Library's next step may come Monday

Public or private appointments to the board still at issue MILFORD — Future plans for the management of the Pike County Public Library are on hold, at least until Monday. Pike County Commissioners Chief Clerk Gary Orben said the next meeting between the commissioners and library officials, their third in recent weeks, is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Monday morning. “We won’t do anything until issues are settled with the commissioners,” said Maleyne Syracuse, chair of the Pike County Public Library Board of Directors about proposals for the library system for Pike County. The Board last met with the commissioners on Dec. 31, in a “very productive meeting,” she continued. Problems unresolved continue over the composition of the nine-member library board. Presently, two of these are appointed by the commissioners, and one by the Community House Trust which owns the building where the main library is located. The Board proposes to have that one member appointed by the Commissioners as well, when and if they move out of their building. Additionally, the proposal asks for one more member to be appointed by the commissioners, bringing the composition to 4-5 split between the commissioners’ appointees and internal board appointees. Syracuse continued, “The gift of $1 million from the late Dorothy Warner has to be used for a new library building located in Milford Borough, or it will be forfeited.” The gift was made by Warner originally in 2005. It has now been extended for another two years, but it won’t be extended anymore, said Syracuse. Additionally, there is a time limit on the state grants, but she didn’t know offhand how long. Milford Borough Secretary Lizanne Samuelson said that the Borough Council sent letters to the library board regarding proposed use of the Biondo building in Milford. Queries concerned parking and sewage issues, but everything was preliminary and Borough Council President Matt Osterberg said the motive was to deal with any new issues early-on. Syracuse emphasized that the Board is not doing anything until matters are settled with the county, and that she had sent a letter to Osterberg, to that effect. The Library Board proposed a tax increase to fund the new proposed library system for Pike County, but it was overwhelmingly defeated in November elections. The contract with Frederick Schwarz Architects has been terminated regarding building the new library headquarters on the proposed site at 221 East Harford Street in Milford, Alternative sites and designs with lower associated building and maintenance are going to be considered when the board appointee issues have been resolved, according to the library Web site.