FORTVILLE – Florence May, Vernon Township trustee, spoke at the recent Redevelopment Commission (RDC) meeting to give an update on the progress of the new library coming to Fortville.
May said that while they weren’t making any official requests that night, they still wanted to go before the board with an update since it had been an extended amount of time since Vernon Township made its commitment to donate land to have the library located on Vitality Drive.
The map shows a dry retention pond behind the fire station, but May said that it is undersized for what’s built. May said for anything else to be added, the pond would need to be expanded or another would need to be added.
May said that with the financing of the storm water drainage and retention/detention, they aren’t sure that the numbers they have are final, which is why they are not officially requesting funding. Instead, they are getting an idea of whether it was too expensive, or whether or not it was feasible, and be able to begin the discussion.
May also said that they felt this was important to bring before the board now because the library is soon going to go for bonding of the project, and they needed to know if they will need to bond for drainage money and if the RDC will help fund for some of the infrastructure.
“We wanted to make sure we continue to keep you (RDC) informed as to where we were. We are still committed to make the donation of land to the library,” May said. “We wanted to start doing the homework to understand what the potential costs of this are. We expect by the time the library will be ready to build that the costs will increase.”
It was said the numbers presented were gathered from the past few weeks and while the RDC would be supporting the drainage for the project, it is a “big necessity” and will go toward supporting not just the library but also to the other buildings located in that area, such as Fortville’s fire station.
STS, a technology business located in McCordsville, would be willing to give the township $40,000 to help with the project, with them also expanding in the area and needing detention to accommodate their expansion.
May said that the money would not be collected unless the larger pond is approved, and the library is to move to that location, but is prepared to provide the land if the library receives bonding.
Ashtan Bennett, the new director of the Vernon Township Public Library, said that they are still looking at building a 14,000 square-foot building in the site area. However, the layout and configuring is subject to change. Bennett said they are currently revisiting designs with architects.
“It still is a 14,000-square-foot building, it is still on the trustee’s site, it just may not be attached,” Bennett said.
No vote was taken on the agenda item at the RDC meeting but was discussed based on yet-to-be-determined factors how much the RDC would contribute for the project, which is estimated to cost around $270,000.
