DATE: February 28, 2017
TO: Board of Supervisors
SUBMITTED BY: Kelley Worman-Landano, Interim County Librarian
SUBJECT: Highway City Community Development-Library
RECOMMENDED ACTION(S):
TITLE
Provide direction to the Interim County Librarian on the Highway City Library Development project in Fresno County.
REPORT
The recommended action will provide direction to the Interim County Librarian on how to proceed with a Highway City Library Development project. The proposed project will include a 99-year lease for a vacant lot to build a new library with a one-time payment of $150,000. In addition, the project would include the use of 500 square feet of building space in a new community center to house the book collection that is currently located in the library in the Teague Elementary School campus until a separate 5,000 square foot library building is constructed on the vacant lot.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no Net County Cost associated with the recommended action. The County will use Measure B Sales Tax and Property Tax Revenues to fund the one-time payment of $150,000 for the Highway City Library Development Project, if approved by your Board. The construction of a new building would likely require the use of various funding sources such as Measure B Sales Tax Revenue, Property Tax Revenue and possibly General Fund in amounts yet to be determined based on the cost of the library building. The Library does not anticipate completing the construction of the new library for 5-7 years.
DISCUSSION:
The Highway City Community Development (HCCD), a 501(c)(3) private non-profit organization, works in Highway City and the surrounding communities to stimulate economic development and improve infrastructure through collaboration with businesses, government, churches, individuals, non-profits and the Central Unified School District. The HCCD is working with the Fresno Housing Authority, Granville Management and architects on plans for a Highway City Community Development project (Community Project) near Highway 99 and Shaw Avenue. In July 2016, the HCCD approached the former County Librarian regarding the Community Project and proposed to include a new library in the project. Construction of the Community Project will be completed in approximately 6-7 years.
The current library that services the Highway City community is a joint use facility located on the Teague Elementary School campus. This library facility provides limited services to an otherwise underrepresented area of Fresno, but only after the school day is complete, or when school is not in session. This library’s public hours of operation are Tuesday and Wednesday from 3:00 p.m-7:00 p.m. and Saturday from 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. On June 3, 2014, your Board approved agreement No. 14-291 with the Central Unified School District (CUSD) for the joint use of the school library ($0). This agreement will expire on June 30, 2017, and contains three one-year automatic renewals through June 30, 2020. The agreement may be terminated with a 60 day advance written notice from either party.
Upon completion of the new community center, HCCD has offered to provide the Library with 500 square feet of building space within the new community center for a small library that would replace the library on the Teague Elementary School campus until the new library is constructed. The Library proposes to terminate the CUSD lease agreement and move the book collection located at Teague Elementary School into the 500 square feet of space in the new community center.
HCCD has offered rights to the Library to occupy property on the vacant lot if your Board agrees to a 99-year lease and makes a one-time payment of $150,000 upon execution of the agreement. After the $150,000 payment is provided by the County to HCCD, there will be no monthly rent associated with the agreement for the vacant lot, the temporary space inside the new community center, or the rights to construct the library.
The one-time payment of $150,000 obligates the County to construct a new library in the vacant lot adjacent to the Community Project under the 99-year lease. The new facility would essentially mirror the size and design of the proposed Community Project. If approved, HCCD would include the construction of all City required infrastructure, i.e.; curb, sidewalk, gutter, drainage, parking, and ingress and egress drives as part of its proposal for the construction of the new library.
The Library currently seeks direction from your Board on the following:
1. Enter into negotiations for an agreement with HCCD to lease the existing vacant lot with a monthly rent of $0 with rights to build-to-suit a 5,000 square foot building, a one-time payment of $150,000, and option to lease space inside the community center with a monthly rent of $0;
2. Amend or terminate current agreement with CUSD for the relocation of the current co-located library at Teague Elementary School and enter new lease agreement with HCCD for temporary location in the new community center until a new library is constructed;
3. Enter into discussions for the construction of a new library to be designed and paid for by the County at a future date, utilizing the leased lot space; and
4. Negotiate centralized parking in a joint use agreement for Library’s use.
In preparation for such a project, the HCCD has already expressed interest in conducting the environmental site assessment and has agreed to pay for the cost of such an evaluation as the vacant lot is owned by the group.
Of note are the benefits that the community center and proposed library (two buildings) would have for one another. As a community center, the HCCD project will bring together a vast array of services that complement the area and Library functions. At the same time, the two buildings would be joined by a walkway creating a sense of unity among all parties and services provided. Another added benefit for the Library is the potential to use the community center for events, programming and meeting space, thus allowing the Library to focus its dedicated building to features such as an Innovation Lab, extensive teen area and children’s reading/manipulative learning area.
It should be noted the Library will bring an item to your Board for a proposed agreement with a vendor to conduct a facilities needs assessment for all of the library branches. The Library has completed the competitive bidding process and is currently negotiating the agreement with the vendor for services. The assessment will be completed in approximately seven months.
REFERENCE MATERIAL:
BAI No. 41, June 3, 2014
ATTACHMENTS INCLUDED AND/OR ON FILE:
Community Center Site Plan
Highway City Community Center Floor Plan
CAO ANALYST:
Samantha Buck