Published in the March 22, 2017 edition

ELEMENTS of the existing town library, such as the building’s signature Palladian window with its distinctive arched head may be a design element incorporated into the new building proposed for Reedy Meadow. (Maureen Doherty Photo)

ELEMENTS of the existing town library, such as the building’s signature Palladian window with its distinctive arched head may be a design element incorporated into the new building proposed for Reedy Meadow. (Maureen Doherty Photo)

MAUREEN DOHERTY

LYNNFIELD — For townspeople who wish to learn more about the current status of the town’s construction grant application to the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC), a community forum next Thursday, March 30 will provide the answers.

Hosted jointly by the Lynnfield Library Building Committee (LLBC) and Library Board of Trustees, the forum will be held at the Lynnfield Meeting House on the town common with parking available at Town Hall, in the parking lot behind the library or along Summer Street in front of the library. Refreshments and activities begin at 6:30 p.m. followed by the formal presentation at 7 p.m.

The forum is open to all community members, including residents, business owners, community organizations and all those interested in the library building project. It is designed to be a continuation of the conversation on the future of the town’s library.

The presentation opens at 7 p.m. with an explanation of the current library plans and its cost impact.

At 7:15 p.m., community input will be welcomed into the discussion. Attendees will be given the opportunity to give their feedback which will influence the next phase of the project.

The formal program will wrap up at 7:30 p.m. with an update given by the Capital Facilities Advisory Committee (CFAC), which is an ad hoc committee of the Board of Selectmen charged with analyzing the space needs at all of the town’s municipal facilities.

Lynnfield Library Building Committee Chairman Russ Boekenkroeger commented, “Our Director, Holly Mercer, led and contributed greatly to the project effort that also represents significant efforts and contributions by supporters across Lynnfield and exemplary assistance by town officials, departments and committees.”

The proposal includes the opportunity to be eligible for a grant that covers approximately 40 percent of “eligible project costs,” according to Mercer.

The location of the new 25,874 square foot building is one-third of mile up the road from the current library. It would include ample parking as well as expanded areas for program spaces and youth services that support lifelong learning and flexible spaces that take advantage of sweeping views of the scenic golf course. Included in the design is an outdoor seating area for adults plus an enclosed outdoor area accessible only through the children’s room for the youngest patrons.

A total of 35 communities have applied for grants for the next round of funding. The town will learn of its status on the grant list in the July.

Boekenkroeger said this meeting will be “community oriented.”

“We want to discuss the methodology that we went through, as an educational process, to interest the community on what had been submitted (to MBLC) and get their buy-in and really begin the feedback process,” he said.

Boekenkroeger explained that the LBC believes it is important to reinforce messages that have been given at previous forums and during two Town Meeting updates in addition to providing new information which they will lay out “in a context of process and methodology so that when detailed information is made available people know how to acknowledge (it) so that it is not out of context.”

The project’s cost is calculated in 2017 dollars “and we have to project out 36 months into the future,” he said. The amount of funding the state makes available per year in grant funding is dependent upon the amount of the bond issued by the state each year to cover both previously approved projects along with new proposals.

“We were hoping if we get approved (in July 2017) that it’s three years out,” Boekenkroeger explained, as that timeline would better align with the overall townwide capital facilities improvements under consideration by CFAC. It was always known when this grant application process began that it would be a multi-year approval process, they said.

“There are still more stages to go through,” Mercer said.