Library key to budget plans
Published 7:27 am Sunday, November 16, 2008
As the Brundidge City Council continues with budget planning this week, the long-standing library project will come back to the table.
With a $150,000 library grant specifically for capital improvements on the Brundidge Library, the council will have to decide whether they will for more renovations or use the grant money on the project.
City Manager Britt Thomas said it is not necessary the council makes that decision final in the coming weeks, but it is likely they will do so.
Mayor Jimmy Ramage said he is ready to get the project underway.
“I hope we get together and start the project because based on estimates the grants we received would make 40 to 50 percent of the total project,” Ramage said.
Though nothing is final, he said based on previous discussions, he feels the council will decide to pay in the extra money to complete the renovations laid out by an architect already.
“I think we’re all on the same page. We just have to work out the numbers,” Ramage said.
Thomas said the library, which is in an old home, is in need of some foundation work and extra space.
The city has already worked to make foundation adjustments, to compensate for the extra weight of books.
“It’s a lot of weight on the residential flooring,” Thomas said “It wasn’t constructed for it.”
The proposed budget includes an extra $150,000 on top of the grant for library improvements, though it is not a final amount.
If extra money is put into improvements it will have to be borrowed, Thomas said.
And though a project has already been drafted by an architect in early planning stages, Thomas said the figures may not be accurate anymore.
The council will meet Tuesday, but the next budget hearing will be held Wednesday at 4 p.m. in City Hall.