Document text
Talent tries to plan use of buildings TALENT -- An empty fire hall, an overcrowded City Hall, an undersized library and the possibility of buying additional property sparked City Council discussion Wednesday on the need for long-range planning to address the city's space needs. While the council is far from making any recommendations on what to do with the land and buildings surrounding the Community Center, and has yet to even appoint a committee to study the issue, the council did direct staff to look into the possibility of purchasing land for public use. "I don't think that it goes a day that we don't notice that there's not enough space to store things," said interim City Administrator John Luthy, gesturing toward a stack of boxes which line the council chambers. "There are records that we are required to keep and we're running out of places to store them." Renovating the now-empty fire station or tearing it down and building a new library on the site, while using the current library for city staff, were thrown out as options during council discussion. Councilman Don Steyskal recalled that as part of the downtown planning process, two possible new sites for City Hall were identified: one behind the parking lot of the planned transportation depot, and another between the depot and City Hall. Councilwoman Lisa Shapiro said that whatever solution is decided upon, construction won't be completed for several years. She suggested that the council consider moving the council chambers in the interim to make more room in City Hall for staff use. In addition, the city was recently approached by Jackson County Library Director Ronnie Budge about an addition to the Talent branch library -- as part of a tentative May 2000 ballot measure to expand the entire county library system. A preliminary architect's proposal to add to the existing library toward the fire station was met with resistance from Talent Council members who said it would eat up scarce park land. While that option is now dead, Budge says that the city will need a library more than double its current size to continue serving Talent residents through 2025. Consultants estimate 5,661 square feet will be needed to house additional books, tables, chairs and computer work stations. The council is considering whether it should provide an alternative site for a new, larger library and just where that should be. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA