Ross Officials Base Vote on Wrong Info as Debate on Library Funding Continues

A vote that the Ross Township Commissioners took Tuesday to try to re-negotiate a shorter contract term with the Northland Public Library Authority was based on inaccurate information,

Commissioners voted, 5-4, to try to open discussions with the library board and its four partnering municipalities to revise the term of the contract, which officials said Tuesday locked them into funding the library for a minimum of five years before they could withdraw, if they so desired. 

According to the contract, however, any of the five municipalities may withdraw from it and the municipal authority overseeing it by giving three full years advance notice in writing to each of the other municipalities. 

"They have to give three complete years of notice of withdrawl," said Sandra Collins, executive director of the library, who provided a copy of the contract. 

Ross officials said Tuesday that a two- or three-year agreement was the goal they sought through their move. 

"It seems to me that no one should have a complaint," said Commissioner Dan DeMarco Thursday, after Patch contacted him about the contract's terms. 

DeMarco is the commission's representative on the library board and was the one tasked Tuesday with discussing the decision with leaders in the boroughs of Bradford Woods and Franklin Park and the townships of McCandless and Marshall.

"It's a moot point in terms of wanting to open up and amend the agreement," DeMarco said. "We'll kind of look foolish, to tell you the truth." 

Commissioner Lana Mazur, who requested that the board seek a different contract term, could not be reached Thursday by phone. 

Mazur and DeMarco were two of the five votes in favor of renegotiating.

Commissioner Grace Stanko, who also voted in favor of doing so, said she did not have time to discuss the issue Thursday. Commissioner Gerald O'Brien, the fourth vote, could not be reached by phone. 

Commissioner Chris Eyster, who provided the fifth vote, said the length of time given to withdraw from the agreement didn't particularly matter. 

"I think it's an exercise in futility to convince them to change the contract," he said. "That would be against their legal interest." 

Rather than go back and forth with the library over the terms of the agreement, he said he would prefer to focus on 

"Soon, I'll have something for the board to consider," he said. 

Ross, McCandless, Franklin Park and Bradford Woods formed the  in 1967 (Marshall joined in 1988), and it has been operating under its current funding agreement since 1993. 

Each municipality contributes to the library's operating costs each year based on a proportional formula that factors in population, assessed property valuation and circulation and usage of the library from each area. 

Ross has budgeted $404,346 for 2012, down from $426,321 in 2011. 

Total municipal contributions budgeted for 2012 are about $1.4 million of the overall $2.4 million budget, the same amount as 2011 and 2010. 

Ross Township's portion of the library's funding is about 29 percent of the total municipality contributions and about 17 percent of the library's overall budget.

"We have worked very hard to provide services to Ross Township residents," said Cynthia Potter, the president of the library board.

Providing the bookmobile service and a book drop-off box at the Ross Township Community Center are two recent additions of service. The library has also been seeking to set up a satellite branch in Ross. Earlier this year, library officials asked the board if the library could use a room in the community center for a satellite branch. The request has not yet been definitively answered.

"If Ross would change its funding to the library, we would not be able to maintain the services we have now, let alone expand," Potter said. 

This is not the first time the Ross Township board has discussed withdrawing from its agreement to fund the Northland Public Library — or considered putting the question of continued funding to a vote.

In 2009, the board explored the idea of withdrawing funding after the bookmobile service in Ross was threatened, publishing a notice in the Ross Record to tell residents that they could still use the library even if Ross stopped making its payments. The idea was tabled, and a subsequent attempt to place a referendum on the ballot in May 2010 ultimately failed to get the board's support. 

In 1998, they also sought to withdraw funding but reached a settlement with the library instead.

Eyster, who was also behind the 2010 referendum attempt, said he believes it's the best way to end the yearly dilemma the board faces with the question of the library funding. 

"I have more confidence in it now than I did before," he said. 

DeMarco said he, too, believes the only way to put the question to rest at the board level is to finally put the question before voters. 

"New year, same debate," he said, adding that the board has been through this enough times to know to expect a negative public reaction to the idea of cutting the funding. 

"Is it something the taxpayers really want? I'm convinced it is," he said. 

"I would like to put the issue to bed," he said.