FeedsIdea is too good not to ‘check out’
Someone needs to show some leadership in the Van Buren, Belleville and Sumpter Township communities regarding the issue of a voter-approved district library.
This is an idea that is, quite simply, too good to die.
Members of the communities put together committee to come up with a recommendation for the library; they completed their work last year—sort of. They came up with a recommendation that was approved in Van Buren Township, rejected in Belleville and tabled in Sumpter.
The outstanding issues are the representation on the appointed library board that would serve until the first library board election and the disposition of the land the library rests on.
The board would be made up of four Van Buren residents, two Sumpter residents and one Belleville resident—which is based on the current funding formula. The library is in the City of Belleville, on land owned by the city—and deeded through the Fred Fisher Foundation to house only a library—but the three communities funded improvements at the library several years ago that each owns a part of.
These are not issues that should stop progressive-minded government officials. Even if the District Library Committee—which has been in a sort of limbo since the Sumpter Township Board tabled the issue last November—isn’t given the directive to try to resolve them, a subcommittee of elected representatives from each municipality could be put together to work toward a common solution.
A district library will provide many benefits to the overall region. It will give more control over hiring and operations.
It will help reduce costs. It will help ease the strain on the general funds of all the communities since it would be funded through a dedicated millage, too.
The election season is now under way, and the deadline to get an issue on the November ballot is fast approaching. It’s time to act on this. It’s too important to let slip away.
