File photo.
The City Commission adopted a resolution Monday that would establish the Eudora community library district to replace the Eudora Township library board.
The establishment of a library district was needed for legal purposes following an attorney general opinion.
“We’re also at this point where we’ve been working for eight years on this new library,” Library Board President Eric Magette said in an interview with the Eudora Times. “The taxpayers have a chance to vote on this, and we can’t do that until we fix this governance issue [with the resolution].”
Magette said all members on the board right now have agreed to stay on for the next four to five years. Magette updated the resolution to “preserve the status quo” of the library board as it is now.
“It is important and necessary at this time that the library can attain bonds and issue bonds to finance a new library,” Magette said.
The updated resolution also added a statement of legislative intent, which is to ensure there will be a constituted board to seek bond financing, Magette said.
“We wanted to make sure that there was an element of independence on this board,” City Attorney David Waters said.
Board members would be sworn in because they are subject to conflict of interest statutes and the government meetings act, Waters said.
In a prior interview with The Eudora Times, Magette said the proposed $4.6 million new library would equate to about a $65 annual property tax increase on a $150,000 home. The bond would take 20 years to pay.
In comparison, had the board opted for a $3.5 million new library, this would have been an annual tax increase of $50 per year on a $150,000 home, or $15 less per year.
Voters are expected to be able to weigh in on the library bond issue during a spring election.
In other business, the commission voted in favor of decorative fences in Eudora having a 4-foot limit.
Reach reporter Tatum Goetting at [email protected].
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