By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com
The Yachats City Council gave the go-ahead Wednesday night to a $370,000 project to expand, remodel and furnish the city’s 46-year-old library.
The city will use $60,000 from its capital improvement budget, and authorize spending $100,000 of a bequest to the library from the Hall family. The rest of the money — $210,000 – is planned to come from various grants, fundraising and individual donations, according to a funding plan submitted to the council.
The library on West Seventh Street was built in 1973 and is now considered too small to hold all its books and many of its programs.
The city will invite bids on the project Aug. 2 and then have a five-member committee review and rank proposals. Library Commission chair Marv Wigle and facilities manager Heather Hoen said they planned to have a contract for the council to approve in November.
Once the bidder is picked and work is scheduled, Hoen would like the work to be finished within six months, hopefully by May 1.
Hoen told the council she doesn’t want the project dragging out over an extended time, often the case with local, coastal projects.
“May 1 is a tentative date, a hopeful date,” she said. “It will be a difficult date to meet, but the idea is to make it a six-month project.”
Wigle said the library would have to close during the remodel of the main building, but not when the addition is being built.
The city had twice proposed moving the library to its newly-purchased 501 Building adjacent to the Yachats Commons, but backed off those plans when estimates to move it there topped $1 million. That left library supporters to make do with the current building on West Seventh Street or find an affordable expansion and remodel.
The proposed addition is 400 square feet attached to the east side of the library. The design shows steps leading to a patio-type entrance of double doors.
Siding would be Hardiboard lap or shingle siding. The drawing shows pillars at the front of the current library enclosed in stone, which is also on part of the addition’s siding. The project will also replace siding on the rest of the library, replace all floor coverings and paint the interior.
The proposed budget estimates $130,000 for the addition, $170,000 to remodel 2,000 square feet of the existing building and $70,000 for fixtures and furnishings.
The city is seeking a $125,000 grant from the Ford Family Foundation and $35,000 from the Collins Foundation. The Friends of the Yachats Library, a nonprofit support group, has raised $49,500 so far and is committed to raising another $60,000 via fundraising and grants to meet the budget.
“We’ve had a good start,” Wigle said Thursday. “As you can tell, we’re trying to raise more than our budgeted amount. So far it looks promising.”
In other business Wednesday night, the council:
- Announced the city’s new website would go live Monday morning. The city will still use the separate GoYachats site for getting licenses and paying taxes.
- Approved increasing insurance coverage limits involving crimes, cyber thefts and threats and general liability that will cost an additional $2,444.
- Declined to move $3,000 from the Yachats Visitors Center 2018-19 budget to its current budget so it could buy advertising on Oregon public radio starting in September. Center director Beverly Wilson said the initial advertising purchase is $4,000. Council members asked Wilson to come back with more details on the program and asked city staff to determine whether moving the money would require a supplemental budget.
