Wellington County council voted unanimously to keep the Aboyne library open, to much applause from a delegation of supporters who filled much of the public gallery at council’s Sept. 27 meeting.
But the decision to keep the library open means the upcoming Oct. 10 meeting of the information, heritage and seniors committee – of which the library board is a part – will be moved to the Aboyne hall from the Wellington Terrace boardroom to allow for more people to attend.
The decision to move the meeting was made by Warden Chris White, who felt because of interest in future renovations to the Fergus Carnegie library, the meeting should be moved. On Monday he consulted with committee chairman Mark MacKenzie who concurred the meeting will be moved.
At the county council meeting it was made clear there are differing opinions about the scale of the renovation to the Fergus library. Several speakers were critical the earlier decision to close Aboyne was linked to the Fergus library. It was a decision that has caused considerable concern among supporters of either library.
The delegations included submissions from Silvana Sangiuliano, Steve Lund, Connie Nicoll and Thomas Homer-Dixon. Several voiced concern that the plan to close Aboyne may have been premature, considering several development plans for the area, including a 1,200-unit residential subdivision.
“I’m an unequivocal supporter of the library board’s decision to keep the Aboyne library open,” Homer-Dixon told councilors. “The decision to close inflamed public perception. Some how these things have been linked. Council should begin the process of separating the two.”
Homer-Dixon added concerns about the $5 million redesign of the Fergus library have also been raised, including the loss of downtown parking spaces and the potential for vandalism of the rebuilt library.
At its coming meeting the library board is expected to meet with the architectural firm involved in the Fergus redesign and discuss financial issues in a proposed contract with Centre Wellington that will cover costs associated with parking, financing and infrastructure upgrades, MacKenzie said.
“It’s open to the public,” the library board chairman said.
At the county meeting, MacKenzie informed council of the board reversing its decision to close Aboyne. The original decision would have seen Aboyne closed once the new Fergus library was completed and administrative services moved to the Fergus and Elora libraries. The closure would have seen current Aboyne staff relocated to the other two libraries.
“As a library board member the issue of Aboyne is very significant,” said councillor Lou Maieron. “This (the decision by county council to keep Aboyne open) should be a celebration and it shouldn’t pit one community against another.”
Maieron, who originally supported the closure at county council in June, vowed the board will work to fix the rift between library supporters in the two communities.
Councillor Gord Tosh said the board may have to look at the current design plans for Fergus and possibly look at a scaled-down design.
“Maybe we should look at the preliminary design,” he said.
“We’ll vote on this design and see where it goes,” White replied.
