The Carroll Public Library and City Hall renovation projects are gaining a lot of momentum this week, with the award of a Community Attraction and Tourism (CAT) grant of just short of a half million dollars on Wednesday morning, to the acceptance of bids and acquisition of property on Wednesday night. The Carroll City Council convened a special meeting and one attendee, Jean Ludwig, had requested inclusion on the agenda to present a letter, signed by 76 citizens.
During a previous meeting, Ludwig says the council acted as if the general public should have known that the interest was an unlisted expense over and above the bond, what fund it would be deducted from and what the rate would be. The letter also questioned the results of the referendum vote in August of 2017.
Those penning the correspondence expect that the city spend no more public money than the $3.8 million plus the $500,000 approved in the bond, including interest. Mayor, Eric Jensen, answered the interest question by saying that, by state statute, none of these types of service projects have a pre-determined rate. That is revealed when they apply for the bond and is then paid back out of their debt service levy account. Vice President of the Library Foundation, Doug Burns, asked for time to rebut. He says they have presented a piece of paper with signatures on it that signifies nothing.
The foundation also submitted a petition of 126 signatures showing continued support of the library that they collected in just a couple of hours. Ludwig was given the opportunity to respond.
The council then accepted a bid from Library Furniture International to relocate the library two times at a cost of $21,250 per move. Another bid for moving the city offices to their temporary location was accepted from Crimmins Relocation Services of Fort Dodge for $12,150, and a second bid of $9,650 when it comes time to move to the North Adams Street location. This is lower because the cubicles are not needed at the new building. They also accepted a bid of $33,908 for asbestos remediation and took formal ownership of the former Commercial Savings Bank building at 627 North Adams St.
