The City Council gave preliminary approval Wednesday to an expansion of the Arcadia Public Library that may add 15,000 square feet of space at a cost of about $3.5 million.
A new or improved public library could become a reality in the near future. The current library is bursting at the seams with increasing amounts of books, computer equipment and an increasing number of people using the 28-year-old library.
The City Council approved a recommendation to hire Glendale-based Charles Walton Associates to prepare a library building program. The proposal will cost between $50,000 and $55,000 and the new library will cost approximately $7 million.
The City Council approved an application for $9 million in state funds to build a new library. If the state awards the funds and the council accepts them, the city would have to contribute $7 million toward the new library.
James Domney, 49, is leaving his position as City Librarian after 11 years in this position and 18 years with the library. Kent Ross, 45, who started at the library at about the same time as Domney, was recently appointed as the new City Librarian.
In an informal, long-range planning session, City Council members made a new library and police station two of their top priorities. Last month, the council approves spending $55,000 to hire a consultant, to be chosen at the June 19th meeting, to draw up plans for a new library to replace the overcrowded library.
Bea Wyant Chute of Arcadia was among 48 delegates from California to attend the 2nd White House Conference on Library and Information Services recently in Washington, D. C. "Making most of library network: delegate Chute says support is key to better education" by Shelia Thompson.
The City Council passed a resolution supporting the Arcadia Coalition for Education, a group of educators and community members demanding more state money for schools.
The Arcadia City Council approved a $48.7 million budget Tuesday without the significant reductions many other cities are facing due to a downturn in the economy.
City Council recently approved a five-year $34.6 million capital improvement program that will include some refurbishing of City Hall and library facilities, along with a new fire department and preparations for a new police facility.
The Arcadia Unified School District Board of Education backed the idea of a resolution calling for an immediate halt to aerial spraying of malathion. The board's actions came less than a week after the Arcadia City Council unanimously passed a resolution asking for a halt to the spraying.
A unanimous City Council adopted a "conservative" $42.5 million 1990-91 budget after fine-tuning some expenditures to the Chamber of Commerce and the workers' compensation program. The city has $33.8 million in reserves going into the 1990-91 fiscal year, and expects another $42.6 million in revenues.
The City Council has moved closer to limiting high-rise construction in Arcadia by endorsing zoning changes that will allow fewer floors in future buildings.
The Arcadia City Council will be asked to pass a resolution calling for an immediate halt to the recent malathion-laden helicopter assaults on the medfly. Many have expressed concerns about the repeated spraying, but health and agricultural officials insist that malathion is harmless to humans in the quantities being used.
Bea Chute of Arcadia was among those who traveled to Sacramento as part of her role as Library Supporter Delegate to the White House Conference on Library and Information Services. "School libraries should be an Arcadia priority."