0823pa1process (Page 1) - Winters Express

Winters (CA) Express, Thursday, August 23, 2007 — A-7CommunityLIBRARYImage by NTD StichlerThis drawing is of the new design for the Winters joint school-city-county library, by NTDStichler architects of Auburn, under the direction of Mike Leighton. The 10,000 square foot librarywill be located on Railroad Avenue, next to the Bobbie Greenwood Swim Center. Constructionis expected to start in June 2008 and to be completed in June of 2009.Continued from page A-1~ $400,000 from the WintersJoint Unified SchoolDistrict.~ $50,000 from WintersFriends of the Library.~ $201,006 from a Winterscapital campaign.In addition, the architectsdid well in the pastfew weeks, by successfullywinning a grant of $588,000from the California StateAllocation Board, whichparcels out funding forschool site improvements.The timeline calls for designdocuments to be completedthis month, constructiondocuments to becompleted in November,and construction to takeplace June 2008 to June2009.The Margaret ParsonsTrust and Winters Friendsof the Library started theball rolling back in themid-90’s. Parsons, whomoved to this area in the1960’s, willed her estate tothe city to create a librarythat would incorporateher vision of a cozy place toread, a place for viewingnature and creating artwork,and an emphasis onreading for children.Under the direction ofMary Stevens, former YoloCounty Librarian, the cityand county embarked in2002 on a new $3.2 millionlibrary project with a programthat called for a parceltax on Winters residents,requiring a 2/3 voterapproval. The city — notjoint with school — librarywould have been locatednext to the CommunityCenter. The failure of MeasureB at the polls was ademoralizing setback forthe Friends, and a coupleyears went by untilStevens, along with CityManager John Donlevyand Superintendent ofSchools Dale Mitchell, developedthe idea of a jointschool-city library thatwould not require a tax orvoter approval.Parsons’ trustee for herestate, Theresa Sackett,disbursed the trust’s fundsto the city for the project in2003. Sackett surprised theJuly 17 city council meetingby announcing shewould be withdrawing thefunding, to protest namingthe railroad bridge for thelate Mayor J. Robert Chapman.She would have preferrednaming the bridgefor Jack Lindeman.During the public commentperiod that openedthe August 8 city councilmeeting, Ed Dawkins,neighbor and confidanteof Parsons, spoke in supportof Sackett. “The lastthing Theresa would wantto do would be to withdrawfunds from the library project,”said Dawkins, “andthe next to the last wouldbe to have these fundsplaced willy-nilly in the libraryproject without regardto the intentions ofMargaret Parsons.”Dawkins said Sackett’s“unfortunate outburst”was the last straw in Sackett’sfrustration with a seriesof slights from the city.He is concerned, alongwith Sackett, that Parson’soriginal vision not get lostas the project has grownand morphed from oneversion — Measure B — toanother – Paul Roberts’failed design – and now tothe NTD Stichler design.The Parsons funding wasthe sole source at the outset,but now is a minoritypart of the funding for thewhole project.Dawkins is forming acommittee, along withSackett, Eric Doud, DianeCary and Jeff Hesemeyer,to make sure the libraryretains the values importantto Parsons, particularlythe need for comfortablereading spaces forchildren, indoors and outside,and a place to createart as well as appreciate it.Some of Parsons’ ideasthat Dawkins mentionsmay not happen, like a coffeeshop, location next tothe gazebo that Parsonsworked for and donated to,and location on cityownedproperty. The librarywill be leasing thesite adjacent to the highschool from the school district.City Manager John Donlevymet with Dawkins,Sackett , Doud and Cary onFriday, Aug. 10.“They reiterated themoney will not be pulledfrom the project,” saidDonlevy. “They did have anumber of questionsabout how art will be incorporatedinto the library.Many of the concernswere very answerable,and some are alreadyincluded in the project.They would like thecommunity room to be dividableand have facilitiesfor teaching art. I invitedthem to attend the nextsteering committee meeting,which the architectwill attend, and I suggestedthey meet with the architectto go over things. IChamber meetings open to publicThe Winters Chamber ofCommerce meets on thesecond Friday of eachmonth at 7 a.m. in theChamber office, locatedinside the CommunityCenter, 201 Railroad Avenue.Anyone may attendChamber meetings. TheChamber is involved inpromoting local business,as well as coordinatingcommunity functions suchas the Earthquake StreetFestival and the Citizen ofthe Year celebration.For more information,call 795-2329.thought it was a positivemeeting.”It is also important toDawkins that the communityroom in the new librarybe named after MargaretParsons.Dawkins, who purchasedhis acreage on CentralLane from Parsons, said hewanted “to re-institutesome of the vision of MargaretParsons, and to gentlychide the city counciland management formaybe not getting enoughinput from citizens andvolunteers.”“What Margaret Parsonswanted,” said Dawkins,“as the biggest fund donaterin Winters history,now $400,000 plus andgrowing; she wanted a librarybuilding that was associatedwith visual artsand a warm cozy placewith inside and outsidelooks at nature.”“Margaret Parsons’ visiongot largely forgotten,”said Dawkins, mentioningthe loss of librarian MaryStevens when she retiredand the other changes withthe library design.The steering committeemeeting will take placeAug. 27, 6-7 p.m. at the WintersSchool District Officeon West Grant Avenue, andis open to the public.Planners meet TuesdayThe Winters PlanningCommission will meet onTuesday, Aug. 28 at 7:30p.m. in the council chambersat City Hall.The following discussionitems are on the agenda:~ Public hearing andconsideration of parcelmap application submittedby Thomas Pearse tosubdivide the existing8.85-acre parcel located at101 Third Street into fourlots and a designated remainderlot.~ Update from GraniteBay Holdings on WintersHighlands Subdivisionproject.Coman listed on dean’s listVasey L. Coman of Wintersis listed on the BatesCollege dean’s list as a resultof her scholasticstanding during the secondsemester of the 2006-07 academic year. To qualifyfor the dean’s list atBates, a student mustmaintain a better than“B+” average for the semester,for a minimumpoint ratio of 3.66.Coman, a first-year student,is a 2006 WintersHigh School graduate. Sheis the daughter of Robertand Elizabeth Coman.While at home in Wintersfor the summer, she wasemployed as an editorialassistant at the WintersExpress. When she returnsto school for the fallsemester, she will be servingas the news editor ofthe Bates College newspaper,the Bates Student.Find us online: www.wintersexpress.com