Villadom Times Weekly Local Newspaper

Midland Park April 21, 2010 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 7 Midland Park Public Library officials are exploring various options for improvements to the building at 250 Godwin Avenue, which has not undergone a major renovation for approximately 20 years. The Midland Park Library Board has formed a Building and Grounds Committee, which is now seeking input from multiple architects. The committee is headed by Kathy Piscitello and includes Mayor Joseph Monahan, Cathy Durden, and Les Andersen. Midland Park Library Director Melissa Hughes explained that the plans are still under discussion and said that no architect has been hired at this time. “The library building has been added onto in stages over the years, and some things don’t work,” Hughes told Villadom TIMES. “For example, the elevator leaves people off in a work room – not in a public area.” Hughes said the goals for future improvements include moving toward a better layout within the building and improving staff efficiency now that there are fewer staff members. She described the potential plan as a retrofit. The director added that the library’s officials are now awaiting the borough’s budget so they will have a handle on this year’s operating costs. Hughes said a tight budget is anticipated, noting that health and pension costs will increase this year as the library is required to fund library staff members’ pensions at 100 percent for the first time. She said that increase could reach $20,000. Hughes added that the updates to the library could possibly be carried out with funds the library has saved over the years. “We’re not going to the town for money,” she said. The director added that there are no firm plans to move forward at this time, and that the consultations with the architects could lead the library to request a “master plan” that could be implemented over a number of years. Midland Park Library Board President Anne Polhemus said the Building and Grounds Committee has already met with one architect and plans to meet with another three. She advised that, over the years, barrier-free elements have been added to the library building, including an elevator Committee considers plans for library ‘retroﬁt’ installed with grant funds received by the borough. However, she said the last major project was the installation of the pitched roof some 20 years ago. All upper level windows were replaced in 2005 with a grant from Ridgewood philanthropist David Bolger and the DePhillips Foundation. She emphasized that the committee’s review of potential upgrades is an investigative effort. “Let’s explore it and look at the library as a whole,” Polhemus said of the process. “We’re not rushing through anything.” At the same time input from local architects is being sought, Midland Park’s library is also getting a boost from a “transformation team.” Library Director Hughes explained that Midland Park’s library is one of four New Jersey libraries chosen to receive a visit from a special team of consultants who provide the selected libraries with ideas to make updates and positive changes for relatively little money. A $5,000 commitment was made. Midland Park asked the team to concentrate on the library’s circulation area. The consultants recently made a site visit, and are expected to deliver their recommendations in the near future, according to Hughes. A joint effort by four area towns is expected to result in substantial savings in solid waste disposal costs. The municipalities involved are now assessing their options before awarding contracts that would go into effect June 1. Under the leadership of Waldwick Borough Administrator Gary Kratz, Ramsey, Midland Park and Glen Rock, as well as Waldwick, jointly bid a contract for garbage disposal earlier this month and received a bid of $64 a ton. That is $15 a ton less than Midland Park currently pays to the Bergen County Utilities Authority for the service and $4 a ton less than the bid the BCUA itself got only two days earlier from the same contractor. Midland Park alone stands to save $45,000 annually for the 3,000 tons collected each year, according to Borough Administrator Michelle Dugan. Waldwick, which now pays the BCUA $82 a year for 5,000 tons, stands to save $90,000 a year under the new bid, Kratz said. “Our responsibility is to our residents, and we were able to achieve a better deal than the county,” Kratz said. “I am not certain of the reasons. Perhaps something in the county specs that I didn’t have in ours enabled us to get a cheaper price,” he said. Totowa-based Veolia Environmental Service was the Borough could save on disposal costs lowest of four bidders for the first year of the three-year contract. That price would rise to $64.74 per ton in the second year and $65.50 for the third year of the contract. Kratz explained that the original thought for bidding independently of the BCUA was that New York State contractors would be interested in towns closer to their transfer station and would turn in lower prices. As it was, Kratz said, only one New York company bid, and it was not the low bidder. The contract specifies a dumping site no farther than 30 miles from the area. The joint contract will be administered through Ramsey, which is the lead agency for the Northwest Bergen Consortium, through which the 13 area towns bid many projects, including road resurfacing. The impetus for the garbage disposal joint venture, according to Kratz, came from a disposal price of only $66 Wyckoff received recently when it decided to go out to bid on the service. Since then, Franklin Lakes and Oakland have joined in Wyckoff’s contract. 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