Grand Forks' park board has a deal for the city: Free land for the city's proposed library in exchange for help paying for sewers and waterlines at the district's new wellness center.
Details of the deal are in a letter board President Jim Bollman sent to City Council President Hal Gershman on Thursday. It'll be discussed at 5:30 p.m. today at the council's Finance Committee.
The Service Committee will weigh in at its meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Library officials are working to put on the ballot a new ½-percent sales tax over 5½ years to build a replacement library estimated to cost $18.8 million. That's just the building, though. Officials had fretted over the cost of the land at two sites they favored, estimating that either one would add at least $1 million to the cost.
The Park District board had informally offered to host the library at the site in the far south end where it's building a $23 million replacement wellness center.
ADVERTISEMENT
So, here's what it wants in return:
First, the city would pay for $1 million worth of sewers, storm sewers and waterlines. Second, the city would use its bonding authority, which gets it a lower interest rate, to borrow $1.5 million on the Park District's behalf, which the district would repay over 25 to 30 years.
The city would get five acres for the library north of the fitness center, between 40th Avenue South and 47th Avenue South. It would also get land to extend 40th Avenue from Ruemmele Road to 38th Street South, where the district will be building a park. That's in the area south of SuperTarget.
Other sites library officials are considering are the old Leevers supermarket on South Washington Street and a site by the old Rex electronics store on 32nd Avenue South. Officials liked both sites, in part, because they would give the new library high visibility, encouraging more usage.
They had previously ruled out the wellness center site because it's so far to the south and harder to reach for patrons in the north end and the center of the city, though they acknowledged that, when the present library was built near today's Grand Cities Mall, it was at the southern edge of the city, as well.
The library was built 37 years ago and is one of the busiest in the state. Its supporters say it's too small, but officials, citing consultants, say renovation would not offer substantial savings over building new.
Reach Tran at (701) 780-1248; (800) 477-6572, ext. 248; or send e-mail to ttran@gfherald.com .
