North Ogden Library designs ready to unveil, but skeptics abound
EDA Architect Tom Brennan shared designs for the North Ogden Library renovation during Tuesday's Library Board meeting.
EDA Architect Tom Brennan unveiled designs for the North Ogden Library renovation during Tuesday's Library Board meeting.
An artist's rendering shows how the lower level of the North Ogden Branch could look after renovation. Large tongue-in-cheek "QUIET" letters separate one area from another.
Piles of books and boxes fill sections of the unfinished basement at the North Branch of the Weber County Library Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016, in North Ogden.
Piles of books and boxes fill sections of the unfinished basement at the North Branch of the Weber County Library Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016, in North Ogden.
Piles of books and boxes fill sections of the unfinished basement at the North Branch of the Weber County Library Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016, in North Ogden.
Renderings presented to the Weber County County Library Board by EDA Architects show plans for upgrading the North Branch of the Weber County Library.
EDA Architect Tom Brennan shared designs for the North Ogden LIbrary renovation at Tuesday's Library Board meeting.
NORTH OGDEN — Months of negotiation between three northern Weber County cities and Weber County commissioners regarding planned renovation of the North Ogden Branch Library have apparently hit gridlock.
The impasse does not come without cost.
“The library board made an offer through Commissioner James Ebert to North Ogden City last fall when they wanted to stop the project – that if they wanted to ‘backstop’ the inflationary costs, then the board would delay renovating the North Branch,” said Weber County Library Executive Director Lynnda Wangsgard.
Wangsgard referred to the constant upward creep in construction costs. According to Construction Control Corporation, a 5 percent rise in inflation would mean an extra $20,833 for each month of delay; an 8 percent increase bumps that figure to $33,333 per month.
“The library can’t in good conscience delay the project,” Wangsgard said, adding that the county library board had tried everything possible to work with the cities to come up with a plan, other than losing the buying power of the bond that was part of a 2013 special election vote.
“Some people have been led to believe that this renovation is a second-class facility, when in fact it is a very robust, modern third-space library with a cafe, teen center, gallery space, multi-purpose auditorium, expanded stacks – everything a community could hope for,” Wangsgard said.
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Last summer, officials in North Ogden, Pleasant View and Harrisville teamed to oppose this fourth and final project in the library system’s $45 million capital improvement plan. Approved by voters in June 2013, the $45 million bond paid for expanded parking at the Ogden Valley Branch in Huntsville, construction of a new Southwest Branch in Roy, sorely needed upgrades and expansion at the Main Branch in downtown Ogden, and the pending $5 million renovation of the North Ogden Branch. The North Ogden branch project would finally finish the building’s basement, which for more than 30 years could only be used for storage.
The three cities opposed the North Ogden branch renovation for various reasons that included lack of parking and the fact that North Ogden officials hoped to acquire the library building to house the city’s public safety personnel, offering in trade a vacant parcel that formerly housed North Ogden’s public works.
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Twice last year the library board voted to reject such an offer, preferring to stay the course and uphold the integrity of the public vote on the bond.
But on Tuesday, Feb. 2, the issue came up again for one more round of discussion by library board members. EDA Architect Tom Brennan presented an update on design plans for the North Ogden Branch. The upshot of the discussion was that residents in each of the three cities should have the opportunity to view these design plans and also to hear their own elected officials give an up or down vote to the renovation.
“They’ve got a lot to lose here,” Wangsgard said. “It’s a fantastic facility being planned that we could afford to put in place now. I’m hoping they’ll take a look and not just go on something they’ve heard.”
But Ebert, who has served as liaison between the three cities and the library board, said stakeholders on the north end would like to see the project suspended for awhile.
“If they felt that we put this off three to five years, with the commitment that we’d fundraise and evaluate their project moving forward, they’d be more apt to be positive about that than if we were just to put our heads down and move forward,” Ebert said.
Ebert noted that he gets frequent calls from residents in Farr West, asking when they’ll get a library. Someone even donated land there.
“Farr West is extremely excited and ready to move ahead,” Ebert said.
Scott Spencer, library board chairman, said he’d have no heartache “shifting our efforts to a community that really wants it. But we had a commitment in the bond to do this project, and we have to have a real reason to not follow through.”
Spencer is scheduling public sessions in Harrisville, Pleasant View and North Ogden to allow residents to see the new designs for the North Ogden Library renovation and to also hear their own elected officials vote the project up or down.
Those city remain skeptical about renovating the existing facility.
“What I’d like to see happen is for the library board to be seriously concerned about the parking issue,” said Harrisville Mayor Bruce Richins. “The last plans that I saw were from the architect and they were going to take away a lot of the grass and lawn in front of the library and add 15 to 20 additional spaces. That is nowhere near what they need … the bottom line is really the safety of the children.”
Richins believes the $5 million could be spent more effectively by starting fresh with a new site and new construction.
Pleasant View Mayor Toby Mileski said the North Ogden Branch has the highest visitation per capita and that the north end of the county deserves to have a community-type library similar to the Pleasant Valley Branch in Washington Terrace.
“I could go either way,” Mileski said. “I’d be OK with the old site as long as it equates to other facilities in the system. And what I hear most often is that there’s not enough parking. 2600 is a busy road, and you’ve got moms, strollers and little kids.”
North Ogden Mayor Brent Taylor voiced appreciation for the latest attractive proposal, and “that there is at least the possibility of an additional phased expansion.” Design plans include a Phase 2 option with a larger auditorium and full kitchen.
“But it still does not seriously address the parking problem or long-term needs. This library is built on one of the busiest two-lane roads in Weber County with heavy commercial and residential growth in the area, and we cannot continue to rely on road shoulders as a safe parking solution,” Taylor said, adding that he believes north end officials negotiated in good faith, offering donated land and other incentives, but their proposals failed to gain traction.
Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden, said he has no opinion on the renovation.
“I did tell them that if they’re offering money to renovate and you’re turning the whole thing down; once the money goes away it goes away,” Christensen said. “If they wait for the money, they’ll probably have a long wait.”
Rep. Justin Fawson, R-North Ogden, said he hopes for a cost-efficient community-style library.
“What we’re doing is renovating a very dated building on a very small lot, and ultimately we’ll need to move that library to have enough space so it can function the way it needs to,” Fawson said. “The parking issue alone with the current library is problematic enough that it warrants a closer look.”
Fawson said he represents many who feel a better solution could be found at a lower cost.
Contact reporter Cathy McKitrick at 801-625-4214 or cmckitrick@standard.net. Follow her on Twitter at @catmck
