Smithers council has approved a grant application that could provide 80 per cent of funding of eligible costs to make some improvements such as energy efficiency, climate resilience and accessibility to the Smithers Public Library.
The Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program gives money to retrofit projects for existing publicly accessible community buildings.
In a report to council, the town’s Climate Action Specialist Jaima Timler said the Smithers Public Library connects our community and provides a space for literacy, learning and collaboration. Survey results from the 2016 Age-Friendly Assessment and Action Plan identified the library as one of Smithers’ most frequently accessed buildings, along with the Smithers Regional Airport.
The Town of Smithers, as the building owner, would collaborate with the library to support the grant application for planned accessibility and sustainability projects.
The proposed eligible projects include upgrading the lighting system to LEDs; updating low-flow faucets with sensors and automatic shut-offs; replacing the furnace; automating doorways and making the bathrooms more accessible.
The estimated project costs are $75,000. The town’s portion, not covered by the grant, would be around $15,000.
The town and the library have been working toward building a new library for years and Councillor Frank Wray and Councillor Laura Leonard both expressed concern about putting money into a building that would likely be knocked down once a new library is built.
However, other members of council thought the upgrades will be worth it.
“I don’t think we know when a new library is gonna get built, it may be very long time for that happens,” said Councillor Calvin Elliott. “So I think in the meantime, the building itself needs some improvements to just make it accessible and operable and maybe lower some costs in the meantime of operating it.”
Councillor John Buikema added to Elliot’s thoughts.
“I think we’ve been working on getting a new library now for close to 14 years,” he said. “And it could be another ten before we see a new library. In the meantime, I don’t feel like this is a real expensive project …. $15,000. I think we will see some returns from using LED lights instead of the present lights, etc. So I’m in support of it.”
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Director of Development Services Mark Allen assured council the building is sound, for now.
“I’m going to guess that with some of these improvements, we can extend the life to 20 years from the condition assessment that were no notable structural deficiencies, which would always be number one reason to not continue to put capital assets into a building. And that was not indicated in that condition assessment from last year,” he explained.
In the end, all of council was on board with applying for the funding.
“Sadly, we’re not in a place of building a library,” said Mayor Gladys Atrill. “And the library is a very busy place, it serves people of all ages, and I think we’re going to have to keep it functioning until we can figure out what the project is.
“So, I hear what you’re saying about not wanting to throw good money after that. But at the same time, there are costs and people that are working in there, the users plus the people actually working in the library. So I think we’re going to have to make our way through this until we get to the point of figuring out how we’re going to get a new library.”
@MariscaDekkema
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