City Council

Mount Vernon City Council Committee of the Whole Minutes Sept. 30, 2015 Present: Mayor Boudreau, Councilmembers Fiedler, Hulst, Lindquist, Molenaar, Quam, Ragan Staff Present: Library Director Soneda, Finance Director Huschka, Community Development Director Hyde, Police Chief Dodd, Library Deputy Director Holahan Foundation Board Present: Peter Goldfarb, Gloria Hulst, Jorge Manzanera, Carmen Bruner, Sara Patton, Kelly Reep, Angelica Guillen, Cheri Relyea, Marija Anderson Councilmember Hulst brought the committee meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. 1. Introduction: Councilmember Hulst asked for brief introductions around the table. Councilmember Quam toured the Seattle library and is anxious move forward. Councilmember Fielder is looking forward to discussion. Mayor Boudreau said lifelong learning is a community value and can lift people up from poverty. Councilmember Lindquist has been on council 10 years; he has toured the Everett library. Councilmember Ragan stated that Andrew Carnegie had great idea for buildings and libraries and added that we should look at how we can make a difference; every community needs a library. Marija Anderson is retired from 35 years as a City employee. She went on the Seattle and Everett tours, knows libraries are so important especially as she came to America from Croatia. Cheri Relyea is a retired elementary teacher with 30 years at Burlington schools. She said the community is outgrowing its library and needs a nicer facility. Angelica Guillen has family who has been in La Conner 60 years, She is retired from teaching, has a Masters in Library Science and studied libraries in Mexico. Sara Holahan is Library Deputy Director and recording secretary. Kelly Reep lived in Mount Vernon, now lives on Camano Island and is very excited about the project. Sara Patton’s husband was in the Air Force and they have lived all over; she understands how important a library is to the community. Carmen Bruner said education is important to her, there’s a lot to a library and it can bring the community together. Brian Soneda has been director 10 years. Jorge Manzanera is an American Mexican citizen and brings perspective of needs of Latinos and wants to contribute in any way he can to a modern library. Gloria Hulst has lived in Mount Vernon since 2001. She has visited other libraries, likes the new technology. Peter Goldfarb has been in the area 30 years; he feels the library is a center of the community and would like the library to resemble a campus with outside areas for families. Councilmember Molenaar has lived here 54 years. The Needs Assessment shows need and he wants to see ideas come out. Councilmember Hulst wants everyone to get on same page and he appreciates the commitment of the Foundation Board members. 2. Brief History of the Foundation presented by Sara Patton. In March 2010 the library held an event to acknowledge Sonia Beard’s donation which was meant to inspire others to give and led to the creation of the Library Foundation. The board was formed and the mission statement: “to foster community support…to build a new library” was adopted Bylaws were approved, 501C3 status was acquired and a logo was created. A memorandum of agreement with the City was executed and a study of the Higgins property and the Mount Vernon School Mount Vernon City Council September 30, 2015 Page 2 of 2 District sites took place. Fundraising efforts have been discussed. The group discussed cost, size, location and funding and citizen support. 3. Overview of Needs Assessment Study: Mr. Soneda presented a Timeline of the Needs Assessment, starting with City Council approval of SHKS in January 2014. The final report is available on the city website. Follow up visits to regional libraries were helpful. The Needs Assessment was a programmatic study not architectural and reviewed three possible sites: the Higgins property, the Mount Vernon School District administration site and the current location. The preferred site is the location of the current library. Size and technology and cost and local partnerships were discussed. Square footage, geographic location, budget and fundraising were also addressed. The consensus was that providing specifics to the community is a priority. Mayor Boudreau suggested that Mr. Soneda provide some estimates of needs in terms of square footage. She also pointed out that elementary schools cost approximately $300 per square foot to build so that can be used as a starting point for estimating the cost of constructing the building. City property inventory, satellite libraries and fund raising were discussed. Councilmember asked for bond information from Finance Director Huschka. The group will meet again in six weeks. The meeting concluded at 7:45 p.m. _____________________________ Submitted by Sara Holahan