Money, time limit choices

Library must make deadlines or endanger funding, by David Hulse MILFORD — As to what will get built or remodeled to house a new Pike County Library in Milford - it’s all going to be about the money. Site committee chair and library board member Rebecca Lindsey, board member Tom Hoff and board Chair Maleyne Syracuse were not painting rosy pictures as they repeatedly emphasized the library’s financial limitations at a Monday public information session. About a dozen persons and several members of the media turned out at Borough Hall session, where Hoff began by describing the five alternatives now being considered. “You look at an old building that would be a likely fit, but then you’ve got to write a check,” Hoff said. “We’ve got $800,000 in the bank and $2 million (in grants and pledges), part of which we might be able to salvage. Most of the options,” he concluded, “are going to cost more than that.” Hoff said new design costs are being avoided before the site committee recommends a choice, but he explained that grant funding is often tied to anticipated design cost. People who approve grants don’t want “a sketch on an envelope.” The borough council last week agreed to task code enforcement officer Bob DiLorenzo gathering available records and information on various alternative sites. Lindsey said the project also has to deal with time frames for various state funds. She said there is a “high degree of confidence” in retaining $1 million from one state grant, if the project can get underway within the year. Other state funds, gaming money, may be available in a reduced amount, but this is less certain. Another issue, following the lost library tax initiative of last year, is guaranteed revenues for maintaining a new site. Syracuse said that everyone has told them “cost to build is a fraction compared to operating costs ... We have to be able to afford to run it,” she said. Lindsey said the board has gotten positive responses about each of the five alternatives. Library officials would not name favorites. “I don’t think that any of the choices are bad, or that only one could be good,” she said. “The single biggest constraint is money, pure and simple,” she said.

Library alternatives
in addition to new construction on East Harford and renovations at the current Community House location, alternative sites being looked at for the Pike County Public Library in Milford include: the old Milford Schoolhouse on West Harford, the Biondo Building and the Malhame Vestment Company on Broad Street.