Library expansion depends on funding

I would like to respond to some recent articles that were written about the library location in Kalispell. I was on the Flathead County Board of Trustees for more than 10 years, so I know the background of the library system.

When the original study was commissioned several years ago, each library was analyzed and it was agreed that Bigfork, Columbia Falls and Kalispell were going to need additional space to meet long-term needs. Whitefish had recently built their building, and it was deemed adequate for the next few years.

The board conducted a retreat. Flathead Valley Community College president Jane Karas offered us land for a library building, and we looked at two sites on their campus. The college said the land would be a gift, not a sale. We also met with the mayor of Kalispell, but she stated that the city did not have any money to help us.

The library in Kalispell does lease the current building from the school district but do not pay any rent to them. We do, however, pay the utilities, and the lease runs until 2024.

When the original owners of Tidyman's came to the board with an offer, the price was $4.5 million, and that included all of the area around the building. They also offered to lease it to the library for $20,000-plus a month. We inspected the building and realized there would be a huge expense just to do a remodel. There is no money in the library budget to pay rent, nor was there any way to meet any loan payments.

There is some money in the Lagoni Trust, but it's to be used for a building. I believe they only have about $300,000 left of these funds. One of the board members approached someone in the financial community about making a loan to purchase the property, but he wasn't successful because we had no assets to pay rent or a mortgage payment. Consequently, we did not make an offer on the property.

The board went to the county commissioners about two years ago to discuss a bond issue, and we were told quite emphatically that before they would even consider a bond, a considerable amount of funds would need to be raised in the community. It is now two years later, and as far as I know, nothing has been done.

The Tidyman's building was then purchased by WM Capital, and they came back to the board with an offer to sell the building but keep the surrounding area for themselves. Their asking price was $4.75 million, without most of the land. This was much less desirable than the first offer and, again, the same problem exists — there's no money available for a purchase.

The environmental problem never was downplayed by the original seller, but evidentially the board found out more about it from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. I believe if DEQ won't sign off in writing that the site is not contaminated that we should not use taxpayer money for any purchase. But the question is moot — even if the site was acceptable, there is no money to fund it.

There is however, an alternative that I have always felt will meet the needs of the community without the expenditure of millions of dollars:

1) The school district wants to move out of the Kalispell location, and we could purchase the present building. This would give an additional floor for library use, and administration could move up there. This would also save moving costs.

2) Purchase two homes and make library parking. That has always been the complaint about the present site.

3) Investigate installing a drive up window in the alley, and allow patrons to call ahead and up pick books during a specified time.

4) Make all of the libraries branches with equal rights.

5) Investigate a library in Evergreen at some future date.

By taking these steps, we can save Flathead County taxpayers money as well as meet future expectations.

Marge Fisher lives in Whitefish.