Commissioners Updated on Southern Branch Plan
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Commissioners Updated on Southern Branch Plan

Prince Frederick, MD - 3/28/2012

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By Marty Madden

Southern Library project manager Anita Jones
Southern Library project manager Anita Jones

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I don’t want you to be sloppy but I want some sense of urgency.”

Commissioners’ President Jerry Clark tells staff to work on getting the Southern Library in Solomons ready to open before 2013.

Calvert County Government and Library officials provided the county commissioners with an update on the plan to convert a defunct Solomons grocery store into a library branch. The update was delivered during the county commissioners’ Tuesday, March 27 meeting. The board president made it clear that he does not want to see the project languish.

Last September, the commissioners approved a $947,000 budget adjustment for the retrofit project at the old Woodburn’s Food Market. The board subsequently awarded the design contract to Gant Brunnett Architects of Baltimore.

The library located in the vacated storefront would replace the current Southern Branch, which is located at Southern Community Center in Lusby. The county’s long-range plan is to build a new, permanent library branch within the Lusby Town Center.

The current Southern Branch is 3,250 square feet and serves 400 customers a day. The new branch in Solomons would be almost triple that size—9,200 square feet.

“It meets the needs of a modern, contemporary library,” said Calvert Library Director Patricia Hofmann, who explained the new location would have additional computers, a children’s area, study rooms and a “living room” for customers to use to enjoy the facility’s amenities.

Project manager Anita Jones said the new branch would have lots of colors for “pizzazz.” A lot of the interior will be highlighted by purple, the official color of the library system. The new Southern Branch will have a “nautical theme.” Additionally, windows on the north side of the store unit will be installed.

Hofmann added that the Calvert Library Foundation is conducting a capital campaign in order to purchase furniture for the new location.

“I’m glad you thought outside the box and it’s not real vanilla,” said Commissioners’ President Gerald W. “Jerry” Clark [R].

Jones said the construction project will be ready to go out to bid in June and the new branch should be ready six months after the work begins.

That latter estimate did not please Clark. “Let’s get this thing up and going,” said Clark. ‘Time is knowledge so let’s get it done. I don’t want you to be sloppy but I want some sense of urgency.”

Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com


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Comment On This Story!

jaybirdNot Logged In
 3/28/2012 at 8:14 AM
Remember we don't have money
To spend a million dollars on another library at this time is completely inexcusable. WE just did the new library in Prince Frederick. We have learned that the state wants to drop the teachers pensions on the county and we need to stop this project. Jerry Clark is yelling speed it up and we better be yelling call it off.The commissioners are being totally ridiculous.The saddest thing to see is the Calvert school being demolished on Rt4 because of their decisions.
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CRE-GuyNot Logged In
 3/28/2012 at 9:55 AM
Good ole boy politics
Not to mention ... who own's the old woodburns ?? The Same person who couldn't get a liquor transfer .... Check it out... Good ole boy politics ... It is being leased for a sweetheart deal.... for the owner.. not Calvert County.
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Stop_itNot Logged In
 3/28/2012 at 10:21 AM
Exactly
The current library building is paid for and owned by the county... Yet... The commissioners in their infinite wisdom want to spend nearly a million dollars to "retrofit" a leased building that benefits the owner of that building, all the while spending over $100,000 a year for rent!

What we have here is Commissioners helping out an old friend by fixing up his old and worn out building, and we get to pay for it... for something that is doing just fine in its current location.
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Rocco1Not Logged In
 3/28/2012 at 11:11 AM
REALLY???
Calvert County employees haven't had a step or cost of living for over 5 years because "there's no money in the budget" yet the Commissioners were able to find 1 MILLION dollars for another library?? Wow, way to show your loyalty to those of us who have "done more with less" for years.
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bambam3631Not Logged In
 3/28/2012 at 5:21 PM
This is ridiculous!
Are you kidding me commisioners? You're going to spend nearly one million dollars to renovate a building that's going to serve as a temporary library until you can build a new one? Instead of dumping money into this project, and continuing to waste money at that poor excuse for a golf course that you own (just sell the land and cut your losses), how about giving the county employees their step increases for a change instead of throwing money down the drain and claiming that the county "doesn't have the money". You have enough money to waste on the aforementioned projects, and you always seem to find the money to give teachers their steps and cost of living increases (I don't recall the teachers being denied their step or COLA increase in recent memory). Enough is enough. Stop the good ol' boy politics and start treating people the way they deserve to be treated.
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LostCauseNot Logged In
 3/28/2012 at 7:42 PM
Reply to bambam3631: Typical goverment move.
I have to agree with all of the above comments. Every county employee has been forced to do more with less, be it county roads, waste management, deputies, corrections, office workers etc... No steps or Colas (sorry .5 percent) in 5 years and they have been told do not expect any in the next couple years either. Gas over $4.00 a gallon, groceries cost more, etc.. But to spend the tax payers mony on this project is poor management of our finances. To bad it has already been approved. I expect our taxes to be raised as soon as the county picks up the teachers retirement plan, though when I asked a teacher about that, they were fine with a tax increase as long as it means they get their steps. One of the richest counties in the united states, yet they would rather "hook up" a commisioners freind then take care of all the employees who help make this county a great place to live. Remember this in 2014!!!
NGarrettCalvNot Logged In
 3/29/2012 at 9:50 AM
Please take another look at the Library project
I can appreciate your comments and certainly the tone across the Country is less waste from Government, but there are facts you should be aware of that may influence the way you feel about this project. Firstly, the construction of the new library South County had been in the budget for several years and was deferred as a result of the recession. This temporary location is a great solution that is based on public demand for the services of the library. Over a million items are circulating each year and that is rising. Citizens use the library for internet access, to look for jobs, and an endless list of other important services. For a while we even had a social security kiosk. Further the department of labor has praised libraries in Maryland for their role in helping people find jobs. This expansion is necessary and based on market demand, not government frivolity. The current branch is shared space and totally and wholly inadequate, too small, and limits the range of services we can provide the community.




Secondly, on the matter of frugality! I serve on the library board of trustees and I can tell you with certainty that our director works her fingers to the bone, and we work to advise with the wise use of each dollar as a motivation. In some years when there was money left over, instead of a mad dash to buy senseless inventory we returned money to the government. I agree in principle with each of you, but the library project may be a victim here of our overall scrutiny toward where government is going right now. This is a wise use of dollars where the free market in Calvert County is saying "we want more library services" and the government is providing them. This new library is for you, and your children, and your family. It is not a free-for-all of spending and ill conception. The commissioners should be praised for this one. Overall they have shown that they are fiscal conservatives and this was a wise investment in the intellectual development of the county's families. Yes gas prices are high and jobs are down, but this project was all in the works well before those instances occurred this time.




Rest assured, every dollar here will be used with sense and serving you and your family in mind. As for this being a "good old boy deal", that would mean each of us involved were compromising our ethics at no benefit to ourselves or our community, so one individual who owns property can make money? That just does not add up. We care too much about our libraries and our citizens for that. Please reconsider your assessment of this project. I am willing at any time to speak with any of you personally on the matter and provide data showing why this branch expansion is necessary and of important function. I consider it a great honor to serve our community in this capacity.

Nick Garrett
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Stop_itNot Logged In
 3/29/2012 at 8:50 PM
Reply to NGarrettCalv: Biased
Oh please Nick... put the cool aid down. You can't see the forest through the trees. There is nothing wrong with the library where it currently is. Bottom line, we are throwing money away on a building we do not own as opposed to saving that money for building our own library building or for some other needed expenditure.

Oh, and please explain why this wasn't a burning issue until McKays went under and that building became vacant. You are full of bovine excrement.


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