By: Jennifer Potash
The Princeton Public Library Board of Trustees is hoping the Princeton Borough Council and the Princeton Township Committee will sign off on its proposal for a new three-story building on the existing library site, with an estimated cost of $17.5 million.
The trustees are scheduled to meet with the Borough Council and the Township Committee at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Borough Hall.
The library is seeking the joint approval of the governing bodies so that the $551,000 for architectural fees for building, design and construction drawings authorized by the Princetons in April can be released, said trustees Chairman Harry Levine.
To get to that point, the governing bodies have several issues to work through including how the two municipalities will initially finance the estimated $17.5 million project; the status of the library’s fund-raising effort; the use of the Valley Road building as a temporary location for the library during construction; negotiations with Public Service Electric & Gas Co. over the environmental cleanup of the site; and the library’s plan to manage patron parking in the Park & Shop lot.
By law, the library needs all the money up front to sign a construction contract. With that in mind, that plan is to have both municipalities put up the entire cost of the library through short-term bond anticipation notes and have the library reimburse the municipalities for its share, as its pledges come in over the next three years.
To this point, the library has raised about $1.2 million, which will go towards paying the cost of the temporary financing, said Borough Administrator Robert Bruschi.
Based on the cost-sharing formula between Princeton Borough and Princeton Township, the borough will initially pay $5.27 million but that sum will be reduced to $2.6 million for its share of the library, Mr. Bruschi said.
The township is estimated to pay $11.73 million, but that figure will decrease to about $3.9 million.
The Borough Council on Tuesday authorized Mr. Bruschi to amend the borough’s long-term debt-management plan to include the temporary financing of the library, pending final review by its Finance Committee.
The library is expected to give the two municipalities a report on the status of its fund-raising efforts at Monday’s meeting.
As both municipalities jointly own the library property, any environmental remediation of the site by Public Service Electric & Gas Co. will require an agreement from both municipalities.
Mr. Bruschi said the borough has come to a "handshake agreement" over an offer by PSE&G and is in the process of finalizing it.
The utility previously offered a choice of excavating about 80 percent of the Park & Shop lot or demolishing the existing library and removing about 20 percent of the soil from the parking lot.
From the mid-19th century to the early 20th century, the library site and adjacent Park & Shop lot were the site of the Princeton Gas Works, which converted coal to gas to provide street and residential lighting. As a result of the process, residue from burnt coal, including tar, was left behind.
Providing parking for library patrons has been a sticking point throughout the expansion discussions.
Members of the Township Committee have repeatedly said they will not authorize their share of the expansion costs unless parking is made available at an affordable rate near the library for patrons from the township.
The Borough Council agreed in May to the library’s request to provide 85 parking spaces for library patrons within 400 feet of a new library.
The library trustees were instructed to develop a parking plan based on the assumption that the Park & Shop lot remains in place. During the last joint meeting in June, the parking plan was taken off the table for more revisions after suggestions from the borough engineer.
