Trotman willing to consider new talks with township
By: Nick Norlen
Borough Mayor Mildred Trotman conceded Thursday that an end to subsidized parking for library patrons could be the cause of a continuing decline in use of the Princeton Public Library.
The mayor also said she was open to a new round of talks with Princeton Township to see if the agreement under which the cost of the parking subsidy was shared by the two municipalities could be restored.
"I don’t think the borough is opposed I’m certainly not opposed to revisiting discussions with the township if they have a mind to. Because we didn’t initiate a stoppage of this, but we can’t afford to pick up the whole tab," she said.
After saying she wanted to see additional information to support the library’s case that the sharp drop in usage was a direct result of the new parking situation, Mayor Trotman received such information at Tuesday’s board of trustees meeting.
She said Thursday that she doesn’t plan to request any additional information.
A discussion about the impact of the canceled parking subsidy on library usage was postponed due to the lack of a quorum at Tuesday’s trustees meeting only four members were present, and a fifth was reached by speaker phone simply so the board could vote to pay the bills.
But a chart showing a growing decrease in café sales over the last four months was given to the present board members, including Mayor Trotman, Township Mayor Phyllis Marchand and board President Katherine McGavern.
The chart shows significant drops in café sales from January to April compared to figures for the same months in 2006 culminating in a 24 percent difference between April of 2006 to 2007.
Prior to Tuesday’s meeting, Mayor Trotman said she would like to see additional information possibly in the form of data on the library’s recent revenues rather than head counts.
"They say it’s down just show us how. That’s all," she said. "I believe it’s down, but it could be any number of reasons."
But Mayor Trotman sounded less skeptical when she responded to the café data Thursday.
"We did ask them if they could share with us some documentation, which might help to prove that use was down because of a lack of parking," she said. "Whether or not I can relate that directly to the fact that the two-hour parking is no longer there, I don’t know."
But when asked her opinion on whether the connection between the two occurrences is a cause and effect relationship, Mayor Trotman said, "I certainly think it could be."
Library Director Leslie Burger said prior to Tuesday’s meeting that she believes the parking situation caused the drop in usage, based on "the fact that it dropped precipitously that very same month" that the parking subsidy ended, in February.
She said the discussion scheduled for Tuesday’s meeting would reveal the trustee’s plans for any actions to deal with the usage drop.
"They’re all concerned about it," she said. "I can’t say what we’re going to do. What we would like to do is start the conversation or reopen the conversation if possible."
Mayor Trotman has said that she wants to do just that.
However, Mayor Trotman said she doesn’t expect a meeting to take place before the July 17 library board of trustees meeting due to both the scheduling conflicts caused by vacations and the fact that she has not "reached out to the township specifically."
She said she is leaving it up to the township to choose the "time or place."
"I’m ready," she said.
Mayor Marchand could not be reached for comment.