Little transparency on new library plans

The Helen Plum Library board passed an ordinance on July 11 to begin the process to issue up to $25 million in bonds for their new facility. They also discussed in detail the next steps to take as soon as their August meetings.

All indications are there have been no new discussions and no agreement is in place with the Lombard Park District. A lack of transparency has sadly been their mantra for the past year or more as they sold the voters on a $22 million building plan that simply could not be built as promised in their referendum hype.

Air rights agreements, as part of the park district giving the library needed land for their addition, were signed in the mid 1970s that restricted building height to protect Lilacia Park from future encroachment. Those legally binding agreements were seemingly dismissed in Plum's early planning.

The library board and staff seem determined to bulldoze their existing building and build new on Maple Street. They continue to spend tens of thousands of our tax dollars on architectural renderings, engineering fees, legal fees, and more and yet operate in a veil of secrecy. In their long overdue Our Next Chapter update they urge the public to attend board meetings but two of their last four meetings had to be canceled due to potential Open Meetings Act violations.

The library has now collected the first of our property tax dollars for their promised project and yet they are not even close to being shovel ready. Instead they seem ready to bully the park district into relinquishing the air rights agreements and granting access easements rather than looking at new sites.

Robert Biddle

Lombard