County board weighs in on library options
By Deb GauMARSHALL - Now that the Marshall City Council has weighed in on possible options for a new Marshall library building, the Lyon County Board decided to follow suit.
At its regular meeting Tuesday, the board discussed straw votes taken by the city council at its Aug. 11 meeting, and what they would be willing to support in a new library construction project. conducted its own straw votes to establish what commissioners would be willing to support on the project. The votes said a majority of the board would support the library moving ahead with a smaller $5 million construction plan and contributing additional funds or a loan to the library to help pay for construction. However, the commissioners were more divided on the latter proposal, splitting 3-2 in favor of additional funding.
The straw votes weren't official resolutions, but did give commissioners a chance to give their opinion on the library.
In the results of the city council votes, council members had said they would support a $5 million construction plan, but split over bonding for additional funds.
"If Marshall isn't willing to bond for it (the new library), I don't see why we should," said commissioner Phil Nelson.
County board chairman Rodney Stensrud said he thought the library board might still be looking for the county to put extra funding into the construction project. A possible option commissioners discussed was giving the library additional funding or a loan. Some said they would be alright with a temporary boost in contributions to the library, for example, an additional $144,000 spread over 12 years.
Commissioner Bob Fenske said he thought proceeds from the sale of the old library building could be used to help reimburse such a contribution. However, he said, "I don't think we can make a motion yet."
In the straw vote, commissioners were unanimously in favor of the $5 million library. Commissioners Fenske, Steve Ritter and Mark Goodenow were in favor of giving additional funding to the library for construction, and Stensrud and Nelson were against.
In other business, the board discussed the possibility of increased safety measures at stop signs at county intersections. Lyon County public works director Suhail Kanwar asked for feedback on the idea of placing rumble strips in front of stop signs on more county roads. The measure might be one way of preventing people from running stop signs. However, Kanwar and county board chairman Rodney Stensrud said doing so means the county would have to identify all possible placements for the strips, instead of just picking one or two "problem intersections."
Kanwar said he "would advise against" a full threat assessment, since there are more than 500 stop signs on paved roads in the county. It would cost about $25,000 to engrave rumble strips and an additional $5,000 to $10,000 each year to maintain them.
The strips also have noise drawbacks, Kanwar said. The sound of a vehicle going over the strips can be heard up to a mile away.
Lyon County Sheriff Mark Mather said when the sheriff's department receives safety complaints about a stop sign, they will usually send officers to wait near the sign and ticket stopping violations.
"I believe enforcement is good," Mather said. However, he said, "There are problem intersections," including the intersections of County Road 6 and County Road 9, County Road 24 and Highway 59, County Road 10 in Cottonwood, and County Road 7 and Highway 14.
"I'm okay with the idea" of rumble strips, Mather said, "but there are other factors we should look at." He suggested that the sheriff's department could do some stop sign enforcement studies in September.
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hj1234
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08-21-09 11:42 PM
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With an approved New Library set at 5 mil and Carr giving 2 mil and various other monies,,before people contributing who live in Lyon county. It looks like it would be well under one hundred dollars per person in the county. For a brand new public Learning Facility that should last the next hundred years,,,seams like a "No Brainer that it should be built. Even Now more than ever during this economic crisis,,the jobs it brings to build it and then when its done and I can’t afford my personal computer any more or the expensive cost for monthly high speed connections, everyone can go there and use the state of the art “New Library’s System” It really makes a lot of sense to build this now more than ever.
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56two58
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08-20-09 9:31 AM
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I should add - and in the face of the current situation (economic conditions, the status of this project, etc.) - I insist that it should be the public officials' responsibility to clearly demonstate or quantify this need or demand prior to acting on it with tax-money.
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56two58
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08-20-09 9:30 AM
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momtotwo - I don't think it's about me and 9 other people on the forum. I think it's about the thousands of residents in the area that haven't donated to the project - if it was that needed & was a solid plan, the money would be there. Your opinion is just like mine - representative of 1. We need a survey to truly see how the community feels overall. My guess is the survey will show an overwhelming lack of support for publically financing a new library.
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bucketfoot
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08-19-09 8:54 PM
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Hasn't the library board already done a survey?
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bobdole
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08-19-09 4:34 PM
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Mommy: You are right I do think about beer alot. But i also enjoy some liquors, such as morgan and ect... but as long as I can have a drink, I am fine with the new libary.
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momtotwo
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08-19-09 4:10 PM
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56two58 - just because 10 people who comment on this forum don't agree that a new library should be built and Bobdole likes to think about beer 24/7 - does not a plurality of the vote in Marshall make - Marshall needs a new library.
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ruralroute
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08-19-09 3:48 PM
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Why doesn't Bob "I have been in office far too long" Fenske just retire. Any time that guy can spend someone else's money, he jumps at the chance.
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bobdole
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08-19-09 2:05 PM
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They really just need to build a bar. that will make more people happy.
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56two58
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08-19-09 11:21 AM
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The Commissioners and Council members are out of touch with their constituents on the library issue. It is clear this project needs a formal study or survey to see what the people wish with their tax money. It’s embarrassing and alarming how these elected officials are only representing individuals and/or small pockets of our community on this issue.
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EdmundFitzgerald
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08-19-09 10:18 AM
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Couldn’t have said it better myself, Ranger dude. Hem, haw. Hem, haw.
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rangeral
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08-19-09 9:26 AM
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Nothing like decisiveness!
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