{"id":35905,"date":"2017-07-24T09:35:11","date_gmt":"2017-07-24T13:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=35905"},"modified":"2017-07-24T09:35:14","modified_gmt":"2017-07-24T13:35:14","slug":"ksq-council-wont-rush-into-library-land-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=35905","title":{"rendered":"KSQ Council won’t rush into library land deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Eliza Mohler<\/strong>, Staff Writer, The Times<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Mayor Matthew Fetick gives an update on public safety during the July 17 Borough Council meeting.<\/p><\/div>\n

KENNETT SQUARE \u2013 Kennett Library tried to play let\u2019s make a deal at last Monday night\u2019s Borough Council meeting, but they didn\u2019t get the prize behind door number two\u2026.yet.<\/p>\n

In order to build a new $10 million facility, library officials need the 22,000-square-foot piece of land known as the Weinstein lot, located on State Street off South Willow Street. Library board member Brenda Williams Mercomes asked the council to sell the lot to the library \u201cfor the lowest possible price.\u201d<\/p>\n

She then read a letter from library board President Tom Swett to the council: \u201cA very affordable price will enable us to raise less money and get started building the new library sooner,\u201d it read. \u201cWe are aware that in the past, the borough has offered both generous and supportive terms to other local organizations, and we hope that you will be both generous and supportive with the library.\u201d<\/p>\n

Council opted not to pursue immediate action in response to the request at the meeting because a formal appraisal on the Weinstein lot is due soon. Council member Wayne Braffman said it would be a good idea to wait and see what the value of the property is and go from there.<\/p>\n

Vice President Geoff Bosley commented that there are also other factors involved in the sale.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe value of the property is almost immaterial,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want to partner with the library and get a deal that works for both of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bosley was acting as president for the meeting because President Danilo Maffei was away on business. Borough Manager Joe Scalise was also absent, and Secretary Karen Scherer sat in for him.<\/p>\n

The library team cannot move forward with their plans to build a new facility until they have purchased the lot. They have requested that council give them an answer by July 31, so that settlement can take place by August 31.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe remain totally committed to building a new library in the heart of Kennett Square, which will proudly welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors every year,\u201d Swett\u2019s letter read.<\/p>\n

But reality and vision are two different things.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are at a dead stop right now, until we own the property,\u201d said Jeff Yetter, Vice President of the library board. \u201cWe are reluctant to sign a million-dollar contract with the architect. Time is of the essence. We need to do a feasibility study which we can\u2019t do until we have drawings of the property.\u201d<\/p>\n

Council members declined to be rushed into a deal, though.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t know the value of the land,\u201d Braffman said. \u201cWhat is fair? We could say fair is the appraised value, we could say fair would be to give it to them for $1, and we could say fair is to let us just cover our costs. I think it\u2019s premature until we have numbers. I\u2019m hoping we find a number that makes the library happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The library was not the only group asking the council for land on Monday. Kennett Fire Co. No. 1, which uses the Red Clay Room and the parcel of land across the street from it for many special events, recently discovered it did not actually own the property on which hundreds of happy couples have posed for wedding photos for decades.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Kennett Fire Co. No, 1 Vice President Gina Puoci addresses Borough Council on July 17 during a discussion about land used by the Red Clay Room.<\/p><\/div>\n

Company officials requested a transfer of the property in question to them from the borough after a land survey they had conducted revealed the truth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had no idea we did not own that piece of property,\u201d Gina Puoci, vice president of the company, said. \u201cFor 30 years, we have been taking care of that property and doing things on that property.\u201d<\/p>\n

Puoci noted that no one at the company or at borough hall knew that the property was borough-owned.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are asking the borough to give us the property we have maintained for all these years,\u201d she said. \u201cEven the existing gazebo is not on our property.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a brief discussion, the council approved the company\u2019s request.<\/p>\n

Council member Ethan Cramer announced before the end of the meeting that there will be a National Night Out event held in honor of late borough Police Chief Ed Zunino on Tuesday, August 1, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the 200 block of East Linden Street in Kennett Square.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Eliza Mohler, Staff Writer, The Times KENNETT SQUARE \u2013 Kennett Library tried to play let\u2019s make a deal at last Monday night\u2019s Borough Council meeting, but they didn\u2019t get the prize behind door number two\u2026.yet. In order to build a new $10 million facility, library officials need the 22,000-square-foot piece of land known as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35907,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[7426,2241,10147,10148,5869,9226],"class_list":["post-35905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured","tag-kennett-fire-company","tag-kennett-square-borough-council","tag-land-use","tag-library","tag-new-building"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35905"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35906,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35905\/revisions\/35906"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/35907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=35905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=35905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}