Community center/library site‑planning project timeline extended; public outreach to begin in April

Trustees received an update on the library/community center site‑planning project. Project staff said the timeline was revised to give more time for outreach after feedback from the ad hoc committee; the revised schedule moves the major public engagement phase to April and extends consultant work through October.

Kathy (Library staff) told the board the consultant will visit in February for staff and stakeholder meetings, the outreach display will begin in March to build awareness, and the first public community meetings will occur in April. She said the consultant emphasized allocating a full month for outreach because many local organizations meet on differing schedules and the project needs time to reach them.

Trustees discussed a goal shared by the consultant and City staff: roughly 400 survey responses is the “sweet spot” for reliable, broadly representative survey data for planning purposes. Trustees agreed that additional time and resources for outreach — including presence at concerts and summer programming — will be important to reach broad participation and avoid claims that the process was not broadly publicized.

Trustee Dean Serwin was recommended by the board to replace the trustee representative vacancy on the ad hoc committee; the board voted to recommend that City Council appoint Serwin as the trustees’ representative (City Council will make the final appointment).

Trustees and staff also discussed facility tours, targeted stakeholder meetings (Friends, senior-citizen groups) and potential additional site visits to other local facilities. No final design decisions were made; the meeting established next steps for outreach and confirmed the revised schedule.

Staff will return with outreach materials, a confirmed schedule of public meetings and the consultant’s first-round presentation materials.