Letter: Questions library site

As I read the Star-Observer, I couldn’t help but wonder if the library volunteers are for the Nuclear Management building or for a library? The vote in April spoke to the need for a new library not a building. Will they so fervently support a different, more central location for a Library? Somehow I doubt it.

There are so many questions that haven’t been addressed by our council and the Library Board members. All I hear from our council meetings seems so inadequate for what should be “long-range planning” for such a major undertaking. I think the longest commitment I heard was for five years.

It is true that the board lost control when they allowed the volunteer board (Library Board) to go ahead with the legal obligation they got themselves into by jumping the gun into an agreement.

We shouldn’t have to bail them out any more than it was our duty to bail out the buyer of the land where the former Perkins now stands, becoming an eyesore just like the old Econofoods.

Mayor Knudson handled the library issue well and has remained open-minded. He has to have support from many to enable him to keep doing that. He has to hear from you. This is still a “majority rule” form of government. I can accept either for or against the proposed project, but underhanded tactics are something that have been rampant for the past eight years of our democracy. Let’s stop it in the Hudson area.

Mayor Knudson has explained negotiations that continue going on. He has the duty to demand “long-range plans.” If the library volunteers are allowed to coerce the council to proceed without the stipulated amount raised before proceeding by the date set, it will be a gross injustice to taxpayers and renters, who also are taxpayers.

We do need a new library and we still have time to plan for it. Let your representative to the municipalities know how you want them to vote. If you have a location preference, express it. I am sure very few feel that First Street is the best we can do. We keep spreading east, north and south.

The First Street location couldn’t have been for beauty — for about seven months of every year the trees are bare, the lake is frozen over and a warehouse is in full view. There has to be a more suitable location where a brand new building can be erected.

Tags: opinion, hudson, lettertoeditor