At a meeting of the Library Community Center Comprehensive Site Plan Ad Hoc Committee, City Manager Todd Heilman presented three scaled options for a combined library and senior community center and reviewed cost estimates and next steps for community outreach and council consideration. "We were seeing numbers coming back that were pushing $60,000,000 for the new library," Heilman said, adding the city asked the consultant team to develop lower‑cost alternatives so council would have realistic funding choices.

The committee heard a needs assessment and program sizing from Vicky, the project consultant, who said planners used a 2045 city population projection of about 30,000 and recommended that "a modern full service library" would be about "20 to 30,000 square feet" if built as a standalone facility. Andrea, the project designer, presented three facility/site strategies: Option A (renovation of the existing library, senior center and 1930s community room, about 27,000 sq ft), Option B (renovation of the historic wing plus new construction, roughly 27,000 sq ft but with improved layout), and Option C (new construction, about 40,000 sq ft, with expanded program spaces including a fitness/dance room and maker space).

Consultants gave detailed cost models with ranges to reflect design choices, escalation and contingencies. In second‑quarter 2025 dollars, the low/high ranges presented were approximately $18.8 million–$22.6 million for the renovation option (Option A); $32.8 million–$37.1 million for the renovation + addition option (Option B); and $47.5 million–$53.8 million for the largest new‑construction option (Option C). The consultants also escalated those figures forward (at 4.5% per year) to show mid‑range future costs: roughly $21.0M–$25.3M (A), $36.6M–$41.4M (B), and $53M–$60M (C).

Heilman and committee members repeatedly framed the project in the context of an urgent capital need for city streets. Heilman told the committee the city estimates it needs "somewhere in the neighborhood of 75 to 80,000,000 dollars" over a multi‑year period to address street repair and related infrastructure, and that local annual gas‑tax returns and other small local revenues yield roughly $1.5M–$2M a year — enough for routine maintenance but far short of full reconstruction needs. He said the city has received a charitable gift of about $2.5 million that could be applied to the library as part of a funding package.

Committee members and staff discussed tradeoffs: whether to ask voters for a combined streets bond that includes a smaller library ask, to seek separate measures, or to scale the library to a middle option. Andrea noted the three options are scalable and the team can craft intermediate program sizes between the low and high proposals. Multiple committee members emphasized the need for clear, realistic budgets before presenting a ballot measure and for community outreach to test voter tolerance for property‑tax or bond measures in 2026.

The consultants described assumptions built into the budgets: 4.5% annual escalation, a 10% construction contingency for new construction and 15% for historic renovation, allowances for furniture/fixtures/equipment and technology, and soft costs for design and permitting. They warned that historical renovations carry higher risk of unforeseen conditions. The design team also highlighted program tradeoffs: in the 40,000‑sq‑ft option the project could add a fitness/dance studio and creative arts space; in smaller options those program elements would be reduced or omitted.

Committee direction included continuing refinement of the preferred site strategy, further work on the comprehensive site plan, and outreach to gauge community funding tolerance. Staff said the ad hoc committee and the full library board would receive updated material in October, and the project team would present a recommended comprehensive site plan to the city council in November. A ministerial item on the agenda — the approval of the ad hoc committee minutes from July 3 — was discussed and amended for attendance corrections.