This afternoon around 4:15 BOS Chair Ann Mallek made the motion to accept the lowest construction bid, following county staff recommendations, and to issue a letter of intent to enter into a contract with MB Contractors, Inc. of Roanoke.

The motion was seconded, a vote was called, and the motion passed, 5-1 with only Supervisor Ken Boyd voting against.

Before the vote the staff presented a potential timeline:

1. Sign the contract in May,
2. Break ground in July,
3. Build the library in about 12 months.

As I understand the process, the letter of intent allows the staff to develop the contract with the builders. The contract will come back before the BOS for approval; having approved the letter of intent, my understanding is the precedent has been for the BOS to focus its attention on the content of the contract, not whether the library will be built.

Again — as I understand the process — the new library should break ground this July.

~ ~   Brief interruption for us all to stand up and do a happy dance! ~ ~

Of course there is much work still to be done and funds to be raised to furnish the building. We’ll get to that soon enough.

For now I want to say how much I appreciate your willingness to speak to friends and neighbors, to attend meetings, to stand up at meetings and hearings, to speak at meetings and hearings, to contact the Supervisors directly, to write letters… to do whatever it takes to spread the message that this community needs, supports, and deserves the new library. Thank you so very much.

If you have a minute, following up with a thank you to the Supervisors would be great.

Thank you!

Wednesday, April 4th BOS Agenda:

2:10 p.m. – Action Items:
23. Crozet/Western Albemarle Library – Update on Bids and Budget for Library Project.

This would be a great time to, once again, contact your Supervisors with a brief, but strong message:

Accept this bid — at a significant savings since the BOS approved the construction in 2007 — and build it now.

In an opening meeting at the Albemarle County Office Building on Wednesday, March 28th, attended by construction company representatives, JMRL staff, reporters, and Build Crozet Library supporters, the county staff opened construction bids.

Observers were offered a paper spreadsheet, 11″ x 17″, with bidding company names and the many different parts of the bid already filled in. While county staff opened the envelopes and read out the bids, most of us in the room wrote the dollar amounts into the appropriate spaces (all 121 of them).

As has been reported in the Daily Progress (see the article here), the bids ranged from just under $5.8 million to over $6.9 million. You could compare that to an estimated $8.5 million cost in March, 2007.

After the staff verifies the apparent low bid from MB Contractors, Inc., they will submit it to the Board of Supervisors this week. Here’s what’s next, according to county staff, quoted in the Daily Progress:

Before the project can go forward, county Director of Purchasing Hugh Gravitt said, the supervisors have to approve the project at their meeting next week. If that happens, he said, a contract will be awarded in May, with groundbreaking scheduled for July.

“If it stays on track, those awards should be in May, with notice to proceed in June, with the hope of breaking dirt in July,” he said.

Lilley added that the bids do not guarantee that the project will end up being built.

“Of course, we still need the Board of Supervisors to say that they want to fund it,” Lilley said. “We only have it tentatively funded.”

The supervisors will vote on the final county budget and tax rate April 4.

The BOS is likely to vote on the advertised tax rate Wednesday, April 4 or Wednesday April 11 (the deadline by which the County could then print tax bills for the first half of 2012-13).

Please see this article in the Daily Progress, Proposal increases Albemarle spending, tax rate.

Foley detailed his $311,677,759 budget for fiscal year 2012-13 to the Board of Supervisors on Friday. Though the equalized tax rate generally means no increase in taxes paid for homeowners, Foley said, the rate will allow the county to add EMS service to Pantops; build the Ivy fire station, a new police firing range and the long-planned Crozet Library; and provide a 1 percent raise for county staff.

Please see the ‘Budget Message’ on the County’s website here.

Quoting from the Budget Message, under the heading, Capital Budget Overview:

The CIP continues to be focused on maintaining our existing infrastructure while investing in only those efforts that allow us to accommodate core and necessary services without substantial increases in operational costs. Projects were carefully evaluated and prioritized to optimize the use of limited capital funds to meet the County’s most critical operational and community needs. However, this CIP begins to look to the future by completing the Crozet Library, constructing a Public Safety Firing Range, and providing a fire engine to support the opening of the Ivy Fire Station.

This is just the beginning of the budget process. It still could be easily derailed. Let’s see it through to the end.

Finally — the news we’ve been waiting for:  The actual invitation for bids is being advertised today. I have attached the document so you can read the official wording here.

On February 23rd a pre-bid conference will be held at the Crozet United Methodist Chruch, 1156 Crozet Avenue at 2 pm. This is primarily for firms planning to submit a bid; representatives of the library will attend as well.

On March 28th the bids will be opened.

The ad can be sen on page F2 of today’s Daily Progress. It is also running in the Richmond and Roanoke newspapers.

In case you haven’t seen this clip of Seinfeld (or haven’t seen it in a while), here’s a short, fun clip with the Library Detective coming after Seinfeld, Dragnet-style.

“Let me tell you something, funny boy…”

Library detective Mr. Bookman tracks down Seinfeld

[click to view; sorry, embedding wasn't allowed.]

Posted on the News page, but important enough to be posted here as well — from the December 8, 2011, Charlottesville Daily Progress. The entire story can be read here. Opening paragraphs below:

County votes to issue request for proposals on Crozet Library

The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to ask county staff to prepare a request for proposals for the long-planned Crozet Library.

Completing the project will require the county to move to an equalized tax rate of 76.5 cents per $100 of assessed property value, a decision that the board will make in a couple months. Staff told the supervisors that no money need be allocated for the structure to get an RFP put together.

Discussion of the library arose amid a board work session on the county’s five-year financial plan. During the information session, county staff informed the board that the county’s obligation to the Virginia Retirement System will be significantly more than estimates that were presented last month.

Wednesday, November 2nd, White Hall resident Sally James spoke to the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, asking them to Build Crozet Library.  Here’s what she had to say…

“My name is Sally James and I live in White Hall.

I am appealing to you today to please do all you can to build the new Crozet Library sooner rather than later.

I emphasize the word “do” because it is a time for action. Don’t let the library become another project lost in a sea of studies and surveys. The need for the library is immediate, multifaceted, and intertwines several layers of our community. To wait would do more than simply put things on hold; it would create situations where we would be taking detrimental steps backwards.

• To build now would create construction employment at a time it is sorely needed, and take advantage of currently lower building costs.
• To build now would bring ancillary monies to Crozet and our surrounding communities as people involved in all phases of completing the library spend time and resources here.
• To build now would bring, in a bleak time, a sense of hope through activity that is forward-looking and community-minded. The present library has proved to be a hub of our community, bringing together people of all ages and interests through all kinds of events. It is much more than a building filled (to the brim!) with books; it is a place for people to connect and grow. Crozet was chosen to be a growth-center for the county, and, yes, it has grown! The new library has the potential to continue to be a central meeting place for a community that has become more and more diverse; it can be a place where the best of “old” Crozet meets the excitement of the “new”, educating and creating a cohesive community.
• Finally, to build now puts muscle to what we’ve mouthed over and again that education does matter; that we really care that our children use and develop their minds; that an infomred public really can make a difference in building strong communities.

To delegate monies for this project and begin construction now could reap benefits that would reach far beyond the foundation of just this one building. Let it be an example to our county of a community caring for its members.

Thank you.”