10-22-12 Common Council Meeting Minutes

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REGULAR MEETING OCTOBER 22, 2012 Don Napoli, Director, St. Joseph County Public Library, 1841 N. Adams, South Bend, Indiana, stated that the Council should have received this large folder. It sums up everything that has taken place over the past fourth months. He stated that in his long 27 page letter that goes into all of the details as to what it is going to cost, why it is not redeemable, he stated that you are going to hear from one of the engineers who study the building from two different perspectives which show that there are some serious structural problems with that front façade terra cotta whether they tear it down or not. That terra cotta needs to be taken off before anything can be done, because the front wall has to be re-built. It is out of plumb, and it is so much out of plumb, that it doesn’t meet code. The building has a lot of problems and he is afraid that they are not going to be solved with just a few dollars. He stated that there solution is to take the terra cotta off, store it, take care of it, and find a way to use it later. He stated that they have an estimate of what it is going to cost to do that approximately $69,000.00. The library would pay for that cost. Deborah Futa, Assistant Director, St. Joseph County Public Library, 59866 Myrtle Road, South Bend, Indiana, advised that demolish of the Avon does pave the way for a new main library. She stated what would it take to plan a building of this magnitude. While seven years may seem like a long time to plan, but it was actually five years ago when they began to visualize a new central library for the community. Judging from Western Avenue to Wayne Street with the Michigan Street façade a newer library is poised to be the southern anchor to the downtown. Hours and hours of planning and discussion have already gone into these initial stages. It is disingenuous to believe that incorporating the Avon into the new main library would be an easy solution. To the urge to save a building with a crumbling façade and an interior that has no real redeeming features makes no sense to them. SJCPL has a history a building lively, of being good stewards of tax payer dollars. A township branch opened in 1999 it was completely paid for on the day it opened. Lakeville Branch built in 2007 was also completely paid for on opening day. Planning a new main library takes years of planning and we are in the middle of that planning right now. She stated that their goal is to be able to build a new building without an increase in property taxes. She stated that they have a history of building projects and have achieved that goal going all the way back to the 1980’s. She stated that their plan does include a bond issue for approximately half of the cost. As for the rest, they are already in the process of saving operating and capital project funds. She stated that they have established a development office back in 2011 to raise funds through donations. She stated that their mission is to continue to be this communities library. Over a half-million people still come through the main library doors every year. She stated that they have been meeting those needs for over 125 years. Much longer than the Avon with its uneven history. She stated that they are building the next generation of readers and to educate the community is a productive and engaged community. She stated that they are going be right here in down town South Bend continuing to offer our community to learn and grow for the future and continuing to help South Bend to be a vital city. Bob Masters, 211 W. Washington, South Bend, Indiana, advised that he is one of the attorneys for the library. He stated that he spoke earlier today in Councilmember Oliver Davis committee and reiterated what a privilege it was to be speaking on behalf of the Library because he is probably the only one who can say he spent his day advocating for books. There is no reason that you should know this about him, but he was an English major at Notre Dame and when he worked in Chicago, he was a reading tutor on his lunch hour and proud to say that he got his library card from the Tutt Branch when he was in kindergarten. With all that said about books, he wanted to talk to the Council about views. He stated that it was presented to you during the public comments that over 550 people belong to a Facebook group called “Save the Avon” it was suggested to you that all these people support saving the Avon. He stated that as a young lawyer you stick to what you can prove in court. If this were a court of law the evidence would be rejected as misleading and unreliable. Almost half of the people in that Facebook page were invited or added by either Historic Preservation itself who by the way created the Facebook page or its director. He asked why would he say that? Because if you are the administrator of a Facebook Group you can add people or invite them to your group and they will show up as members of your group without having to give any consent. He stated that he knows that to be a fact because he is the administrator of an alumni group for his theater group at Notre Dame and just to test this out, about a month ago he added his little brother who had no interest in our theater group and he showed up as a member of the group. He stated that what he is suggesting to the Council is that statistic showing all these people supporting “Save the Avon” is 13