First Civic Center Community Input Meetings Held

By Brian Hodson

Ground has officially been broken in what will eventually become our new Civic Center, housing the new library and city offices.

Last month also saw the first two community input meetings held for feedback from citizens regarding this new addition to our city. One was held at the police station, the other at Hope Village.

I thought there was some really good ideas shared about what people would like to see in the library portion of the Civic Building.  The items that jumped out for me were conversations around the study rooms as well as making sure there were several quiet reading areas for people.  

I also appreciated the people in attendance keeping a focus on supporting local, already existing, businesses.  There were pictures shown of possibly having a cafe or coffee shop included in the building.  Much of the feedback was that a cafe was not needed, with Place to Be Cafe and Cutsforth Thriftway's cafe in close proximity.  For me personally, I think a cafe as part of the new civic center in Canby would take up crucial floor space needed for library programming.

There was one key point I would have liked to have seen discussed more:  what the actual building itself should look like.  We heard about a modern look to a traditional look or even historical look to tie into Canby's heritage.  Minimal glass to lots of glass.  I am confident in the next couple of community meetings, we will sort that out.  

I was a little disappointed at the number of citizens of Canby that attended.  For our first 2 meetings, we averaged 30 community members.  With any community meeting, I always hope for more of a turnout.  With our next 2 meetings in April, I am hopeful we will have more people turnout, as those meetings will have some actual designs to take a look at.

I hope to see you at these upcoming community meetings regarding the civic center project:

Wednesday, April 8th, police station, 7pm

Thursday, April 9th, Hope Village, 7pm

Tuesday, April 14th, police station, 7pm

Civic Building Update

By Brian Hodson

Our new civic building and library is proposed for 2nd Avenue between the movie theater and the 2 corner lots on Juniper. The city has acquired ownership of the lots needed for the project.

We have chosen the methodology to build the structure by doing what's called a CM/GC. This stands for "Construction Manager/General Contractor". This method enables us to better control costs and ensure that there are no project overruns.  It also helps us meet and not exceed our budget limits.

Today, the city will officially submit an RFP (Request For Proposal) to be included in the Daily Journal of Commerce. What this means is we are soliciting proposals from potential construction managers for the project. Our submission will officially be in this journal Monday, September 15th, 2014.

We will leave the proposal process open until October 15th, 2014, at which point an internal committee will review the proposals and make a recommendation to the city council.  The internal committee is: Councilor President Tim Dale, City Councilor Todd Rocha, interim City Manager Amanda Zieber, Library Director Melissa Kelly, Library Board President Roger Reif, and (when assigned), our new city manager.

After the Construction Manager is brought on, the next step is bringing in an architecture firm to create drawings for the project.

Evolution of the Library: Your Vote

By Brian Hodson

Where are we at with the evolution of the plan for the library?  There have been many twists and turns in the past 2 years in this plan.  I've written many blog posts along the way, describing the journey that the library and the city have taken.

The most recent plan involves you, the voter. We are asking for your opinion this May as to how to move forward with the urban renewal dollars that have been bonded.  The current plan that we are asking voters to voice an opinion on is creating a civic center, which combines City Hall and the library.  Potentially, the library would be on the main floor (street level); the 2nd level would be city offices.  At this point in time, we are in the process of negotiating the acquisition of the land for this project.  The site would be on 2nd Avenue next to the movie theater.  Juniper Street would "close" and be developed as well.  Again, this is the plan and is not final.  There are no other sites at this time the city is considering.

I met with the Library Board this evening (April 8, 2014) about the upcoming referral vote on the civic center.  A robust dialogue ensued, including how to inform Canby residents of what they are voting on.

If the voters believe the city should move forward with the urban renewal dollars in this fashion, we will proceed with this plan.  If the voters are not in favor of this plan, the bonded money would be used for other projects within the urban renewal boundary.

There is a great article in the Northwest Connection, interviewing Councilor Hensley and outlining the progression of this plan.

Voter pamphlets will be mailed in early May.  The official ballot title is Measure 3-436.  The primary election will be held May 20th.  Be sure to vote!

The New Canby Library: Where We Stand

Since the posting of this Blog post it has been brought to my attention that some of my information was inaccurate around the financials of the library.  I referenced budgeted numbers as "spent" dollars which is not the case.  They were just that - budgeted.  I apologize for the incorrect reporting on my part.  Here are the correct numbers as provided to me by our Library Director:

• The total cost of the library is $7.7 million.  With a grant from Clackamas County of $1 million, as part of becoming part of the County Library District, and the $1 million committed to the new library through fundraising efforts the actual cost to the Urban Renewal District is $5.7 million.
• A preliminary architectural report was developed for the 1st Ave site that actually cost $20,800, not over $400,000 as I reported when this first went out.  According to Ms. Hummel "The purpose of a preliminary architectural report is to determine whether a proposed site is viable for the intended purpose and to provide a very rough layout of the proposed building."

I apologize for any confusion or misrepresentation that this may have caused by posting incorrect financial information around the new library.  I am confident the Architects, Engineers, and Staff will, after all the feedback they have received at the public meetings, deliver a building Canby will be proud of.

Canby is under way on the design and layout of its brand new library.  In fact, we are about to have the 3rd public meeting concerning design coming up on Tuesday February 19th at 6:30pm at our Police Station.

If you recall back about 9 months ago, I made a blog post about my position on the idea of a new library and why I voted 'No' to allocate nearly $8 Million for this project.  You can read the full posting at Urban Renewal Passes the New Library Project: My Statement and a follow up posting at My Vision for the Library.  I will provide as much background as I can on this project and some of the ins-and-outs that have gone on because it is important to lay out the details.

This huge project is a four fold project - 1) renovate the old police station and move city staff there while the new library and council chambers are built.  2) When the new library is complete, the library staff and equipment will move from its old location to the new building.  3) Their old location will be renovated and become the new City Hall and staff will move in there.  4) When all that is complete, the old police station will be demolished and become a parking lot.


I enjoy the library.  From its quiet spaces, to programming, to the number of books we have access to on site as well as those we can transfer in.  Libraries are indeed becoming gathering places for many.  They also can be cultural centers.  The Canby Library did a great workshop recently on the development of downtown.  My kids love going to the library and the park which is right across the street.  I want Canby to have a great library, one that we can be very proud of.  I want to make sure that the plan that is in place, is one that maximizes our valuable tax dollars.

We have had two public meetings so far with a third to come. Each meeting has had more and more people turnout for the meetings which is great to see.  It is nice to see more citizens than city staff and consultants.  The history of this project goes back 4+ years and two mayors ago.  Then, the project was going to be built along 1st Ave in downtown Canby.  This would place the library facing the railroad tracks and a four lane highway that goes through our town.  It was going to be designed as a single floor building.  It was pressed to add an additional half second floor to accommodate city staff so we could consolidate city operations.  The big roadblock then was the collection of properties from two owners - Canby Utility, our public utility, and an office building.  At the time, the desire was to make the entire downtown block a civic block.  With the city acquiring this land, it would mean we would have achieved this. The vote came to approve the allocation of Urban Renewal Funds, and even after the utility company stated that they were not in a position to sell the property and move, the vote went 5-2 to move forward with the design aspects.  Yes I was one of the 'No' votes.  At that point, we had spent $400,000+ on staff time and design drawings for a space that we did not have the land for.  The library did not move past design because we did not have all the land for the project.  That $400,000 was wasted.  Again, this was not what was actually spent.  The amount spent was $20,800.

So fast forward from August 22nd 2012 to now. We have moved the idea of the building to the other side of the block to 2nd ave.  Much of the reasoning is that the city owns this side of the block so we do not have secure anymore property.  The library is going to be one floor instead of two because our Library Director does not want to operate a two floor library for safety reasons and she expressed that it would be difficult to raise funds if the building was more than just a library.  Finally, it is going to be 3,000 sq/ft smaller than the previous design, which is below the size recommendation of the Oregon Library Association.  Based on the projected growth of Canby over the next 30 years, the OLA recommends that the library be 25,500 sq/ft.  Again, we have not addressed the issues from the August meeting, let alone the issues from almost 4 years ago:

1. We have not secured the land needed for the project.  As of the writing of this, Canby Utility (CU) and the City are working out 1) a land swap that would give the old police location to CU for parking of staff and the City would get the land CU uses currently for parking.  This will give the City the land for the building and for the drive-up book drop that will take them out to 1st Ave. 2) The City needs to purchase land from CU, even with the land swap, to ensure the alley way is wide enough for emergency vehicles to pass. 
2. It takes the library away from the living room of our downtown which centers around a park that takes up an entire city block.
3. The building will be placed on city owned property that should be made available for commercial development.  It is of my opinion that 2nd avenue is one of our main streets, that can really develop economically. This helps add to the tax base which we can then use this revenue to build a new library.
4. We are planning it to be too small to meet our future needs.  We are projected to out grow this new space within 10 years from when we open it and still have 10 years to pay on the debt.
5. Last year the city moved $70,000 into the library's portion of the budget to be able to meet operation costs.  These were funds that I was in favor of approving. Now, we are planning a new library which will be larger to heat, cool, provide electricity, etc.  With budgets being so tight this next year and in subsequent years, how we meet all our obligations will be under tremendous stress.
6. My predecessor spoke of "an economic avalanche of activity" from this project.  With a building project like this we should expect a tremendous ripple affect that will affect blocks around it.  I do not think the location on 2nd ave does this.

So let's take a look at what we have so far:

The initial floor plan: top is 2nd ave, Left is Holly.
Light blue at the top is the  Children's section.
The pink area to the left of the Children's Area will be a multi-purpose room
and the brown on the left along Holly will be Council Chambers.

Aerial shot.  Right to Left - Council Chambers in existing City Hall Building.
Entry way in the middle moving to multi-purpose room
then to the larger area of the book stacks and study tables.

Street level shot

This is a street level look of the corner of Ivy and 2nd Ave.
Not pictured will be the additional plants needed, bike racks,
and bollards needed for safety.

Proposed ceiling beam design.  Skylights with steel support beams.  Height is that of a story
and a half.  Designed to bring a lot of natural light.  1st meeting
designers had commented about challenges of sky lights

These are another option of steel  supports that were presented

An all wood ceiling option.  This design is a laminate wood
with steel supports.

My Vision For the Library

The library in Canby is an important issue for many voters, as it should be.  Our library needs improvements and I am looking forward to what will be a beautiful addition to downtown.  I am still receiving a lot of questions about my vote on the library and what my idea for an alternate plan would have been.

I published a complete response in regards to my "no" vote on my blog.  The reasons for my "no" vote included:  the debt load we would incur with the proposed plan, the lack of community involvement with the plan that was approved, and the location of the library tying up prime economic real estate that is close to 99E.  I urge you to read my full post.

In reality, I did come to both Mayor Carson and our city administrator, Greg Ellis, with my idea for a plan.  The library fought hard years ago for their current location on Holly and 3rd, adjacent to Wait Park.  This is Canby's living room.  It makes sense to have the library in this location.  There was structural research done on the current building and it was found to be structurally sound and could be remodeled and added onto.  There is also additional real estate directly behind the current library; I offered the idea that these properties could be acquired by the city and we could build and extend the library back.  It was also found that you could add a second level to the library. 
The most enticing part of such a plan is that we would save a significant amount of money!  We still get our new library, still take advantage of historically low construction rates, yet have a lower debt load that we can payoff quicker in the future. 

Would you still have wanted the current library project at a price tag of $8.1 million if you knew $500,000 is pulled from schools every year the URD is in place? Such funds are also pulled long after the URD ends as we still pay off the debts incurred by the URD program. 

When I brought these ideas to Mr. Ellis, he did say these could be considered.  Mayor Carson essentially had no response and did not offer the idea for consideration or push it forward in any way. 

It's also important for the citizens of Canby to understand that the mayor and city council positions are not full time, paid positions.  Yes, we have influence and we make decisions.  But our city administrator, planner, and outside consulting agencies (consultants that often do not even live in Canby) are the ones formulating the plans and policies that we then meet on and make decisions on.  While we as a council will contribute, shape, mold, and determine what is right for our community, it is important to know that there are others involved in the process.  Communication and open dialogue is crucial, so educated decisions can be made.

Impressive Community Center in Ohio

I am wrapping up my family vacation visiting family in Ohio. We are spending our last day at a wonderful community center in Middleburg Heights. It offers so much: indoor pool, outdoor pool, indoor track and workout room, 3 basketball courts, the chamber of commerce, community information, baseball and soccer fields, and a playground/ picnic area. There is also the library next door, police station, and meeting space. It's self-contained, central, and impeccably kept.

I think back to when voter's voted down Canby's park and rec district. Was it about cost? Was it about proper planning and vision? It's hard to say. I am not sure how this center is funded, but it is certainly an asset to the community.