a part of the town and the community,” said Gibson.

But the older generation is only part of the wide array of community members that use the library. According to library staff, the building sees one to two hundred visitors a day. That does not include the numerous club meetings, classes and more. Snedigar explained that the library sees people from every age group, and provides assistance and space for those seeking jobs, youth programs, teen programming, book clubs, access to the internet, computer classes for the young and old, and “so much more.” She also asserted that there are very few public spaces in Stevensville for any of these kinds of things, other than the library.

Those in favor of the park say that there could be room for both outdoor recreation and the library. However, the area a new library would take up could be around two acres. The space proposed is in the empty field in the south half of the seven-acre park. The field is around three acres in size and contains the old baseball diamond, where the Creamery Picnic pig races are held. The entire space used by the building and parking would leave only one acre of open field for use. Fortunately, the Creamery Picnic does have other locations it can be moved to, such as back on Main Street where it was traditionally held, or side streets in the downtown area. 

Much of this information has yet to be brought to the attention of the public. One person to voice concerns during the meeting, Penny Howe, said that it was, “taxation without representation.” However, that statement holds little water as the park location, if a decision were made to move forward, would require a vote by the town residents. According to town attorney Greg Overstreet who was present at the council meeting, the notion that there was any kind of back room deal, or that any decision could be made without a vote is, “not at all accurate.” He explained that the town council would first have to vote on whether or not to move the project forward.

Overstreet said that in his research on the issue, he found that the deed restriction, mentioned by Crews, is undermined by Montana code, specifically statute MCA 7-8-4201 (2)(b). The statute expresses that a sale, lease or use of any land owned by the town, in trust, would require an election vote by the public. According to Overstreet, “It’s not even a close call, there is abundant legal authority.” In other words, the statute allows, legally, for the library to be placed in the park, were it to pass that vote.

In response to the concerns, Snedigar plans to attend the next town council meeting to share some of the information about the library during public comment. The next meeting is Thursday, August 10 at 6 p.m. at Town Hall. Like all town council meetings, it is open to the public.