Libraries up for vote

A $33.4 million bond measure next month would put a new library at the heart of the city center Spokane Valley officials hope to establish.

The March 11 ballot proposal also would provide a new library at the eastern end of the city, on Conklin Road, and would expand the Spokane County Library District’s Argonne Branch in Millwood.

About two-thirds of the money – $24.9 million – would go for a new 58,600-square-foot Spokane Valley branch at the site of what is now the University City Shopping Center.

The new library would have more than twice as much space as the existing Spokane Valley Branch at 12004 E. Main Ave.

Built in 1955, the current library was more than tripled in size in 1986.

The site isn’t large enough for further expansion of the two-story building or for the extra parking that would be needed, according to Michael Wirt, library district director.

He said focus group interviews and a couple of telephone surveys showed Spokane Valley residents wanted a convenient location, quiet areas for study and more space in a new library – more space for materials, for computers and for children.

Public access computers are “wildly popular,” but take up a lot of space. The current library has no room for more computers or anything else, Wirt said.

But the new library would add more than 30 computers as well as an auditorium, more room for children and youth reading areas, more parking and 52,000 additional books, discs, “audio books” and other materials.

For that to happen, though, voters must approve two ballot items in the March 11 election.

First, they must agree to form a special taxing district within the county library district. The Greater Spokane Valley Library Capital Facility Area would include Spokane Valley, Millwood and surrounding unincorporated areas.

A simple majority would establish the taxing district. Then voters could pass the bond measure if at least 60 percent of them agree.

Should the district be formed and the bond measure fail, voters could be asked one more time to approve the bonds. Then the district would be dissolved automatically.

Wirt said consultants consider the new Spokane Valley main library crucial to the success of the city center project. The center also would include a new city hall as well as commercial development.

“We were very much courted and encouraged to be part of the project,” Wirt said. “Plus it’s the right place to be if that’s going to be the downtown center of Spokane Valley.”

The project’s central corridor, featuring a tree-lined boulevard strip, will lead straight to the new library.

Wirt said city center consultants were impressed that the existing Spokane Valley branch library passed about 300,000 people through its doors last year.

Spokane Valley residents love their library if their 86.9 percent support for rejoining the county library district in May 2005 is an indication. The vote came two years after the city was incorporated and city officials weighed the possibilities for providing library service from the city budget.

Wirt said library district officials were starting to plan a replacement for the already overcrowded Spokane Valley branch when the city was formed in 2003. That planning was placed on hold while city officials decided whether to take over.

The library district served Spokane Valley on a contractual basis in the interim.

In rejoining the library district, city residents agreed to pay an additional property tax up to 50 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value. Because of tax-limiting initiatives, this year’s actual rate is 45.3 cents.

A quick tour of the Spokane Valley Library Wednesday afternoon didn’t bode well for the bond measure even though the parking lot was full. A couple of users said they came from other counties, and several said they didn’t know much about the proposal.

“I probably should, but I don’t,” one woman said.

Jacob Rice said the new Spokane Valley branch would be closer to his home. But the existing library is more convenient for siblings James and Jasmyne Galvin, West Valley High School students who come to the library every day to study.

Spokane Valley resident John Young thought replacing the library was “probably not a good idea.

“I like the way it’s set up right now,” Young said. “I like the location.”

The 20-year construction bond measure would cost an estimated 25 cents per $1,000 for residents of the Greater Spokane Valley Capital Facility Area – about $50 a year for the owner of a $200,000 home.

Plans call for selling the old Spokane Valley library after the new one opens in late 2010. An appraisal about a year ago set the value around $1.5 million, Wirt said.

If the bond measure passes next month, design work could start in April and construction could be under way in May or June of the coming year, Wirt said.

Preliminary design work has already been completed, and the library district recently signed a deal to buy 3 1/2 acres from University City Inc., subject to passage of the bond measure.

No additional land is needed for the planned 2,000-square-foot expansion of the Argonne branch at 4322 N. Argonne Road, where the library district has its headquarters. The expansion would make room for more public computers and some of the 10,000 new materials the bond measure would provide.

The new 15,000-square-foot, $7.3 million library on Conklin Road, just south of Sprague Avenue, would open in mid-2011. The two-acre site has already been purchased.

A study that became part of Spokane Valley’s comprehensive plan identified a need for a library at the eastern end of the city to serve the Greenacres and Veradale areas. The new branch also would serve unincorporated areas around Liberty Lake.

Wirt said the Greater Spokane Valley Library Capital Facility Area boundary includes designated “urban growth areas” and other nearby unincorporated areas.

Officials looked for a logical boundary that follows the boundaries of other taxing districts wherever possible and doesn’t split land ownerships, Wirt said.

The capital facility area would be the second within library district. The first was used for the Moran Prairie Branch that opened two years ago at 6004 S. Regal St.

Capital facility areas are independent units of government, administered by county commissioners until bonds are paid off. Interlocal agreements allow library districts to build and operate branches they will own when capital facility areas are dissolved.

Spokane County commissioners put the Spokane Valley Library Capital Facility Area proposal and bond measure on the ballot at the request of the Spokane Valley and Millwood municipal governments.

John Craig may be contacted at 459-5429 or johnc@spokesman.com.