After a heated discussion Monday night, the Great Bend City Council authorized Mayor Mike Allison to sign an agreement with the Great Bend Public Library Board for the payment and reimbursement of the new heating and air conditioning system at the library in the amount of $762,012.92.
City Administrator Howard Partington said the payment is basically a loan to the library from the city, which is using cash from its reserves to cover the cost. To repay the money, the city will retain a quarterly $25,000 installment from the mill distribution to the library until it is paid in full, or over eight and quarter years.
There is also 2 percent interest being charged.
“We considered many alternatives,” Partington said of how the city considered addressing the issue. But, this seemed like the best method.
The agreement establishes the conditions upon which the city will pay for the system up front and be paid back from the one mill levy that was approved in 2013 for library capital improvements. The new was system was the initial project in this improvement plan.
Where the city owns the 40-year-old library building at 1409 Williams, the library is operated by the seven-member Great Bend Library Board. It was the board that determined the heating and cooling units needed to be replaced and decided on a high-tech geothermal system.
The Library Board incurred expenses and signed contracts in connection to this project. It had also requested financial assistance from the city.
Partington said in 2014, the city levied an additional property tax mill (above the six already allotted to the library) to help pay for the work. It also advanced the library $125,000.
That same year, the project commenced. But, the installation of water wells and other work exhausted much of the funds the library had available.
So, in October 2014, the board entered into a contract with Glassman Corporation of Hays for $749,500 to finish the improvements. However, it did not have the funds nor financing to pay for the contract.
It also racked up an additional $12,512.92 in costs related to relocating the library to a temporary location and additional architectural fees.
In light of this, they board requested the city’s assistance in covering the costs of the contracted services, Partington said. This was the action approved Monday night.
The city will pay the $749,500 to Glassman Corporation, as well as the extra $12,512.92.
While the library is torn up for the installation, it is operating from a temporary location at 3407 10th St., next to the AT&T store in the old Blockbuster Video building.
“This is one of the most irresponsible things I have ever seen,” said Councilman Dana Dawson. He said the public needs to offer input into the library’s future, which he said may be limited in the age of the Internet.
“It will turn into a museum of old books,” Dawson said.
According to Dawson, the city budgeted to spend $675,000 on the library this year. That’s more than it allocated for streets ($651,000) and the zoo ($564,000).
“With the money we are spending on the library, we could fund every home in Great Bend with high-speed Internet, computers and Netflix,” Dawson said. “The (library) board is a loose cannon.”
In the long run, the building is owned by the city so something has to be done to keep it usable. The council, he said, really didn’t have a choice.
“Libraries are here to stay,” said GBPL Director Harry Willems. Their mission may change and they may offer different services, but they will always be needed.
And, Willems said, the library offers access to computers and teaches residents how to use them. This is important for navigating increasingly computerized government access and searching for jobs.
Willems said the board had an alternative to asking for the city’s help. However, that came with a much higher interest rate.
This is the only improvement planned for this year. But, Willems said there is a lot left to do to bring the aging structure up to date.
“The library is an establishment the city needs,” Councilwoman Allene Owen said. It offers programs to the young and old that some of those folks might not otherwise have access to.
But, she just asked that before any large improvements are made that library officials come before the council and explain them. “There needs to be better communication.”
“I don’t want to see the library close,” Dawson said. “I just think it could be managed better.”
 The decision to switch from a more conventional system to geothermal came after researching the options, Willems said earlier. A geothermal system was not the least expensive option, but it also wasn’t the most expensive, he said.
Geothermal heating and cooling starts with a loop underground, where the temperature remains fairly consistent all year. The library’s system requires a 140 foot intake well on the northwest corner of the building and a 170-foot injection well  on the southwest corner of the parking lot.
In September of last year when two water wells were being drilled for the system, Willems said the total project was estimated to cost  $450,000.