Joe Benetti, Mayor of Coos Bay – The exterior of our Library can be deceiving. However, as I have shared many times over the last six plus years, the foundation of our nearly 60 year old library building has failed, as was documented in a 2014 Structural Assessment, and a more recent video documentation titled, Why the Library Needs a New Building. The failed foundation has resulted in the continued settlement or sinking of the building, which is damaging the floors, walls, and roof. While there was a solution to stabilize the foundation, the necessary fix was considered extreme in cost, included long term impacts to library operations, and the that proposed fix would not address many of the other identified structural, mechanical, electrical, HVAC, and technology deficiencies, etc. Given all that and the knowledge that our current Library is located in the FEMA Flood Zone and the Tsunami Inundation Zone, the decision of the City Council in 2014 was to begin taking the necessary steps to build a new facility. I was not the Mayor at that time, nor were any of the current elected officials on the City Council back in 2014, but collectively we agree with the decision that was made by those serving at that time. The two major challenges to realizing the needed new library facility is finding a new location and obtaining the necessary funding to construct it. Several critical steps have been taken towards overcoming those challenges. Some of those steps, but not all, are listed below: The City Council created a Library Steering Committee consisting of representatives from the Coos Bay Library Board, Library Foundation, Friends of the Library, City staff, and the Council. The Committee was formed to assist the Council with the new facility planning. In addition to the Committee work, public opinions and input were solicited throughout the entire process. A strategic plan was created to identify current and future service needs which included a goal of obtaining a new facility. Hacker Architects was contracted to conduct a needs assessment for a new facility, which included identifying the size of the new facility and cost estimates. Cascadia Consulting Partnership was engaged to conduct a funding feasibility study. The feasibility study explored potential funding options which included local donations, foundation and governmental grants, and a General Obligation Bond (GO Bond). As to a location for the future library, after an exhaustive search and after taking input from the Library Steering Committee, Coos Bay Library Board, Friends of the Library, Library Foundation and the Community Coalition of Empire, a location within John Topits Park was identified. The site is outside both the flood and Tsunami zones and is owned by the city. The City Council wanted to take the opportunity to not only locate the Library outside the FEMA Flood Zone and the Tsunami Inundation Zone, but to also take advantage of the opportunity to relocate critical public safety services, specifically, the North Coos 9-1-1 Communication Center which is also currently located within the FEMA Flood Zone and the Tsunami Inundation Zone. The City hired Hacker Architects to undertake the schematic design process. The Schematic Design Report was completed and a video fly thru of the proposed new library was made to share with our citizens and potential funders. In May of last year, the City asked the voters to consider a bond measure to fund the construction of the needed new facility, which was not approved. Some who had voted against the measure shared why they voted the way they did. The reasons I heard fell into one of the following categories: Comments – In regard to relevance of the Library, our Library, not unlike libraries across the nation, play an essential role in providing a safe and accessible place where everyone can access books (both paper and digital), movies, music, public computers, internet, and public gathering space, etc. Did you know that during this past year, there were over 139,000 visits to the Library and that more than 178,000 items were checked out? Our two community meeting rooms were used for 476 meetings. In addition, many participated in one or more of the Library’s 366 programs and/or used the Library’s wireless services. As to cost, yes, building a large community facility will be expensive. I continue to marvel at the willingness of our citizens to invest in our community, which is evidenced by past ballot measures approving the building of the downtown Coos Bay Fire Station in 2008 and the Coos Bay School District Capital Bond in 2017. In an effort to lower the overall potential tax burden to our citizens, we are actively working with our state and federal elected officials in an effort to secure partial funding for the project. In addition, the Coos Bay Library Foundation has been successful in securing over $2 million dollars to date and are continuing their efforts to raise more. As to concerns over the proposed location of the new library, we heard you! As I shared last year after the conclusion of the May election, the current library facility is living on borrowed time and as such we would need to continue working to meet the need to replace the facility, which included exploring other location options. To that end, the Library Steering Committee, along with staff and Hacker Architects, conducted a library site comparative analysis of four potential sites. Two potential sites were in the Empire area, one site in downtown, and the last is located in between downtown and the Empire area. Meeting Date – Representatives from Hacker Architects will be presenting their report to the Coos Bay City Council at our next meeting on March 21, I would like to invite you to attend, in-person or virtually. The link to attend virtually via Zoom will be included in the agenda packet which will be posted to the City’s website by Friday, March 17, 2023. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. The meeting and the presentation will be available for viewing starting March 22 on YouTube. Staff will also post a link to the Coos Bay Public Library Site Comparative Analysis on the City’s website sometime next week after we receive the final report. I, along with the entire Coos Bay City Council, will be interested in your thoughts about the four different locations and the project in general. At our upcoming Council meeting we will also consider using a survey consultant in an effort to gauge public support for the options available.
