Corbett unsure how City Council will vote on library site

Mayor Ron Corbett on Friday said he has no idea how the nine-member City Council will vote later this month on the site for a new $45-million-plus public library.

For his part, Corbett has publicly said he would like to see the city's new library built on the block that used to house the Emerald Knights Drum and Bugle Corps - between First and Second Avenues and Seventh and Eighth Streets SE.

On Friday, though, Corbett said he is eager now to hear why the library board gave the Emerald Knights' site the most backing a month ago, and why on Thursday board members - who stated a 5-3 preference followed by a unanimous formal vote - ranked the Gazette Communications block as its first choice, the Emeralds Knights block as second choice.

The library board will present its recommendation on the library site to the City Council at the council's Wednesday meeting. Corbett said the council is now scheduled to choose a site two weeks later.

“Certainly, the library board has done a lot of work,” Corbett said Friday. “And I'm sure the council will lean heavily on the board's recommendation. At the same time, I think the council will want some explanation of why they picked one site and not another.”

Corbett said some council members continue to support a third library site, which houses TrueNorth's offices on Fourth Avenue SE directly across from Greene Square Park. But he added, “I don't know how deep that support is.” The Gazette Communications site, between Second and Third Avenues SE and Fifth and Sixth Street SE, faces the park on a diagonal.

The City Council also is in the process of making decisions about locations for a new Intermodal Transit Facility and, possibly, for a new Central Fire Station.

In recent weeks, council member Tom Podzimek, for one, has suggested that the Emerald Knights site would be a good place to rebuild the Central Fire Station, and Fire Chief Steve Havlik this week said that site is one possibility. The city, though, still needs the Federal Emergency Management Agency's approval to move the Central Fire Station, and Corbett noted that FEMA has turned down the request twice.

For his part, Corbett said he does not think possible locations for a fire station or bus depot should factor in a decision on the library.

Corbett said there are “strong” arguments for each of the three library sites and nine “independent thinkers” on the council to sort the arguments out.

Once the council picks a site, he said the city will then continue to negotiate with the property owner on a price. The selected site will need the blessing of FEMA, which will be paying part of the library's cost.