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Show Thursday. October 23, 2008 2 SPRINGVILLE HERALD Good time to bond MMENTS Co Possible solutions to the new library question Editor: It was interesting to see how diversified we are in our thinking on the question ques-tion of a new library in Springville. I am more than a little disappointed in those with the "Alice in Wonderland" thinking. One writer noted how many would benefit from a new library and included senior citizens. In my letter I mentioned those who have lost jobs and homes, but I completely com-pletely overlooked the senior se-nior citizens. Thanks to J. Mack as he brought that reality into the picture in his letter. Springville has a goodly number of residents on fixed incomes. These people peo-ple have sacrificed in earlier ear-lier times to raise families. Are we now going to take the bread right out of their mouths? That is no exaggeration exag-geration in some cases. Every school building in Springville has a library as does Brigham Young University and Utah Val Springville Herald 269 E. 400 South Springville, UT 84663 An edition of The Daily Herald a Lee Enterprises, Inc. Newspaper Subscriptions & Delivery Service ...375-5103 News & Advertising .489-5651 Fax .489-7021 E-mail - .artcttyavpro.com Springville Herald, Daily Herald edition (USPS 51 3-060) a weekly newspaper published at 269 E. 400 S. Springville, Utah 84663. Periodicals Postage Paid at Springville, Utah 84663 and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER'. Send address changes to the Springville Herald, 269 E. 400 S. Spnngtim, Utah 04BB3 n Member; Audit Bureau of Groiations News , We welcome news tips. Call 489-5651 to report a news tip or if you have a comment or a questions. We welcome letters to the editor. All letters must include the authors name printed and signed) and a telephone number. We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, punctuation, taste and length, letters are welcome on any topic The Springville Herald Customer Service 375-5103 489-5651 I Fax 489-7021 269 E. 400 S. Springville, Utah 84663 Publsher Rono Rahlf rrahlfherQldextra.com Manager CrrjgConover aonoverhrJdexfra.cBTi Eftor PatConover )fo.ram Page desijiad layout ftada Harris Typesetter Morris Office Manager Send NewsHemstousat com 656 . I, i ! ! r jjr 4 1 i All toppings r ley University. We have a Utah County Bookmobile, so who are we depriving? That beautiful landscape with the babbling brook sounds sooo sweet, but the same landscape and brook with a foot and a half of snow over it plus the $9.8 million price tag just sours it for me. My two solutions are -Number one: Forego voting vot-ing for the library bond, circulate a sign-up list for those who can afford it and just leave the rest of us who can't alone. Number two: Approach Nebo School District about the possibility of obtaining the Grant School building. I realize that it is being used at the present time, but it already has a playground, auditorium for meetings, productions and library Vote for new library Editor: A new Springville library li-brary is a need, not a want - a necessity, not a luxury. luxu-ry. Libraries have been a weekday sanctuary for me ever since the second grade as we moved from one military base to another anoth-er throughout the world. And as a Springville resident resi-dent for the past 22 years (and a professional librarian librar-ian for over 38) my wife and I have gone with 15 of our 17 children to the library regularly and have witnessed its growth and popularity to the point where it is literally bursting burst-ing at the seams. When I see 18 of my 65 grandchildren using the Springville library weekly, I feel that the future cultural cul-tural enrichment of my grandchildren (and beyond) be-yond) would be marginal at best without a better facility. fa-cility. And to upgrade the We all benefit from a literate society Editor: I believe the economic downturn is a reason for not an obstacle to pulling together as a community to vote for a new library. There is no question that we need to use our resources re-sources wisely, and making mak-ing due with what we have is a practice we desperately desper-ately need to return to as a society. My concern, though, is that we've been making do with an inadequate library facility for at least the 14 years I've lived here, probably prob-ably longer. While not everyone uses the library, we all benefit ben-efit from living in a literate liter-ate society. A library is an important resource for people of all ages and from all walks of life, including peoplefwho are struggling financially and who look to libraries to help them get back on their feet. I've known people who have depended on library 800 794-9444 ma 1 Large Super Premium Pizza Crf ngg1 2 Liter Soda! j 1 Wacky Stick 5PcsBBQorHotWinas 1 Large Super Premium Pizza $RS3 12LerSoda! WJ 1 Cheese Sticks' 10 Pes BBQ or Hot Wings free! Discount for Party & Group purchase programs, adequate parking park-ing and as Patrice Bolen mentioned in her letter, room to build on if needed. There is also room for a fountain with a babbling brook - the possibilities are endless. I would not expect Nebo School District to donate the building, but my experience ex-perience with Nebo is that one of their favorite subjects sub-jects in money. For the betterment of the community and a little green, they might go for it. Then if times get better revisit the original library question. I comment here as a taxpayer tax-payer as noted in my earlier ear-lier letter. I am still radical and a little sarcastic. I never nev-er claimed to be perfect. Mac Mathews Mapleton current facility would be out of the question - and expensive. Now is the most opportune oppor-tune time to build - because be-cause of the economy and the lower costs of building. I cannot conceive of many citizens who couldn't afford af-ford a new library's cost: a household's equivalent of one fast food meal or a gallon gal-lon and a half of gas for the car - per month. Nearly ev: eryone can afford that. Many Springville residents resi-dents have spent thousands of hours helping in the effort ef-fort to bring this new 'Lantern 'Lan-tern of Light and Learning' to our community. Words cannot express my appreciation appre-ciation for these women and men who are continuing continu-ing to support such' a great cause. Let's don't let them down. Please vote YES for the Library Bond. Gary Gillum Springville services to launch their businesses or to get information in-formation and training that have enabled them to transition to new, often better, jobs after being laid off. Libraries empower us! A strong community is. one that truly values literacy and access to information for all. But despite the best efforts ef-forts of an amazing and creative library staff, our library is simply too small to provide services to everyone ev-eryone who seeks them a problem that will only get worse if our economy continues con-tinues to crumble. I can't think of a more important time than now to invest in our future and to foster a genuine sense of hope as we navigate the tough road that lies ahead. I will be voting for the library li-brary on Nov. 4th. Please join me. Margy Layton Springville Cigarettes, Cigars, LOWEST 695 North Side Street pnovo 410 North Freedom Blvd. I Bring in this ad and receive a j i FQGGtP' ELIGI37GQ i I With a Minimum ' 15" Purchase I Limit one per customer j Editor: There are some good financial reasons to vote FOR the Springville Library Bond. First, Springville's excellent bond rating will result in low interest costs. Second, construction costs will be bid low as was the case with the municipal building and the fire station. sta-tion. Third, according to the City's website there is over $4 million currently available avail-able for architectural fees, site work, furniture and fixtures, etc. Therefore, the bond proceeds, less minor mi-nor costs of issuance, will be completely available for construction. I am willing to pay the required increase in my property taxes for the opportunity op-portunity to see this library li-brary built now, when it is critically needed, and when bond rates and construction construc-tion costs are at low levels, and when the city has sufficient suf-ficient reserves to support non-construction costs. Financially, this is a great time to vote FOR the Springville Library Bond. Our children and grandchildren grandchil-dren will thank us. Dave Nielsen Springville Economically this is the time to build a library in Springville Editor: Springville needs a new library, and citizens should vote in favor, of the bond for the following reasons: (a) economically it makes more sense to construct a library now than it has in the past ten years or will again any time soon, (b) the current library space is too small for needs, (c) the city will continue to grow requiring a larger library, and (d) the current Civic Center building was poorly constructed. Point (a) Some people claim that economic hard times are a bad time to spend money. Money wisdom wis-dom says "buy low, sell high;" today is "buy low." Construction companies are scrambling for work; the bids will be much lower than if we had built last year when everything looked rosy. The same is true for other aspects of construction as inflation has been hammered down to zero and prices for some commodities are actually declining. Point (b) The library is in constant use; whenever I go there nearly every table is occupied and you always see someone in the stacks. A library that seems spacious spa-cious when you're the only one present becomes quite cramped when the citizens of Springville pack it every afternoon and evening. While knowledge and literature keep expanding, there is literally no more room for books in the library. li-brary. Every time they add a book, they must remove one from the shelves and put it in the Friends of the Library sale. I recommend you go book shopping at that sale Friday and Saturday. The stock is quite extensive Pipes, Loose Tobacco PC1BCES 84 North 100 West 105 N. West State Rd. Shane Denna, son of Ervin and Mary Denna of Mapleton and an American Marine, proudly holds the American flag that was carried during parachute operations while Denna's Marines were deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He wanted the flag to be in a place that lots of peole would see it. His parents now have it displayed on the flag pole at their home in Mapleton. Denna said, "Pleae allow this flag to fulfill the measure of its creation. Please let it fly to remind all who see it of the greatness of this nation and the incredible sacrifices that have been made to preserve our way of life." and in remarkable good condition for used books. Point (c) Springville will continue to grow. As Utah County kids marry, they seek to stay near their parents more than young adults in other parts of the country, and Springville is one of the nicest towns for starting a family. As California and other parts of the nation continue to slouch downwards politically politi-cally and morally, expatriate expa-triate Utahns are moving back to the state and finding find-ing Springville is a much calmer place to live than, say, Salt Lake or Orem. We will continue to see newcomers moving here for job opportunities and the lifestyle. All of these people will use the library, and we'll have to build the new one sooner or later. Point (d) Some wonder "Whats wrong with the current library building?" x That building has never been any good. Three years after it was dedicated the city council had to ap Illiteracy linked with increased crime rates Editor: National studies have repeatedly shown direct link in illiteracy rates and increased crime in a community. com-munity. Investing in a community com-munity library is an excellent excel-lent way of increasing literacy lit-eracy rates and improving the educational opportunities opportuni-ties for our youth, young adults and adults in our community. Now is the time to invest - in our community. This is too important of an issue to wait, besides the cur Looking for a Great Garage Door? 1932 N. MAIN St. 798 , - prove extensive repairs to fix the badly leaking roof. It has been patched and patched since. To use the current building would require re-quire expensive reworking to change it from a city office of-fice to a library and ensure it would last a long time. If we can save money by reusing the current building, build-ing, great, but let's first line up the full amount of the bond for a new building. build-ing. Then, if it turns out that we can reuse the current cur-rent building, we can retire part of the bond early with the savings. It is better to borrow too much and pay some back early than to borrow too little and have to issue new bonds later on, with associated associ-ated expenses and delays of a new issuance. Economics, size, growth, construction and prudence, that most valuable of political politi-cal virtues, indicates that we should vote "yes" on the library bond. Steve Setzer Springville rent economic situation has shown itself to be an excellent time to bond for construction. Springville City Civic Center bids were $3,000,000 BELOW experts ex-perts estimates. The same savings may occur for the library construction bonds as well. For this and many more reasons, now is the time to move forward That is why I am supporting and voting for the Springville Library bond. J. Scott Finlayson Springville Chief of Police SPANISH FORK 3.4' (Greater than $45) on regular pnee news only. |