Library proposal meets cool reception in Town of Troy

Talk about it

Talks stalled Thursday night (Sept. 11) as the Troy Town Board considered putting forth a ballot question regarding the Hudson Area Joint Library project — the measure failed to pass after a lengthy discussion.

The project involves four surrounding municipalities (the city of Hudson, village of North Hudson and the towns of St. Joseph and Hudson). Each municipality will have two ballot questions for funding in November. In order for the project to go forward, each of these two ballot questions must pass in each municipality. If a question fails in any of the four municipalities, the project could be nixed.

In addition, those involved in the $10.5 million project will need to raise at least $4 million in private funding and donations by Nov. 9, 2009, or the project could end, and this is where the town of Troy comes in.

Since the town of Troy is not part of the Hudson Library Foundation, any money contributed would go toward the $4 million donation goal. Because residents of Troy would benefit from having a relatively close library, the town was proposing a “donation” of around $300,000. The town would be looking for voter approval in November for a levy limit override in order to pay for the donation over a period of 10 years. Even if voted through, however, the tax increase may not take effect.

Just as with the library project, if any of the ballot questions in the library municipalities fail, this tax increase would not materialize. However, if all ballot initiatives pass, the town of Troy would collect the first installment from taxpayers, regardless of whether or not the $4 million private donation goal was reached. If the goal is reached, the levy limit continues for the remainder of the 10 years; if it fails, the remaining nine years would be canceled and the town of Troy would keep the first installment and use the funds for various other town projects.

At the end of the night, the Troy Town Board had to take all of these caveats into consideration and vote to continue moving forward with the proposal and put it to the voters in November, or withdraw their support for the project altogether. With two votes for, two against and one abstaining, the measure did not pass.

“I am very disappointed that we are not willing to take this vote to the residents,” said town Chairperson Ray Knapp.

Park renovation

The pavilion and bathroom structures in Glover Park will receive roof repairs this fall at an approximate cost of $3,655. The repairs will be finished before winter and may come in under cost if construction goes faster than planned.

The Park Board is also currently in the process of naming and marking trails in Glover Park. The original trail, put in by Eagle Scouts, will be named “Eagle Trail” in their honor.

Tags: news, hudson, library_proposal, troy