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Library boiler replacement one step closer
DELMAR — Bethlehem Public Library’s Board of Trustees moved to fix the parking lot, tackle asbestos removal, and push the boiler replacement forward.
Repair decisions were made seriatim at its Monday evening meeting, April 7, following last year’s failure of the nearly $37 million bond referendum for facility expansion.
The parking lot project is limited to milling, resurfacing, and repairing storm drains without any reconfiguration. Library Executive Director Geoffrey Kirkpatrick said the Town of Bethlehem, which already has the equipment and skilled labor, may be able to do the work if it has time.
Although the library would still pay for the remediation, Kirkpatrick said intergovernmental cooperation on projects like this may reduce costs and save the administrative headache of issuing a request for proposals. He said the town previously replaced the library plaza’s asphalt and “did a fantastic job.”
Kirkpatrick also reported that an RFP for the boiler repair was issued. The board agreed to Kirkpatrick’s recommendation to establish a boiler project account and seed it with $50,000 from the library’s general fund. Kirkpatrick said the $50,000 would more than cover initial administrative expenses that will soon start accruing. District Library Treasurer Sharon Whiting explained that a separate fund will make it easier to track project expenses and that once the bids are received, she can provide an actual cost estimate.
Kirkpatrick said the boiler project had been estimated in the $400,000 range, but the price tag will be unknown until bids are received. He did not know when the boiler would be replaced because the library is still “three steps” from completion, including design, construction, and state Education Department approval.
However, he said he is “pleased to see it moving along” because if the project can get going, the library may be able to apply for an energy construction grant before the deadline expires.
“I would like to get a piece of that,” Kirkpatrick said.
The board also voted to pay for these first three repair projects from the library’s reserve funds. The reserve fund currently holds about $4 million, but $1.3 million is already earmarked to cover operating expenses between June and the fall, when the school district sends tax payments to the library.
Trustee Laura DiBetta, who is running for re-election this May, said she is pleased that “now we have a plan,” and these items can be paid for from the reserve fund.
In an interview, Kirkpatrick said he hopes the reserve fund will cover these expenses. Project Manager C.J. Goodwin of Schoolhouse Construction Services, the library’s outside consultant, had projected those costs at about $400,000 for the boiler, $613,000 for asbestos abatement, and $550,000 for the parking lot repairs.
However, Kirkpatrick warned that “a lot of things are going on nationally” that could drive up costs. “There is uncertainty where boilers are built and what that will do to the price of a boiler,” Kirkpatrick said.
Kirkpatrick said that uncertainty extends to library services in general. Although not directly federally funded, he said libraries benefit from a web of interrelated systems supported by the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services, which administers grants and grant distributions to states for libraries.
“There is a lot of uncertainty about a lot of things right now,” Kirkpatrick said. “You can use the Dow [Jones Industrial Average] as an indication of that uncertainty.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a stock market index that tracks the performance of 30 large, publicly traded U.S. companies across various industries, serving as a key indicator of overall market health. As of Wednesday morning, April 9, the index had dropped in value by nearly 12 percent from the previous six months.
