Riddle of the day: how long does it take Prince George city council to approve a new entrance to the public library?
The answer: 21 years, four mayors, four chief librarians, four separate building studies, a host of expensive outside consultants (the report from the last one cost $200,000) and endless promises made and broken from the City of Prince George to fix an entrance that was supposed to be temporary when the building first opened more than 35 years ago.
Finally, finally, on Monday night, city council approved a plan to spend $2.5 million for a proper main entrance to replace either stepping inside a concrete bunker in the parkade or hiking up that outdoor circular staircase.
The only thing missing from the good news was chief librarian Janet Marren and library board chair Carolynne Burkholder James leaping to their feet to sing the Etta James classic At Last in the middle of council chambers.
Perhaps they could perform their duet in 2019, which is when the entrance is scheduled to be finished.
Yet they shouldn't be warming up the vocal chords quite yet. The library entrance was on the city's funded capital plan in 2013, only to be dropped the following year once the city realized it was going to take more time and money than was available to have it completed in time for the 2015 Canada Winter Games.
That shouldn't have made a stitch of difference, of course, as the ungodly concrete shell of the neighbouring hotel project, surrounded by a rough plywood fence, welcomed visitors to Canada Games Plaza this time two years ago.
Once the games were over, however, city council hummed and hawed over the cost, even though previous city councils had no problem spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on outside experts to prepare building studies, engineering reports and preliminary plans that were never used.
Hopefully, the entrance gets through the planning and tender process unscathed before construction can finally start next year.
Meanwhile, the city will spend $370,000 on a new roof for the library this year, another long overdue project to prevent water spilling onto the book collection, something that has happened on more than one occasion in the past.
Unfortunately, a $300,000 request to upgrade the front desk area was left on hold, even though the checkout clerks are walking on carpet held down with duct tape.
That appalling state would never be tolerated in city hall, of course, but the rules have always been different for the library.
City department heads had no problem suggesting the library's budget be frozen for three consecutive years, yet they were not willing to make the same recommendations for their own areas of responsibility.
The previous city council not only went along with that nonsense, it even went so far as to try to pocket an extra $50,000 from the Regional District of Fraser Fort George earmarked for the library. That little scheme to throw those funds into the city pot was averted at the 11th hour.
During those three challenging years, costs went up at the library, just like at the city, forcing library management and staff to get creative at cutting costs, reducing programs, dragging their heels at replacing essential staff and holding off on wage increases.
Furthermore, the library used fundraising dollars, grants and corporate support - not taxpayer dollars - to build the outdoor Knowledge Garden and Skylab, the upstairs mezzanine, as well as bring in new shelves, move the upstairs information desk, renovate the Keith Gordon meeting room and replace flooring.
The city's commitment to the library during this same time period? A new washroom and a new elevator, both of which were public safety hazards by the time they were replaced.
That difference in ethic when it comes to spending public money continues to this day.
At the City of Prince George, an Ontario contractor was hired in late 2015 and paid $125,000 to put together a new municipal website (and it's still not finished).
At the library, in-house staff worked off the side of their desks to launch a new website in just 12 months.
If only senior city managers could manage their departments with the same no-nonsense frugality that the public library's board and staff have demonstrated in recent years. If only a mayor and city council would be as tough on the city's operational budget as they have been on the library's, instead of just passing on those annual three and four per cent tax increases recommended by the city manager of the day.
If that day ever comes, it will be local taxpayers singing At Last.
-- Managing editor Neil Godbout
(Full disclosure: Managing editor Neil Godbout is a former employee of the Prince George Public Library.)
