Supervisor defends his library proposals

By Kevin O’Brien

Library funding is once again a focal point of Marathon County’s budget discussions, with one supervisor suggesting that a major cooling project at the Wausau library be delayed so the county board can have a larger discussion about the future of the library system.

Supervisor David Baker drew local media attention recently after he sent out an email to fellow board members asking them to consider removing from the budget a proposed $2.8 million project to replace a chiller and related HVAC equipment at the headquarters of the Marathon County Public Library System in Wausau. The project is set to be paid for with money from the federal American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA).

“I am concerned that this item will be the subject of much discussion at board and committee meetings as well as the subject of numerous comments during the public hearing,” he wrote in the Oct. 6 email. “Since the item does not impact the tax levy, removal of the item for later discussion should not have a major impact on the overall budget decisions and will allow us time to make a more informed decision.”

Baker also outlined a proposal for addressing a longstanding controversy regarding challenged books that have been kept in local libraries despite objections from county residents who believe the books are pornographic and inappropriate for children.

“I am considering forming an unofficial ‘Library Community Standards Alignment’ Workgroup to try to assist with reaching a resolution between the library hoard and the large number of Marathon County residents concerned with the direction of the Marathon County Library,” he wrote.

Another option would be to abolish the countywide library system, and turn control of individual branch libraries over to their respective communities, Baker wrote.

At an Oct. 11 meeting of the Human Resources, Finance and Property Committee, Baker disputed how his proposal was depicted in the local press and chided any supervisors who may have been involved with making his proposal public.

“If we can’t have policy discussions on our board without people going to the press and having incorrect information printed, I don’t know how we can get along as a board,” he said.

Baker said it’s “absolutely not true” that he wants to completely abolish the library system, but he does want to discuss what is “equitable” when it comes to the county paying for maintenance projects at the Wausau library. He noted that outlying municipalities with branch libraries are responsible for their own capital projects, but the county must pay for Wausau’s library after ownership was transferred from the city of Wausau 30 years ago.

Although he wants to have a debate about funding library projects, Baker also noted that he supports a proposal to boost the amount of tax dollars going to the MCPL in 2024.

“Obviously, if I’m trying to abolish the library system, I wouldn’t be advocating for an increase in property tax that’s dedicated to that,” he said.

Baker said he also wants to explore the idea of giving patrons more local control over what types of books are available at their local libraries.

“People would have a safe place for their children to go,” he said. “Other people would have a place to go and read the books they want.”

Supervisor Corey Hart questioned if Baker or anyone else had approached Wausau city officials to see if they are interested in taking back ownership of the library building.

“In proposing an amendment, it would be wise to have the amendment fully vetted before bringing it forward,” he said.

Supervisor John Robinson, however, said the issue at hand is not the ownership of the Wausau library, but whether or not the county will proceed with a needed HVAC project at the building.

Deputy administrator Chris Holman said the chiller and related equipment is at the end of its life, and the design documents are “on the verge of completion,” so the project can be bid out in January or February of 2024 to get the best possible prices from contractors looking for work. He also noted there’s a long lead time on some of the equipment, so it could take a year or more to do the work once a contractor is hired.

Board chairman Kurt Gibbs said he’s not against discussing whether to transfer the library headquarters back to the city of Wausau, but he’s concerned about delaying a project in a way that could have “cost consequences to the taxpayer.” He said the county learned its lesson after putting off projects that resulted in costly emergency repairs.

“We understood that delaying projects had effectively cost the county money long term,” he said.