But Auchincloss said that’s not how the board’s regular meetings are structured.
“In general, we’re not going to respond during the public be heard,” he said. “During Public be Heard on the library’s regular public board meeting agenda, there is not time or appropriate space to answer every question that’s raised or every assertion that’s made.”
Longtime volunteer and former library board member Ralph Goneau said reusing the laundromat is “absolutely impossible in my opinion.” He said the library needs the space and some concessions could be made so both sides are satisfied.
Fundraising juice
Former Planning Board member John Ludwig, who has been critical of the annex planning process, suggested scheduling six to eight working sessions where the public could participate.
“That might be scary at first, but I believe you’ll find that the pressure will be released in the first meeting and collaborating fully with the public will work,” Ludwig said. He cautioned trustees not to limit the working sessions to the annex, but include the entire library complex.
Ludwig noted that a brief discussion outside the community center after the May 13 Town Board meeting between annex opponents and library trustees “made more progress in 10 minutes than was accomplished in all of these Public Be Heard sessions combined.”
Local architect Joe Hurwitz said all the current issues could have been avoided with more consultation. “Most of the difficulties that you have encountered in this long process going back four years could’ve been avoided if not mitigated if you only had an architect advising you up front. Joel Sanders, right now, has to be one of the most humiliated people around. I have sympathy for him,” Hurwitz said.
“The board does operate in a vacuum,” said resident Steven Grenadier. “People don’t really come down here and talk to you very much. You seem to talk to yourselves and you talk to people who come into the library. You forget about all the other people who maybe never come in here.”
Town Councilman Ken Panza urged trustees to take a serious look at the fundraising report presented by consultant Linda Hartley in April.
“The report really laid out a plan if you wanted to raise $1.5 million.” Hartley, he said, “seemed to indicate that this board really doesn’t have the juice to raise the other half of the money. You need people that have deep pockets and connections with various corporations and funding sources.”
Inside out
After public comment, trustee Barry Miller took issue with some comments about how the board operates. “We don’t operate in a vacuum,” he said, adding Woodstock should be blessed because there are other libraries where the boards don’t get along.
“We are working from the inside out. We know what the library needs. It’s coming out of a well of people with a lot of brains.”
Some at the meeting expressed frustration that trustees did not discuss new ways to deal with public input, as was advertised.
Auchincloss has apologized, saying the board had intended to bring up the topic, but it was inadvertently dropped when the new business item of the public relations firm was removed.
He also added the public may seem puzzled by the board’s appearance of non-response to annex issues, but the library is entering a busy time.
“The library continues to do all the things that it does do. This is the season where we start planning our budget.” Said Auchincloss, “It is not our intention not to respond ever.”
