KENNEDY - The Town Hall/Kennedy Free Library building project has been shelved.
Councilwoman Kathy Stanton informed Poland Town Board members at a recent meeting that the Kennedy Free Library did not want to pay the architect fees to develop plans for the project with no guarantee that it would be built. She said no definite plans have been made, but the library may leave the building altogether.
"So we're back to 10 years ago in time," she said.
Ms. Stanton went on to say that right now nothing was happening. She asked board members if they felt they should start a new project to address the mechanical issues and handicap accessibility of the current building. She said a committee could always be at the board meetings so the public would be informed. Kelly Snow, town supervisor, said money had been put in this year's budget for electrical work on the building. She said she felt if the town was going to continue to use the current building, some type of regular maintenance should be done on the building and the accessibility issue addressed.
Ms. Stanton said she had mentioned at the last board meeting that she wanted to "form a committee of interested citizens and knowledgeable people about what is their input on how to make the building accessible. I haven't done that, but I would be happy to go ahead with that part of it."
Councilman Terry Walker said he felt the handicap accessibility was an extremely important issue that needed to be addressed. When asked how much had been set aside in the budget, Ms. Stanton said $10,000 had been set aside for electrical work and $25,000 of the reserve fund had been set aside for the building. She said it was already late in the year and something needs to be decided soon if any work would be accomplished during this year.
After more discussion, board members said they thought a decision should wait until the library decides what they are going to do, since it will have an impact on the town's decisions. Ms. Stanton said she felt that, in the long run, it would cost both the town and the library more to operate two buildings. Board members hope to hear from library officials before the next meeting.