With last night’s (Tuesday) proposal to the City of Carroll from the Moehn family to gift the Commercial Savings Bank property at 627 Adams Street to them for the sole purpose of facilitating a library expansion, the city is springing into action to begin the due diligence needed in reviewing the proposal. City Manager, Gerald Clausen, said the next steps begin today.
Bank principals, chair Pat Moehn, President Paul Milligan and Vice President Ryan Milligan, along with other family members had discussed the possibility that this may be an option with city officials prior to last night’s meeting; but, no formal proposal had been presented until the full meeting of the council. Clausen said the council’s 6-0 vote approving a motion to move forward with exploring the option will not be an attempt to determine costs. That, he said, would be premature as looking at costs first or costs only does not take them through the necessary protocols.
From a professional perspective of what’s been attempted and what other possibilities are available, Clausen said at this time, this appears to be the best option they have had with wide support among the elected body. Carroll Library Director, Brandie Ledford said when she first heard about the idea, she was hesitant in getting her hopes up too quickly.
Ledford added she is very appreciative that the council is taking this to the next step in gathering more information and accepting the leadership role for expanding library services in Carroll. A remodel, she said, has the potential to save taxpayers a lot of dollars over additions or building a new free-standing library, and this is a great compromise. Ledford said, as a taxpayer and a citizen, she would favor any configuration of funding that saves taxpayers money. She is in favor of the ability to form partnerships that are key to the success of this proposal.
Ledford likens this offer from the Moehns to the work of Andrew Carnegie, who gave his own money to communities to build libraries, or as he called them, the people’s universities. It is fantastic, she said, that we have a family in this community willing to invest in education and library services. The next steps for Ledford and the library staff will be to work with city administration in any way they need to explore this opportunity and to present a report at the March 14 Carroll City Council meeting.
