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Minutes 08-26-03 t41'NUTES OF THE FOURTH PUBLZC I'NPUT IqEETZNG FOR THE Lt'BRARY EXPANSZON HELD t'N THE LZBRARY PROGRAt4 ROOt4, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORI~DA, ON TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2003 AT 1:00 P.t4. Present Gerald Broening, Mayor Mike Ferguson, Vice Mayor Mack McCray, Commissioner Virginia Farace, Library Director Members of the Public Samuel ~. Ferreri, Schenkel Schultz Architecture, and his assistant, Cholee Lightfoot, presented the elevations, floor plan, and a massed model of a proposed two-story addition to the Library, along with visual depictions of the existing library with proposed modifications and renovations. Mr. Ferreri gave a detailed explanation of each room and area in the plans. A copy of the drawings and elevations was provided for the attendees. The Site Plan review process is beginning with the CRA and will ultimately be reviewed and approved by the City Commission. Mr. Ferreri stated that the project had begun in late April of 2003. The grant should be in place by December 23. The drawings will be 100% completed before October 15. They will go through a bidding and awarding process. At the same time, the City will have a General Obligation Bond Referendum and the Library Expansion is one of the items in the referendum questions. If this passes, Mr. Ferreri should have a price from a contractor. Tf the price is favorable and the referendum passes, the City Commission should approve the project, the $500K grant will be awarded, and the project can commence by .lanuary 15, 2004. The first phase will take one year. In 3anuary 15, 2005 the remodeling will start, which will take about 15-16 months. In May of 2005, there will be a brand new, 100% complete library. A year from then the team will come back to make sure that everything is functioning properly while the project is still under the contractor's warranty. Questions and Answers Q: Will this create new jobs for the community? A: Staff believes that it will take 2.5 more people to operate the expanded library. There will probably be opportunities for literacy programs, and other programs that might have grant-funded positions associated with them. (Mr. Ferreri) Meeting Minutes Library Expansion Project Boynton Beach, Florida August 26, 2003 Q: A: A: A~ Q: Q: Can the garden area be a Serenity Area? ! heard there were budget constraints on this and I feel that now is the time to do this. (Commissioner McCray) The decision has to be made whether the City wants people to sit in the garden or just look at it. Additional lighting and additional pathways will be required. We will put the infrastructure in there to allow for that. Corporate sponsors or Friends of the Library might sponsor it. We will put the plumbing and the electric in for a fountain and this will be incorporated into the budget. (Mr. Ferreri) How will security be affected by having the Circulation Desk closer to the entrance? (Ms. Alice Otis) We will still have the electronic book protection systems and those will be by the doors. The Circulation Desk will be closer to the door so it will be easier for staff to supervise activities. (Mr. Ferreri) With the increased square footage, what kind of an increase will them be for storage space for books and magazines and literary materials like audios and DVDs? (IVlr. Bob Ensler) !t will be almost doubled when considered all together. (Ms. Farace) How long will this expanded library be sufficient as the population grows? When the program was written, the mandate from the State was to plan for 20 years. The expansion will allow space to get to the correct number of book per capita that is recommended by the State. The current library was built in 1988 and we thought we had a 20 year building but now, 15 years later, we have exceeded the building's capacity two or three years ago. (Ms. Farace) Would it be possible to put a second story over the existing library? (Public) Code changes that have come into existence since this library was built and then expanded would make it very difficult, if not impossible, to add a second floor to the existing library. Even if that were not true, the library would have to be closed for the year that it would take to build a second story, and this would be very impractical. (Mr. Ferreri) How do you see expansion in about 15 years? (Public) There might be some future branches built away from the main library to handle the western movement. (Mr. Ferreri) Meeting Minutes Library Expansion Project Boynton Beach, Florida August 26, 2003 Q; A: Q: A: Q: A; As our City grows and evolves, plans beyond this facility should include satellite branches to serve the various communities that have come into being all over the area. (Mayor Broening) With a projected build out population in the City of i:LOK, and with the space in the library being almost doubled, it sounds like the expanded library will be adequate to serve that population. (Mr. Ensler) The City subscribes to the "new urbanism," which dictates clusters of activity or nodes in a City and such clusters have sprung up all around the City. Any future thinking has to include the idea that there will be branches, with the central library as the focal point. The real, business-related library work is done in the central library, with all branches having reference and circulation activities only. (Mayor Broening) If you believe that one main facility will not be enough and there will have to be branches, why is that not part of the plan now? (Mr. Ensler) A branch in the western area has been identified in the Capital Improvement Plan as one of the projects for the future. This building program was submitted to the State almost three years ago. The best information available at the time from the Planning Department was that the build out population would be 85K people. This is based on .65 square foot per population on 85K people. Three years ago, thero was no thought of another 3,500 people coming downtown. When you plan, you get the best numbers you can, and plan accordingly. The library expansion is a solution and it is desperately needed right now. (Ms. Farace) Why do we need a stove in the employee kitchen when we have microwaves? (Commissioner McCray) ! had the same question in the beginning but we are visiting the library almost once a week and I've seen people cooking on the stove almost every time ]:'ve come here. A lot of the employees meet together. It will be done according to Code. (Mr. Ferreri) How many parking spaces do you have now and how many alter the expansion? I am concerned that there might not be enough parking. (Mr. Ensler) Parking is one of the big issues in the two block area around the library and the City staff will be doing a parking study including shared parking opportunities, use times, and so forth for the whole area. For the Madsen Center, the Art Center, the Civic Center, and the Library, the Code requires 256 spaces. There Meeting Minutes Library Expansion Project Boynton Beach, Florida August 26, 2003 are currently 262 spaces and there will be 278 spaces total in the area, which will meet the Code. (Mr. Ferreri) This concluded the Question and Answer session. Mr. Ensler commented that it would be nice if they could put some more green space in front of the building. Mr. Ferreri responded that they were working on a design for an entry plaza and there would be some green space with outdoor seating and lighting. Mr. Ferreri stated that help would be needed in order to pass the referendum. The meeting ended at 2:08 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (082903)