By Laura Lane
Christine Mack, the president of the North Merrick Community Association, attended the meeting and said the public reacted negatively to the decision, albeit quietly. A vote, quickly taken by board members, reversed the decision.
"That gave a bad taste to the whole thing," said Mack. "The public and board have the same vision for the library, which is that something needs to be done. Where we differ is the expense and what exactly needs to be done. Do we really need to knock down walls, or do we need to do the essentials?"
Board trustees announced that they had passed a resolution to maintain $750,000 from a roughly $1.2 million fund balance, a carry-over fund kept for operating expenses. That left about $450,000 available from the fund for the proposed library building project, which was estimated at a prior meeting to be $4.5 million.
"Our treasurer and attorney said that the state comptroller's office said there's a required fund balance needed to cover expenses in the upcoming year, and we believe that $750,000 will be sufficient," said Lechy. "We need the minimum of three months' cash on hand. People look at it as a negative thing, but it's really a safety valve for the public."
Mack believes the library doesn't need to maintain such a large fund balance. "We're upset by this," said Mack. "How are we going to go out and sell this to the people on the outside who don't go to the meetings when it is so high? And what kind of emergency is going to come up if the place is going to be brand-new?"
Lechy said the library has to be prepared for emergencies, and that certain items, like the plumbing under the building, for example, would not be replaced if and when the library is revamped. "The public has to understand there's a certain amount that we have to maintain or we may be deemed fiscally irresponsible by the state comptroller," said Lechy.
Trustee Bill Pezzulo said he was disappointed by the meeting. "The meeting became a loud situation; they were frustrated, and I became frustrated," said Pezzulo. "Nothing was resolved."
Pezzulo stressed that the cost of renovating the library could change in the future. He added that the board had struggled over the last month to arrive at a suggested amount to discuss with the public.
"People are saying you have this money in the bank, so why can't you use it," said Pezzulo. "Three of us took three different approaches and came out with basically the same figure. Certain individuals in the public want a figure and want it now. In my opinion, we are still collecting information and aren't even ready to finalize what will be needed for the project."
The board also announced that it wasn't accepting the architect's estimate of $4.5 million for the project and would suggest $4 million, an amount that might change.
"The board has the ability to go back after getting more information and revisit," said Peluzzo. "We have no problem doing that. But the public is asking us to commit to something we can't do at this time. We're still in the exploration stage of the project."
Mack said, "We hoped the project would be $3 or $3.5 million, not $4 million. No one left that meeting feeling good."
Comments about this story? Llane@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
