Grant will help Necedah residents build a new library

RHONDA SIEBECKER/STAR-TIMES

Necedah Village Administrator Roger Herried shows a proposed design for the new Necedah Library to residents while Necedah Library Director Jim Eliason, far left, looks on.

By Rhonda Siebecker, Star-Times

The recent announcement of Necedah receiving a $610,000 Community Development Block Grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (stimulus funds) will make the building of a new library in the village much easier.

"Everyone's donation to the library will be essentially doubled because of the grant," Necedah Library Director Jim Eliason said after a meeting Monday night which attracted about 50 community members. "It's a wonderful opportunity for Necedah," Eliason said.

Necedah Village Administrator and Chamber President Roger Herried agreed. "Chances are things are never going to be as good as they are right now as far as getting a grant," he said. "The timing's right."

Herried, Eliason and Necedah Village Trustee and Library Board Member Mary Alice Lasswell passed around conceptual drawings of the proposed library made by Hoffman Corporation, the company that was in charge of building the Necedah Schools.

Herried said that company "kept the public well-informed" and that money will be saved because Hoffman has a construction superintendent that stays on-site.

Jim Seebruck, another member of the Necedah Village and Library boards, said that means there is no "middle man" needed to hire subcontractors and local businesses will have a fair chance at bidding for aspects of the job.

"Hoffman understands the importance of using local contractors," Lasswell said.

Some of the audience members asked if energy efficient building practices, such as the use of geo-thermal heating, were being looked into during the design process. Herried said that was being considered. "Our budget for the library is very frugal," he said. "It is between $40,000 and $45,000 annually. So, we told Hoffman to make it as energy-efficient as possible."

A final grant application will need to be submitted in July and a public hearing will be held next month.

Herried said matching funds for the $1.3 million project need to be raised starting immediately.

Sandra Herfel, grants specialist with Wisconsin's Department of Commerce, was at the Monday night

She said, "All we care about is how much you are asking for and how much the match is ... you have to work on this fast because it is stimulus money."

Herried said, "There is still a lot of work from my end searching out (other) grants. This is our best guess of what we think we need. It all depends on how the bids come in and how we put together the project."

Seebruck said many of the subcontractors are bidding about 20 percent under their usual costs due to the downturn in the economy.

"We could really get a good building for the dollar," he said.

Herfel said one aspect of the stimulus money is keeping funds in the country.

"With the stimulus money, the president wants everyone to buy American," she said.

Later in the meeting, Herried said the goal of stimulus money is to "keep America going," and he feels this project is a good representation of that with the opportunities for local businesses.

The tentative location of the new library is near the Oak Grove subdivision. One proposed site is south of the Veterans' Hall on the east side of a road that runs through the Oak Grove Subdivision.

Herried said land donation could count toward the matching funds for the library.

Several events and fund-raisers are also being planned to raise the matching funds.

To donate or volunteer, contact Herried at (608) 565-2261.