by Dennis Dalman
A group of Sartell residents is determined to force the City of Sartell to build a bona-fide branch library, and they are circulating a petition to that effect.
On the evening of Oct. 5, from 8-10 p.m., about 20 library enthusiasts met in the library of Oak Ridge Elementary School in Sartell. Some of the participants were members of the loosely organized “Sartell Friends of the Library,” which was formed many years ago with the mission of bringing a branch library to the city.
In no uncertain terms, all of those at the meeting sharply criticized three Sartell City Council members for making a decision that could doom a genuine library, in their opinions, contrary to the wishes of residents who want one. Time and again, the participants noted they and others voted for the half-cent regional-sales tax, twice, because they believed doing so would bring a branch library to the city.
After a lively two-hour discussion at the Oak Ridge library, several participants worked together that night to fine-tune the wording of their petition. It reads as follows:
“We the undersigned citizens of Sartell, consistent with previous votes/surveys regarding a GRRL (Great River Regional Library) branch, call for the following:
1.) Cease inclusion of library space and services at the southern site chosen for the Sartell Community Center.
2.) Permit Friends of the Library and other Sartell citizens to work with City Administration and GRRL to determine adequate size, location and collection size (library check-out items) with construction to begin in 2016 with funds from the half-cent sales tax.”
Lines drawn
Those at the Oak Ridge meeting intend to circulate the petition door-to-door and via Internet options.
Those who attended the Oct. 5 Oak Ridge meeting included mediator Paul Moe, media specialist (Oak Ridge Elementary’s chief librarian) and several long-time outspoken opponents of the current city council’s community center/library decisions. They include Joe Perske, former Sartell mayor; Henry Smorysnski, a Sartell resident; and Joe Schulte, industrial-arts teacher at Sartell High School. Smorysnski and Perske have several times at recent council meetings urged the three-member majority council members to change their minds about the site they chose a couple of months ago, on a 3-2 vote, for a community center/library. Also present at the Oct. 5 Oak Ridge meeting was former Sartell City Council member Sandra Cordie.
Everyone who spoke up at the Oct. 5 meeting was opposed to the Sartell City Council’s 3-2 decision for a south Sartell site, mainly because that site is unacceptable to GRRL, which could otherwise bring a more-or-less full-service branch library to Sartell.
Some who spoke up at the Oak Ridge meeting used blunt terms to describe the three Sartell City Council members who voted for the south site: arrogant, unaccountable, adamant, immature, stubborn, dug in at their heels.
They also accused them of using “bogus” arguments to reach their conclusions about the south site in an effort to create a recreation center by caving into sports/recreation groups at the expense of a library. They also accused the city administrator and the three council members of excluding or ignoring input from advocates of a branch library.
The council members who voted for the south site are Steve Hennes, Pat Lynch and Mayor Sarah Jane Nicoll. All three have defended their community-center decisions several times at recent council meetings.
Facts so far
Twice in the past dozen years, Sartell residents voted in favor of a half-cent regional sales tax, and it was stated on the ballot question that “a library,” among other amenities, would result from sales-tax revenue.
The size of such a library was not specified on the ballot question.
There is disagreement to this day that some called for a library of about 2,000 square feet but that some assumed it would be a much larger library.
Currently, the council and city administration are pondering how big should a Sartell library be and what services should it offer. They are caught between a rock and a hard place for the following reasons:
- GRRL is not amenable to the south site.
- GRRL stated a Sartell branch library should be a minimum of 12,500 square feet.
- Sartell might have to spend nearly $500,00 for a start-up collection.
- GRRL will bring resources, staff, items and all other kinds of amenities if there is an agreement with Sartell for a branch library.
- GRRL is on record as saying it will not deal with a divisive attitude among city leadership.
Spoilsports?
At the Oak Ridge meeting, several participants said they disagree vehemently with how some members of the Sartell City Council have characterized them as spoilsport losers.
Some of the Oak Ridge participants said family members, friends, neighbors, school students and others have told them time and again they do not favor a southern site for a community center/library and they have always wanted a central site with a library.
They countered council members’ comments about how popular the south site is.
Most who attended the Oct. 5 meeting said $2.5 million is not out of line to build a library, even if recreational amenities, such as proposed gyms, have to be dumped or put on hold.
Reconsider?
According to some at the Oak Ridge meeting, there are many potential community center/library sites that should, in their opinions, be reconsidered by the city council:
- The Benton-Stearns site on Second Street S.
- The “Novak Property” near Walgreen’s.
- A piece of land near Heritage Drive and Pinecone Road.
- The “Villcheck Property” adjacent to Pinecone Central Park.
- A place right in Pinecone Central Park.
- The former paper-mill “training office building” that is available for about $1 million, according to former Mayor Joe Perske.
Size matters
Those who attended the Oak Ridge meeting and anybody who has attended the Sartell City Council meetings know that size matters, at least when it comes to a town library.
There is a city-council assumption, unproven, that voters for the sales tax wanted a city library of about 2,000 square feet, about the size of two double garages, as someone at the Oct. 5 meeting pointed out.
GRRL is on record as requiring a Sartell branch-library size of 12,500 square feet.
Those who attended the Oct. 5 meeting said they are hoping the City of Sartell and GRRL can reach a compromise of maybe half that – 6,000 or so square feet.
Separate site?
Another issue that surfaced in the Oct. 5 meeting is the idea of two buildings: a community center and a library. Some said a library should be built in addition to a community center, at a separate site, perhaps by city hall.
Architectural consultants hired by the city have said several times that at a budgeted city cost of about $11 million for a community center/library, there is no way the two entities could be built separately for that amount of money.