This meeting was attended by Former Pleasant Valley Supervisor Penny Hickman, State Assemblyman Marc Molinaro, and Millbrook architect Ed Loedy from the advisors. Library Building Committee members in attendance were Pleasant Valley Library Trustees Dave Kruger, Steve MacNish, Kathy Morris, and Bryan Bunch and Pleasant Valley Library Director Daniela Pulice. We also had a visitor, Kay Shaeffer, who is a Library Director in Illinois. We met from 4:00 pm to about 5:30 pm.
The Library Committee thanked Marc Molinaro for his contributions in the form of member items in the past year, which helped pay for our new sidewalk along the side of the building and will also help pay for redoing the floor downstairs, which is sufficiently uneven to constitute a safety hazard.
We discussed possible funding sources for future expansion of the Library building. Molinaro reported that the legislature has just approved the Dutchess Local Development Authority, which is designed solely for the purpose of lending construction money to nonprofits in Dutchess County. Hickman pointed out that the library can obtain a Community Development Block Grant of up to $150,000, repeatable in a second year in the same amount if needed, to improve handicapped access. The Library committee noted that we had previously received a positive reception from the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation for a grant for handicapped access. It was believed that the Reeve Foundation might contribute as much as $200,000 to improve access with an elevator and other improvements.
Molinaro said that the annual $14 million for library construction awarded by the State was going to continue annually despite the financial problems of the State and that we should be applying for part of that every year. Also he urged us to apply for a direct U.S. earmark with Congressman Scott Murphy as soon as possible--deadline for next year is September. Congressman Murphy has already earmarked funds for two libraries in his district.
The Library building needs many changes to be fully handicapped accessible. Not only does the building need an elevator that would reach the second floor, but also the ramp and side door need to be rebuilt completely. Inside the Library building the doors are too narrow, and the Library does not meet handicapped requirements for space between the stacks or for their height. Also, the Library does not have a handicapped-accessible restroom.
Even though Loedy thought we might be able to build an elevator by itself for as little as $100,000, it was clear that we had many needs for the handicapped that would require considerable amounts of money to fulfill. Penny urged the Library to hire a grant writer to help us achieve the financial support necessary--perhaps the same one that the Town is currently using.
The suggestions for handicapped improvements were based upon improving the existing two-story building that was formerly the Manse for the Presbyterian Church and that was converted to Library use in 1972. Although the Library has recently invested perhaps $100,000 already in improvements to this building, and simply to make it handicapped accessible would require twice that much investment or more, it was not clear to the group that keeping the present building was the best solution for modernizing and expansion.
One idea suggested by Hickman was to tear down the existing building but make a new building match the outer appearance of this one. Loedy said we might keep the front and driveway side intact as facades and slip a new building behind them. He plans to work with the Library Director to produce sketches of the building with a separate elevator and a one-story addition with a larger footprint to replace the present one-story addition that houses the stacks. Also Loeday will look at what might be done to replace the two-story building and maintain its appearance.
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