By Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County Times
Costs are going up for everyone, including the library and the soil conservation district. Both groups were on the agenda for last week’s regular session of the Carter County Fiscal Court, and both were asking for more money to cover those rising costs.
The Carter County Soil & Water Conservation District was asking for an additional $10,000 over their ask last year, increasing it to $60,000 from $50,000.
“Things are going up,” conservation district representative Barry Shaffer told the court, emphasizing that while the amount they are asking for is increasing, it all goes back into the county.
Judge executive Mike Malone acknowledged the good work the district does for the county.
“They’ve helped us with slips and with water issues,” Malone said. “Plus, they’re a help to others in the county.”
But magistrates weren’t sure if the county had the extra $10,000 available.
“I like the idea, if we have the money,” magistrate Morris Shearer said, adding that he would like to at least guarantee the $50,000 the county has provided in the past. But he said the county couldn’t be sure they had the extra funds to dedicate until they looked more closely at the budget.
Shearer made a motion to fund the group for $50,000 and provide an extra $10,000 at a future date, if the county had the funds in their budget to dedicate to the service at that time.
The library was also asking for an increase in their funding, in part to make some much needed repairs to the roof of the Grayson branch, but they didn’t fare as well.
The roof leak in the library has become so severe that water is leaking from the roof, into the second floor, and then making its way down to the first floor where it is causing damage to drywall. This is on top of a recent plumbing leak that caused additional damage. While the plumbing damage was covered by insurance, the leaking roof threatens all of the repair work done after the plumbing leak.
The bulk of the damage is on the second floor, however, where adult education is housed. That group, which helps adults obtain high school diplomas in addition to other training that can help improve their job opportunities, relies heavily on computers for providing their training and testing. They’ve also recently upgraded their computers, but a representative from adult education said, “the roof is falling in on our computers.”
She said they appreciate the space because they have nowhere else to go without the library. However, the issue with the roof is impacting their ability to make use of the space.
Jennifer Guthrie, from the library board, explained that the roof doesn’t lap over enough, allowing water to flow back and infiltrate the building. She and board president Mindy Woods Click explained that the library had priced both rubber and metal replacement roofs, and while the metal roof was slightly more expensive they felt it would better address the issue in the long term. The cost for that roof, however, was $50,000.
While the county wouldn’t agree to cover the entire cost of the roof replacement, they did agree to cover half of the cost – up to $25,000 – and suggested the library request the rest of the funding from the city.
The court also put off library requests for additional funding through ARPA funds until they have more information about funding sources available to them and the library. Last year the county voted to fund an additional $18,000 to replace direct state aid that was cut from library budgets across the Commonwealth.
The Carter County Public Library operates well under the budgets of other regional library systems. The director of the library makes $15,000 less than his counterpart in comparable sized districts, and the branch supervisors are paid $10,000 less than library employees in surrounding districts.
“The minute another job comes along, they are gone because of low pay,” Click said.
Under the proposed budget presented to fiscal court the salary for those individuals would be brought in line with industry standards. It would also add another position, of programming and outreach coordinator, at $30,000 per year, the same rate proposed for branch supervisors.
The budget would have the city of Grayson continue to pay $25,000 for the upkeep of their local branch per the interlocal agreement, Olive Hill provide their promised $27,000 under the interlocal agreement, and the county to combine their interlocal agreement amount and ARPA funds to total $200,000 in funding.
The library has been operating on a “bare bones budget” for years, with donated books, furniture, shelving and materials, Click told the court. They’ve gotten so good at making do with so little, she said, she believed the library could, “quadruple services,” with a doubling of the budget. But right now, they are struggling, and they simply can’t provide the kind of services and programs that other local libraries provide.
“The library is in severe financial need,” she said. “We’re asking for a modest budget that we will use responsibly.”
In other action the court accepted department reports, including the clerk’s report (see “Voting machine upgrades required” on page A-3 in this issue), accepted a $39,000 check for Sheriff’s fee settlement, plus $8.99 in accrued interest, and accepted a $159,000 check from the county clerk’s office.
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com
