March 3, 2023 |
Photo – Library Books – Bigfoot99 File Photo
The Town of Hanna wants to break its utilities agreement with the county.
The Hanna Branch is one of eight libraries in the county. Carbon County Commissioners are required by state law to operate just one, in Rawlins. The board is committed to making public libraries available in every community for the young and old alike.
Officials in the Town of Hanna are seeking to lower the yearly cost of running their branch. In a letter emailed to Carbon County Library Director Maria Wenzel, Hanna Town Clerk Vivian Gonzales states that the town wants to reduce how much it pays for heating the county-owned library building in her town.
The topic came up at this week’s Carbon County Commissioners meeting. County Attorney Ashley Davis said Wenzel wanted to bring it to the commission’s attention.
Commission Chair Sue Jones said rural towns in the county subsidize their own libraries. She added the county is only legally required to fund the library in Rawlins.
For Hanna to have its own branch, certain concessions needed to be made. Commissioner John Johnson said the county splits funding between all of the towns. He said each town is expected to contribute money toward the operation of its own library.
As with each rural library, the county owns the Hanna building. In exchange for being part of the county library system, the town of Hanna has agreed to pay $1,500 a year for gas heat and $1,200 for water service. Attorney Davis said Hanna’s letter said the town wanted to lower their gas payments.
The county’s building and grounds manager, Mike Newbrough, said the Hanna library, which is housed in an old doublewide trailer, has experienced higher than average gas usage. He suggested installing wireless monitors in the building to see why the heating bill is so high.
County Clerk Gwen Bartlett said Hanna officials might need to see how their money is being used. She said Library Director Wenzel should provide the town with an itemized report of how much the county spends to maintain the library system.
Chairwoman Jones said the county supplies each town with a copy of the county’s library staffing budget. Towns use the information to determine how much they should pitch in towards the library’s operational cost. She said it was important for each town to have some level of investment in its library.
Attorney Davis suggested changing the contract to have the town pay the county directly. She said the change would make it more obvious where the town’s money is going.
Hanna officials will host a workshop to reconsider the county’s library contract on March 9th . Chairwoman Jones said she is open to ideas, including moving the library into a different location. County commissioners said they will continue to review the matter.
