Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Reminder: Phoenixville Library presentation to PASD school board

The Phoenixville library presentation to the Building and Grounds committee of the Phoenixville school board will be held on Thursday, May 7, 2009, 7 p.m., in the high school auditorium.

Please make plans to attend this very important meeting.

35 comments:

Anonymous said...

At this meeting we should learn about the current legal interpretation of the actual terms of the 1902 "Carnegie contract" which had provisions for funding the maintenance costs of the grant library of the Phoenixville regional library system. It is likely if there is any amount the school district is obligated to pay (not having seen the contract and terms but based on general terms which were set forth in most of these cases), it is in the amount of either $1,000 or 10% of the original cost of the building per year. That would give the school taxpayers an annual obligation of $2,000 (out of a 70 million plus district budget).
We may learn if this committee and the whole school board is prepared to rename this committee the "buildings, grounds and endless unnecessary litigation committee".
And it bears stating once more: There are no large amounts of moneys or funding which are dependent on the library occupying the site and Second and Main. There are no ongoing funding sources from any source which are dependent on the regional library occupying the site at Second and Main.
There is no relationship between any "Carnegie Foundation" and this "Carnegie Library".
It also bears repeating: spot zoning is illegal, and an issue which is determined not by borough council but by the court system.

Anonymous said...

I was there too. Well said.

Anonymous said...

Karen, What happened at the meeting?

Anonymous said...

Office of Andrew Carnegie
Room 325, Carnegie Building
Pittsburg, Pa.

R. A. FRANKS, Cashier.

June 6, 1901.

Dear Sir :--I am in record of your favor of the 5th instant, enclosing copy of resolutions adopted by the Board of Directors of the School District of the Borough of Phoenixville, agreeing to furnish a suitable site, and an annual maintenance fund of $2000, for the library donated by Mr. Carnegie. This resolution covers all conditions of the gift, and I will now be pleased to make payments on the construction of the building.

Yours very truly,
R. A. Franks

Anonymous said...

Hey, sounds like a great plan, to abandon one more building in Phoenixville to sit and rot away while visitors wonder why would any town let such a beautiful building go to waste. Typical.

Anonymous said...

In March and April of 1901, the committee from the school board which had been tasked with asking Andrew Carnegie for a building grant proposed that they would take a smaller building grant ($15,000 rather than $20,000) to keep the amount that the school board would have to tax for maintenance of the Free Library Building down to $1500. In the eleven days between the initial letter to Andrew Carnegie the esteemed members must have gotten some feedback that a lower annual tax would be better received than would an increased maintenance cost and taxpayer burden for the original $20,000 building concept.

All correspondence about the library, its grant money received and maintenance tax required was between the school board committee and secretaries or representatives of Mr. Andrew Carnegie directly. The building was built and the tax was in place a few years before the establishment of the Carnegie foundation, which was founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1905 and chartered in 1906 by an act of Congress.

All maintenance costs for the Free Library Building were always borne by those who paid school tax and moneys thus received designated to go into an annual maintenance fund for the library. There never was any arrangement nor obligation in this matter of funding with any Carnegie Foundation.

The are minimums and maximums, and the is the definition of the term library.

It is clear that the minimum amount, the only required amount if such a requirement exists, is for the taxpayers to pay a total of $2,000 (out of this years currently proposed $74,000,000).

Less clear is if that required $2000 is for maintenance of a building, or maintenance of the "library" as a larger concept.

Other issues are for lawyers versed in real estate transactions. What happens when buildings are sold - as has happened to most of these early twentieth century structures throughout North America?

Karen said...

Anonymous May 08, 12:43 p.m., an updated presentation on the library proposal was made to the Buildings and Grounds committee of the school board by Adam Devaney and Tom Carnivale.

Under public participation approximately 10 residents of Phoenixville spoke to their concerns regarding the current library expansion plan.

The committee members had many questions, and decided to move the discussion to the workshop meeting on Thursday May 07, 2009, 7 p.m., in the auditorium.

They will continue to address the situation at that time and at least one member, Debbie Dawson, has asked for more public input at that particular meeting.

Karen said...

A big thank you to Anonymous May 07, 2009 8:31 a.m., May 08, 3:20 p.m., and May 09, 1:03 p.m., for your research into the charter between PASD and Carnegie.

With each successive review of the documents of the charter, it becomes more and more apparent that the library board may have unknowingly bought to the table even more legal concerns regarding the Reeves Park deed and the Carnegie charter than what was originally anticipated.

The legal issues are broad and manifold, well beyond the scope of laymen or individual lawyers, and will eventually have to be addressed by the court.

Thank you, again, Anonymous, for your work.

Anonymous said...

Library Board meetings are held the 2nd Monday of each month at 6:00 PM in the Community Room. The public is invited to attend.

Anonymous said...

Even the grumblers can attend. But they never do, and then they make their own assumptions based on hearsay.

Anonymous said...

Someone from the public and school board needs to ask how the Library's expansion planners expects to conform to the in place zoning or in the event they plan for it to NOT conform, how they expect to justify the necessary variances to execute thier plan. I can't wait for those answers.

Anonymous said...

Do not worry about the school boards' response. There will be an indemnification agreement which will put all legal costs on the Library Foundation. The Library Foundation has at least $1,000,000, thanks to a grant obtained from Andy Din of half a million plus an anonymous donor grant of $500,000. That's on top of the already significant amount of money (maybe close to another million dollars). You may have noticed that this foundation is requesting more money (even though the school district taxes you to run the library). All these grant moneys and donations can be used to pay lawyers and court costs. So support the library foundation. Send them money so the funds which come in to the foundation can be diverted to pay Library Foundation council.
Watch the meeting which was on last Friday night.

Anonymous said...

Is the Library Foundation required to open its financial books to the public or to the School Board? Are they listed as a non-profit with the IRS? Since they are supported by the School District and now supposedly by the PA taxpayers, are they allowed to be audited at any time? These are questions I would like answers to.

Anonymous said...

If the foundation is so flush with cash, then why, at the most recent Borough Council meeting, when told that they would need to pay for another traffic study and possibly a traffic light, did one of them speak of being fairly cash-strapped? If they truly have a couple of million already, that can be used for whatever they see fit, then why would they be pleading poverty?

Karen said...

I don't have the answers, Anonymous, but please attend the school board workshop meeting at the PAHS auditorium on Thursday and ask your very valid questions.

Karen said...

I almost forgot to mention.

Today I received a fund raising letter from the Phoenixville Public Library.

Anonymous said...

If you register your email address with guidestar.org, you can view some information on non-profit organizations, such as the public part of form 990.
The Phoenixville Public Library Foundation for the fiscal year ending 6-30-2008 listed net assets of $498,985 at the end of that fiscal year. It has been announced since then that $450,000 was procured with the help of Andy Dinniman and that an anonymous donor had given a gift of securities worth in the neighborhood of $500,000.

The Public Library of Phoenixville lists assets of $880,843 on its TY 2007 Land etc. Schedule.
There are names listed on the TY 2007 Compensation Explanation Schedule with no listed amounts or explanation as to why those names are there.

Anonymous said...

At least the SB members are asking more questions than Boro Council.Other than Josh Gould,it appears that they do not want to incur any more legal bills if this thing goes thru.Did anyone see the look on Deveneys' face when they tabled the matter until the next workshop.Priceless.I predict this will all go away and the Foundation will look to another site.If they abandon the Carnegie building I am sure the building could be sold to an attorney .It would make a nice law office since this is headed to court anyway.

Anonymous said...

I received the same letter too. I tore it up and threw it out. The nerve of them....

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know why one of the names on that TY 2007 Compensation Explanation Schedule from the Library Foundation is Josh Gould? Is he receiving some kind of compensation from the Library Foundation?

Anonymous said...

I don't believe the fund raising letter from the library is specifically for the expansion. Money from this also goes towards the programming and collection development. I give money to help support the core of the library (that is services and books, and you can specify what your money goes towards i.e. adult books). If you are for the library and in support of having a library make a donation with a stipulation of where the funds are allocated. If you don't agree with the expansion, specify that the monies not go towards the expansion. I believe we should all help keep the library open by donating what we can (whether you are for or against its expansion).

Anonymous said...

Anonymous May 11, 2009 10:14:00 AM EDT
You are obviously one of many whose heart is in the right place. However, I would suggest 2 things to you. The first suggestion is to watch the PASD buildings and grounds committee workshop (it is probably best to tape it so you can fast forward through the middle half of the meeting if you are specifically interested in the library). You will hear that the library foundation can divert grant money and other funds (such as from fund raising) for any legal costs. The second suggestion is to register with guidestar.org and take a look at the amount the library foundation and the public library have spent in programs and taken in over the last 4 or 5 years. The core support of the library has always been and continues to be about half (to the tune of about a half million dollars) PASD school taxes, followed by county, state and federal funds.
If you do not want your money spent on legal fees, do as the other poster did and just through the letter from the library foundation out and pay a little extra on your school taxes.

Anonymous said...

This Thursday, May 14, it is suggested that the school board approve a separate indemnification agreement - superseding provisions of the existing limited agency agreement with the Library Foundation in case any legal action is brought against the school district. Recognize that the indemnification provided by those individuals ( members of the Library Foundation, Mr. Deveney ) are only as good as the parties standing behind them. Acknowledge that obviously the foundation doesn't have unlimited resources - it's dependent upon their ability to pay. The indemnification is as good as their ability to pay. Answer your mail and send a check to the Library Foundation and support them to assure they have enough money to pay their potential upcoming legal fees. If they don’t add to their million dollar plus account, your school taxes possibly may have to cover legal costs. At this Thursday's meeting, you may get a straight and definitive yes or nor answer to the question: Is there any way that legal action around this expansion concept will have costs fall on the school board and the taxpayer?

Anonymous said...

Anon. 03:21: Does that mean that the individual Foundation members would be held responsible personally for the legal bills if they could not raise enough money to cover them?

Anonymous said...

The following is from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Project Grant Handbook for PA:

2. Typical Reimbursable Cost Categories. Typical Reimbursable Cost Categories
are eligible for reimbursement with RACP funds. Reimbursable Cost Categories
can include Construction, Interest During Construction, Permits, Land, and Other
Items.
3. Typical Non-Reimbursable Cost Categories. Typical Non-Reimbursable Cost
Categories, though project related, are generally not reimbursed with RACP
funds. Typical Non-Reimbursable Cost Categories are Future Physical
Maintenance & Operations, Administration, Legal, Financing/Accounting, and
Architectural/ Engineering.

I believe this answers the question of using grant money for legal fees.

I have also been made aware that the $450000. state grant money has not yet been given to the library. No big check presentation. This would have been a photo opportunity. The money they may be getting is to pay for construction costs after the fact.

Anonymous said...

Poster at May 13, 2009 4:30:00 PM EDT: That is a very interesting post. If you watched the PASD buildings and grounds you would have seen several members of the public and several board members direct that issue to several lawyers. I am shocked, shocked to hear that a lawyer gave a wrong answer. And speaking of Andy Dinniman Photo Ops and $450,000 it looks like Spring City is on its way to a library expansion project. Last time I looked at a map, Spring City was mighty close to Phoenixville - especially the north side of Phoenixville. Regional cooperation anyone?

Anonymous said...

Fellow readers. This pdf document makes for interesting reading. Don't you think the library being a school district asset makes it ineligible for this? There are also things about this money being for highways and such. What the ...?
If you look at other information on the state's site there's stuff about matching funds. It looks like the whole library expansion plan is kind of messed up from a couple of different angles. Dinniman's office did announce last November he had received word that funds had been approved for the projects from the Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, the overall budget for which was approved by the General Assembly and governor in July. Maybe there's no photo op because the whole project is so screwed up.

Anonymous said...

This gets more interesting. If you read the FAQ regarding the kind of funding Dinniman announced, you see that there is some kind of match involved and that the money hangs in there until or unless rescinded. You could interpret it as there's no rush, but you do need matching funds. Could that be behind the "gift" announced last February.
What Phoenixville resident has a half million dollars to spare? Is it coincidence that the "donation" could match the potential state offering? Who is in a rush to get land deals through the planning commission and council - even when there are obvious legal hurdles to the land acquisition and development?
Curious.
The school board has no business in this monkey business.

Anonymous said...

At one point it was stated that the grant could be used for fund-raising. That is incorrect.
The funds absolutely cannot be used for legal fees.

Yet at the School Board Committee meeting on Thursday, when he was questioned about whether a library legal fund existed, the library representative said that they would use the grant for $450,000 from the state for that purpose. Can't be done.
The money from the grant is sent as a reimbursement after a reimbursable cost has been incurred and deemed as an appropriate expense. The library does not have an account with funds in it from the RACP grant. It's not a checking account.
In addition, they are required to prove that they have adequate funds to pay for the non-reimbursable costs.

Anonymous said...

Correction to my previous post: The Phoenixville Library director made $80,000 in salary and $19,496 in benefits according to the 2008 IRS Form 990.

Anonymous said...

Where did you find the IRS form 990 at? If online can you provide the website link? I would like to see what the $ situation looks like.

Anonymous said...

A previous poster gave us the website:

www.guidestar.org

Anonymous said...

Link for 990s is
www.guidestar.org. You have to register your email address and create a password to use for this specific purpose.
You will receive an email acknowledgement.
You will be able to see limited information on organizations including the two library related organizations:
Phoenixville Public Library Foundation
and
Public Library of Phoenixville

Anonymous said...

Anonymous May 10th 12:40 A.M. provided us with the link to www.guidestar.org. That's where the IRS info is located. See the posting for more info.

Anonymous said...

No action was taken regarding library on Thursday, May 14. There was some discussion (which originated in the previous night's finance committee meeting) regarding the PASD contribution to the library budget for the upcoming year. Three options were considered – all of them increases. The amount the library cost taxpayers last year was approximately $477,000 plus all utility costs of around $100,000. The increases considered were:
1.93% - $486,200 (plus utility costs) – based on the proposed property tax increase
3.14% - $491,978 (plus approx $100k) – based on the budget to budget increase
3.38% - $493,123 (plus $100k util) – based on the orginal proposed budget increase

Paul S proposed 0% increase, Josh Gould would rather give the 5.66% the library had asked for – Paul would settle for the 1.93% “symbolic” increase and Josh Gould would settle for the 3.14%.
Debbie Dawson noted that the difference in the increases considered reflected differences which could pay for stipends for math specialists.