Lombard officials can't agree on library land

Lombard library trustees had hoped to take the first step in a possible campaign to expand the 39,000-square-foot Helen M. Plum Library by striking an agreement with the Lombard Park District for a land swap surrounding Lilacia Park.

Library trustees were prepared to vote to approve such a deal that would give them ownership of a 10-foot-wide driveway that separates the library, at 110 W. Maple Street, and property at 126 W. Maple St. and an adjacent lot at 130 W. Maple.

But during their regular meeting, Library board president Wayne Kankovsky said, "You can scratch that off."

No deal materialized during a Tuesday night special joint meeting between the library and park boards.

Instead, park commissioners raised objections over the language in what was intended as a tentative intergovernmental agreement produced by the library's attorney over how to define a "right of first refusal" that park commissioners requested in order to have a long-term say in what's built on the Lilacia campus.

Kankovsky argued though the park district would be given first refusal to purchase the 126 and 130 W. Maple parcels if officials don't use the driveway for expansion and decide to sell the Plum library, the library could put the properties on the real estate market, find a prospective buyer, and create a contract to determine their value.

"Without having a willing buyer and seller," Kankovsky said, to determine how much the property is worth, "everything else is a guess."

Kankovsky said such a contract would state the park district has the first right to purchase the parcels at the prospective buyer's price.

Lombard Park board president Char Roberts said placing the park district as the third party in discussion about the properties future, doesn't fit her definition of first refusal.

"We're not going after somebody else's contract," Roberts said after the meeting. "We will get first choice. Not second."

For nearly a year, both boards have been trying to work out a deal over the future of the park district's driveway.

Kankovsky has said the current building doesn't provide enough space to meet library needs.

Meeting those needs, Kankovsky said, could mean expanding the library, which would require a tax increase through a referendum.