Well, isn’t it just lovely that the director of the King County Library System, Bill Ptacek, is so concerned about the citizens of Renton’s financial business that he sent out letters to his “neighbors.”  He tells us he directed the Miller-Hull architectural firm to do an “in-depth investigation” on our behalf and they concluded that renovating the Cedar River Library will cost more than building a smaller one in downtown Renton.

However, Neighbor Bill and his architectural firm’s in-depth investigation into “cost considerations” has failed to provide financial information the rest of us “neighbors” might find pertinent.

KCLS is responsible for all the things that would make the building a library (shelves, books, computers, etc.) while Renton is responsible for the building itself.

We sold bonds to provide the money for the libraries but as far as I know there has been no provision to fund an environmental center.  Neighbor Bill says it would cost $13.1 million to update the Cedar River Library for use as a library.  Wouldn’t the Cedar River building need essentially much the same updating for use as an environmental center? If the building needs a new roof to be a library, it’ll need a new roof to become an environmental center, for instance.  Where is that money going to come from?

Once any renovations are finished, how much money will we need to design and create an environmental center?  Where will the money come?

How much money will Renton need per year to staff and maintain an environmental center? Once again, as far as I can see, no money is available for that purpose either.

Maybe Neighbor Bill didn’t include this information because his architectural firm’s investigation wasn’t  “in-depth” enough or maybe he just doesn’t care to share. Whatever the reason, I’m unimpressed by his efforts and annoyed by his obviously biased, completely worthless “neighborly” letter.  I suspect the powers that be are trying to finagle a 3-fer – two new libraries plus an environmental center – without being up front about the costs.

There’s no doubt in my mind that the current location of the Cedar River Library is clearly the best aesthetic choice for a library.  Even if it does cost more to keep the library at the Cedar River location, in my opinion, it’s worth it. I suspect, however, that if all the facts were known it very well may be that it would be Renton’s clear financial choice as well.

Carol and Jon Hildrum

Renton