Loading...
Item 13 - Response to Concerns/Questions Re: New Poway Library AGENDA REPORT SUMMARY ~ " TO: Honorable lVlayor and Members of the City Council FROM: James L. Bowersox, City Man~ - Joh. D. "<Oh, ...w.., a" Mo~"'1" ~ INITIATED BY: Robert L. Thomas, Director of Commun Servi Patrick R. Foley, Principal Management Analyst DATE: January 3, 1995 SUBJECT: Response to Concerns/Questions Regarding the New Poway Library ABSTRACT The staff has prepared the attached response to the written concerns/questions that were presented to the City Council by the Friends of the Poway Library on December 6, 1994. Staff is recommending that the City Council receive and file this report. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW This item is not subject to CEQA review. FISCAL IMPACT - There is no fiscal impact at this time. ADDITIONAL PUBLIC NOTIFICATION AND CORRESPONDENCE Additional notification sent to Kathy Shawl, Friends of the Poway Library. RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City Council receive and file this report. ACTION - 1 of 10 JAN 3 1995 ..í¿M 13 ~ AGENDA REPORT CITY OF POW A Y This report is included on the Consent Calendar. There will be no separate discussion of the report prior to approval by the City Counol unless members of the Council, staff or public request it to be removed from the Consent Calendar and discussed separately. If you wish to have this report pulled for discussion, please fill out a slip indicating the report number and give it to the City Clerk prior to the beginning of the City Council meeting. TO: Honorabl e Mayor and Members ~ City Council FROM: James L. Bowersox, City Man INITIATED BY: J,h' D. Fit,h, ,.."t"t City M"'9"~\ ~ Robert L. Thomas, Director of Communit Services Patrick R. Foley, Principal Management Analyst DATE: January 3, 1995 SUBJECT: Response to Concern/Questions Regarding the New Poway Library BACKGROUND On December 6, 1994, at a City Council meeting, Kathy Shawl, the President of the Friends of the Poway Library presented a list of concerns/questions regarding the new Poway library. The council referred this item to the staff for a response. FINDINGS Staff has reviewed the list of concerns/questions regarding the new Poway 1 i brary. The list of issues presented by the Friends included the operating costs of the new library, staffing, revenue sources for the new library, the library CIP budget, and site plan issues. The staff has addressed all the Friends concerns/questions regarding the new 1 i brary in the attached report. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW This item is not subject to CEQA review. FISCAL IMPACT There is no fiscal impact at this time. ACTION: )) 2 of 10 JAN 3 1995 1¡i:M 13 - ~ Agenda Report January 3, 1995 Page 2 - ADDITIONAL PUBLIC NOTIFICATION AND CORRESPONDENCE Additional notification sent to Kathy Shawl, President, Friends of the Poway Library. RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the City Council receive and file this report. JLB:JDF:RLT:PRF Attachment: 1 - Response to concerns/questions regarding the new Poway library (C, IOATAIAGENOAI",SPONSE. LIB) - - JAN 3 1995 ITeM 13 3 of 10 - MEMORANDUM CITY OF POWAY To: Kathy Shawl, President of the Friends of the From: James L. Bowersox, City Manager Initiated By: John D. Fitch, Assistant City Manage~lr- Robert L. Thomas, Director of Communit Services Date: December 20, 1994 Subject: Response to Concerns/Questions Regarding the New poway Library The following preliminary response has been prepared to address the written concerns/questions that were presented to the City Council at the December 6, 1994 meeting: 1. A. What are the operating costs for the current library? Total Salaries and Benefits = $190,B59 (B positions totaling 251 hours per week) Services and Supplies Facility costs 62,330 Books 37,177 Automation 22,947 Minor equipment 604 Maintenance of equipment 1,316 Fixed assets 0 Miscellaneous 20.239 Total Services and Supplies $144,613 Allocated Expenses Technical services 26,330 Undesignated Administration 40,131 Children's/outreach 9,6B5 Substitutes 6,302 Branch operations 27.916 Total Allocated Expenses 5110.364 Grand Total $445,835 City/County Tax Base $311,544 City Revenue 61,929 County Cost For Branch 445,B35 Net County Cost $ 72,362 If Allocated Expenses are excluded and just Salaries and Benefits, and Services and Supplies are included, the annual budget would be $335,471, which would equal approximately $67 per square foot for the 5,000 square foot facility. With a $445,835 budget, the cost per square foot is approximately $B9. 1. B. What will the operating costs be for the new library? Based upon the recent survey that was conducted, most of the libraries that - 4 of 10 Attachment 1 JAN 3 1995 l1í~ M 13 - - Memorandum - Kathy Shawl, President of the Friends of the poway Library December 20, 1994 Page 2 reported operate at an annual cost of somewhere between $30 to $60 per Bquare foot. Using this method as a tool to compute library operational costs, the annual operational cost of a 20,000 Bquare foot library could vary from $600,000 to $1.2 million. However, the best way to determine the cost of operating a library iB to determine the hours of operation, the level and nature of the Bervices to be provided, the number of books to be purchased, etc. There iB no hard and fast rule that applies to operating a library. The annual cost of operating the library iB going to vary based upon the amount of BerviceB that are provided. It iB like asking what is the cost of operating a city with a 50,000 population. The costs vary considerably based upon the services that are provided and the level of the services. The City of poway Library Master Plan which was prepared in 1990 by the McKinley Group in conjunction with the Cordoba Corporation discusses Beveral options relating to the cost of operating the library. In addition, in February of 1992 David Smith, the City's Consulting Librarian, prepared a brief report regarding the cost of operating a library. 1. C. What would the operational costs of the library be if: 1. We joined the City of San Diego? 2. We joined the Escondido library? 3. We became a City of poway library? 4. We rely heavily on volunteers to help staff the library? The cities of San Diego and Escondido have indicated some interest in talking to the City of poway about contracting for library services. However, neither San Diego nor Escondido can indicate what it will cost to operate the library without the City of poway first providing them a list of the hours of operation, number of employees, services to be provided, etc. If a request for proposal was prepared that requested other agencies to Bubmit a proposal based upon defined hours of operation and levels of service, the costs of contracting could be determined. It can be assumed that if the level of service that would actually be provided at the poway library (i.e., non-regional BerViCeB) were to remain the Bame aB iB currently being provided, the costs would be Bimilar to the County' B cost of providing these BerviceB. 1. D. What are possible library revenue generators that could be located on the library Bite? 1. Chamber of Commerce? The Chamber of Commerce currently leases about 1,100 square feet at approximately $0.60 per Bquare foot. Their Executive Director has indicated that the Chamber' B maximum need, and what they can afford, is approximately 1,500 Bquare feet. If additional Bpace iB provided in the library, some of it could be leased to the Chamber of Commerce. 2. Daycare Center? There has been no demand, that we are aware of, for an additional daycare center in Poway, nor has any kind of market analysis been performed. However, a market analysis could be performed if the City Council voted to authorize the JAN 3 1995 ITaM 13 5 of 10 Memorandum - Kathy Shawl, President of the Friends of the poway Library December 20, 1994 Page 3 expenditure of staff time or city funds to determine the demand for an additional daycare center. It should be noted that a new daycare center recently opened at the southwest corner of pomerado Road and Twin Peaks Road (Camino del Norte). The new daycare center is still seeking students. 3. Regional Transit Center? In December, 1992, a poway Transit Needs Study was prepared for the Metropolitan Transit Development Board (MTDB). In that analysis, the Western Lumber site was considered but received the lowest ranking of the sites considered. 4. Community meeting rooms/telecommuting center? The Library Master Plan already provides space for community meeting rooms. These spaces could be rented out; however, it is doubtful that they would produce any real income. Staff is currently researching available funding sources for a telecommuting center that could be located in the library. The cities of Chula Vista and Coronado have recently helped to establish telecommuting centers in commercial areas in their cities; however, neither of these centers are revenue producers. The City of Encinitas recently received a grant from Cal Trans to conduct a feasibility study for a telecommuting center. 5. Community Information Center? The City is proposing that an information kiosk be located in the library. The City of San Diego has one located in its Mira Mesa branch library. The kiosk could provide residents and visitors with a wide variety of information about the City's community services and upcoming events. Funding for the kiosk could be allocated from the PEG money provided to the City by Cox Cable and Southwestern Cable TV; however, this would not provide a revenue source to offset the cost of operating the library. E. What other monetary sources for the library are available? 1. Endowment fund? The City Council has established a library endowment fund with a $400,000 allocation from the Long's Drug Store. Other donations, such as $100,000 from the William Crawford Trust have been received as well. The fund has accrued interest in the amounts of $28,222.96 for Fiscal Year 1992-93 and $26,906.67 for Fiscal Year 1993-94. It is estimated that an additional $30,000 will accrue to the endowment fund during the current fiscal year. The endowment fund should have a balance of nearly S587,000 by June 30, 1995. 2. City of poway? Beginning in Fiscal Year 1990-91, the City Council has annually allocated funding for the poway Library. These funds have been allocated based upon recommendation from the Library Advisory Committee for a variety of library materials and services. The Library Advisory Committees recommendation for Fiscal Year 1994-95 was $61,929. The City Council approved the Committee's recommendation for a children's librarian (30 hours, $30,958); McNaughton Book Collection ($7,231); UMI: newspaper abstracts, general periodicals; LA Times and New York Times on microfilm ($15,840); reference book update ($5,000); and upgrade of hardware and JAN 3 1995 rr¿M 13 6 of 10 - Memorandum - Kathy Shawl, President of the Friends of the poway Library -- December 20, 1994 Page 4 software ($2,900). It is anticipated that any increase in the cost of operating the poway Library will have to be borne by the General Fund of the City of Poway. D. We must have a viable plan in place - we cannot become another Vista!! Prior to the City Council authorizing the construction of the new library, it is proposed that the City have a fully executed facility use agreement with the County. The facility use agreement will clearly state the duties, responsibilities, and costs that each jurisdiction will be responsible for in operating the new library. The agreement will cover the staffing level, hours of operation, book budget, building and landscape maintenance, and other operating cost issues. F. Should the sheriff's substation, a nonrevenue generator, be on the same site as the library? The City Council's original plan for purchasing the Western Lumber site was to locate the library on the back four-acre portion of the property and sell off the two acres of commercial property fronting on poway road for $1 million. The Library Advisory Committee and the poway Road Specific Plan Committee have recommended locating the library on the front portion of the property along poway Road to provide a civic presence for the library. The site plan considered by the City Council at their November 29, 1994 meeting showed the library on the front portion of the property with the City recouping the $1 million through the sale or lease of a portion of the property to the County for a sheriff's substation. The City Council will determine whether or not the library will be located on the rear or front portion of the property, and if any other facilities will also be located on the site. The City Council will consider several alternatives for locating the library on the Western Lumber site at a Workshop Session scheduled for January 12, 1995. The proposal regarding locating the sheriff station on the Western Lumber property was not made in order to generate revenue for the operation of the library. 2. OTHER QUESTIONS A. Originally, approximately $1. 5 million of the $4.75 million allocated for the library was targeted for land purchase. Since that's the amount paid for the land, why is there still a need to get some of it back? In 1992, the City purchased the Long's site for S1. 6 million. The shopping center owner filed suit against the City and, as a result, the library was precluded from locating in the Long's building. In 1993, the City purchased the 6-acre Western Lumber site for Sl.4 million. The City Council's intent was to charge the library project $400,000 for the back 4-acres, and to recoup the remaining land cost by selling the 2 acre commercial property fronting on poway Road for Sl million. B. Can the library go on the existing pad? Yes, if approved by the City Council. JAN 3 1995 ITì:;W 13 7 of 10 Memorandum - Kathy Shawl, President of the Friends of the poway Library December 20, 1994 Page 5 C. Where is the money coming from to pay the library consultant? Wouldn't it be better to have someone who is located in California? The funds to pay for the library consultant to assist the staff and Library Advisory Committee in analyzing the cost for operating a 20,000 square foot library will come from the $4.75 mill ion library project budget. The cost estimate for the services of Consulting Librarian David Smith range from $1,965 to $3,180. The range of cost will be affected by the level of detail, discussion, and revisions to various operating cost alternatives. David Smith, the Consulting Librarian, was originally selected by the Library Advisory Committee because of his extensive library experience throughout California and the United States. He has worked well with the original Library Advisory Committee in developing the spacing allocation plan for the library and providing the Committee guidance and recommendations on a wide variety of issues relating to the interior design layout, staffing, and other operational features of the new library. D. How much interest has the Endowment Fund earned? The Endowment Fund earned $28,222.90 in FY 92-93; $26,906.67 in FY 93-94; and is estimated to earn $30,000 in FY 94-95. E. Fund-raising. How much money has the City given to the cost of fund- raising for the Performing Arts Center? The City provided $325,000 for the poway Center for the Performing Arts fund- raising campaign. $125,000 for the consultant; $100,000 for fundraising expenses; and $100,000 for the opening of the Performing Arts Center. The $325,000 was repaid to the City as a result of fundraising activities conducted by the Arts Alive Foundation. F. Possibility of expanding into Marsh's. 1. If we push for this, will we end up delaying the new library indefinitely? The City Council has allocated $4.75 million for the design and construction of a new 20,000 square-foot library. No funds have been budgeted to expand the existing library in the Lively Center into the adjacent commercial space. The County staff was requested to consider increasing the space for the existing library when they negotiate a new lease in the Lively Center. Evaluating the feasibility of expanding the existing library space into adjacent commercial space in the Lively Center will not delay the new library project. At this time, neither the City nor the County have funds budgeted for the additional costs that would be associated with increasing the leased commercial space for the library. However, there would be costs associated with refurbishing the facility so that it could be used for the library. If the expanded area was used only for a short period of time it may be a waste of these funds to expand the existing library. In addition, it could be perceived as relieving the necessity to build a new library. 2. Could interest from the Endowment Fund be used for this expansion? Yes, if approved by the City Council. G. What about the $50,000 the County is spending for the lease for the current library? Does the City have a written agreement from the County yet JAN 3 1995 rrèM 13 8 of 10 - Memorandum - Kathy Shawl, President of the Friends of the poway Library December 20, 1994 Page 6 stating that the $50,000 will stay with the poway Library? No, the City does not have a written agreement from the County stating that the $50,000 will stay with the poway Library. This issue and many others concerning staffing levels, hours of operation, building maintenance, and other operating cost issues must be negotiated with the County. All these issues, when negotiated, will be contained in a facility use agreement between the City and the County for operations of the new poway Library. However, it is not anticipated that the County will attempt to delete this funding from the library budget. H. Why isn't there a big sign on the new library site indicating that it is the home of the new library? At the request of Mayor Higginson, there will be a sign on the Western Lumber site within a short period of time. Staff is soliciting proposals for a 32 square foot free standing sign that will be located intl1e Western Lumber parking lot "djacent to poway Road. The sign will read, ,fJl:*ti#~~.i!;!!R;tI~!iþ!!;lf!ì!oigi:¡i.¡å,i P.!;Þtå,:.ti. It is anticipated that the sign will beiriþla.c", by. thê...",nctë:if . . . . . Dec.eÏÌlber, 1994. 3. WHAT THE FRIENDS HAVE DONE/ARE DOING/WOULD LIKE TO DO D. At the request of the Old poway Railroad group, and with the approval of Ladonna Green and Bob Thomas, we attempted to open a Friends bookstore in the - Porter House. We spent almost $200 on materials for bookshelves, rounded up volunteers, only to discover that, due to disagreements among the members of that organization, we still have S200 worth of lumber (cut specifically for that site), we still have volunteers, but we have no bookstore. The Poway-Midland Railroad Volunteers would be willing to renew discussions with the Friends of the Library on locating a bookstore within the Porter House or another suitable location in the park. City staff is available to facilitate this discussion. E. We would like to see one of our members, Sue Sheldon, working with City staff to obtain the answers to some of the above questions. Sue has the necessary knowledge about libraries to know what questions to ask, what information is needed. For example, we learned that staff was contacting some other libraries in the area to determine their operating costs, but they were not asking the right questions (like how many hours each library was open each week). Input from any individual or representative of a citizen's group with suggestions or comments on the operations of a new library is appreciated. The City Council has appointed a Library Advisory Committee to specifically deal with issues relating to the new library. Staff is currently researching information on library operational costs and, in the near future, a draft report will be presented to the Library Advisory Committee for its review and comments. The staff will incorporate the Committee's comments, suggestions, or other citizen input on this issue into its final draft report. The final draft report will be presented to the Committee prior to consideration by the City Council. All Library Advisory Committee meetings are open to the public. Citizens are encouraged to attend the Committee meetings. The dates of Committee meetings are posted in the library and at City Hall. F. We would like to be given regular updates on what is happening with the library, which could be included in our newsletters. 9 of 10 JAN 3 1995 ri ¿NI 13 Memorandum - Kathy Shawl, President of the Friends of the poway Library December 20, 1994 Page 7 Various issues relating to the new library are presently being considered by the Library Advisory Committee and by the city Council/Redevelopment Agency. The Friends of the poway Library have two members on the Committee, Joye Davisson and Kathy Shawl. Once a decision on the library site plan has been made by the City Council, the committee will begin working with the architects on the library design process and schedule. JLB/JDF A: \LIB1.JDF 10 of 10 JAN 3 1995 rri:;V¡ 13