Council to discuss how to proceed in planning for a new library
After the Porterville City Council hosted a joint meeting with the City’s Library and Literacy Commission on November 10, the Council will now discuss how to proceed in the planning of a new library facility and the creation of a Library Foundation that can be used to help raise money for the future establishment on Tuesday night at the regularly scheduled meeting for the dais.
From the November 10 meeting, it was determined that the next steps in the process for the planning of a new library should include the establishment of a Facility Planning Committee, conducting a Needs Assessment and the potential creation of a city-sponsored Library Foundation non-profit organization.
According to the staff report attached to the agenda for Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, the formation of a Facility Planning Committee would aid the Council as an advisory board through the process of planning, while also being able to assess the community’s needs for a future library. The committee is proposed to be made up of a member of the City Council, a Library and Literacy Commissioner, city staff, Friends of the Library members and various members of the public. City Council has directed that there should be at least one member of the dais on the Facility Planning Committee, and that there should be a ratio of no more than one city staff member for every two non-staff committee members.
As for the Needs Assessment for a future library, staff has appropriated $75,000 from insurance proceeds to be used for the conduction of a Needs Assessment. The last Needs Assessment, conducted in 2010, concluded that the new library facility should be anywhere from 48,250 square feet to 53,000 square feet in size, and esti
mated construction costs to be anywhere from $20 million to $25 million, with annual operating costs estimated at $2.7 million
Part of the Needs Assessment process is the hiring of a consultant. The consultant who performed the Needs Assessment in 2010 is no longer in business. The new consultant would be asked to work with the Facility Planning Committee and document the Committee’s findings, process and recommendations in a written report, which the Council would use to help guide their decision making.
The Council previously approved, as part of the City’s Capital Improvement Project Program, a budgetary estimate of $32.5 million to cover the cost associated with the construction of a new library facility. It seems safe to assume that the insurance proceeds would cover no more than the value of the 17,784 square foot former facility, making it likely that the City would have to provide additional funding to support the construction of a new and larger facility. The formation of a Library Foundation could help in generating funds to help cover costs.
The formation of a Library Foundation was an expressed request from the Library and Literacy Commission. If approved and created, the foundation would be a non-profit organization that could raise money and support for library services, while securing a financial future for the library. The Library Foundation would be different from the Friends of the Library organization as it would include non-library users, as well as regular patrons, to promote and increase awareness about the library. The Library Foundation’s primary purpose would be “to secure financial and in-kind donations for programs, services, collections and capital projects,” according to the item’s staff report.
The Council is being asked to provide direction to city staff on the formation and composition of a Facility Planning Committee and the formation of a Library Foundation, and to approve the hiring of a consultant to perform the Needs Assessment in a cost not to surpass $75,000.
In addition to the discussion about the future library planning process, the dais will also discuss the creation of amendments to the city’s cannabis regulations to allow for a 100 percent locally owned retail cannabis dispensary in the future, while also accepting and establishing the cannabis tax rate at 7 percent by Resolution.
On November 3, the voters of Porterville approved Measure R which established a cannabis tax rate not to exceed 10 percent of annual gross receipts per fiscal year. The Council must now establish a Resolution with a specific tax rate, and staff is suggesting a 7 percent tax rate to be effective January 1, 2021. The 7 percent was defined after the Cannabis Ad-hoc committee compared cannabis tax rates in the area, which averaged at five percent. The Committee suggested the seven percent tax rate because the City of Porterville is larger than the jurisdictions in which they compared. The Council must set the tax rate by Resolution once they have agreed upon a sufficient rate.
After receiving some backlash for not choosing a wholly local applicant to receive any of the available cannabis retail operating permits, the Council will discuss amending sections of their city code to allow for a 100 percent locally owned cannabis dispensary in the future.
For anyone wishing to submit comments to be read aloud by cit staff, please email them to councilmeetingcomments@ ci. porterville. ca.us
This meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday evening, and can be viewed live via the City’s Youtube channel at https://www.youtube. com/ channel/ UC5KUHSRNMNL9NWHJVTNJVVA