ROCKLAND — Rockland residents, along with some non-residents, filled Council Chambers during Wednesday night’s budget review meeting for the library and the recreation department, and city attorney. No actions were taken at the May 13 meeting, but there was a commitment by the councilors to keep the Recreation Center Summer Camp going through the 2015 season.

Councilors considered fundraising options in regard to the library, better advertising of the Recreation Center’s programs, and possible lease of the center’s space to private athletic organizations, such as the Midcoast Recreation Center or the YMCA, in a quest to find $1 million to cut from the city’s proposed Fiscal Year 2106 budget. 

They then discussed the financial and efficiency impacts if the city attorney’s position went away. Also mentioned in the meeting were the fire chief and harbormaster’s positions. Last year, the city went without a city manager, a fire chief and a school resource officer.

Mayor Frank Isganitis offered a solution for the library, which operates as a regional library. “We fund at $350,000. We agree to fund an additional $50,000 that would be matched with new fundraising on the part of the library and their affiliated organizations...knowing that there is potentially one entity that could write one check to get them there. That would bring the dollars up to $450,000 with appropriation of $494,000. That would leave just $44,000 short, which either could be addressed by additional fundraising or minimal cuts.” 

The current fiscal year 2016 library budget request is $564,232.

Because of the crowd, which filled all seats, as well as all wall space around three sides of the room, Isganitis allowed for public comment despite not being on the agenda.

Fifteen people spoke on behalf on the library and 10 people spoke on behalf of the Recreation Center.

In regard to the library, most spoke about their own personal relationships with books, education, culture and community. The library was referred to as a “crown jewel,” “the best in the state,” and “the heart of the city.”

A couple speakers mentioned the hardships that would be involved if staff were reduced to part-time pay without benefits. One speaker mentioned the difficulty of finding volunteers to assist in library needs, and others demanded that cuts be made ‘across the board’ of all city departments, not just library and recreation.

A few people suggested revenue options such as increasing fees, asking patrons for donations, administering charges for the annual brush pickup each spring, and not sending city staff to conferences and training sessions for a year.

Councilor Louise MacLellan-Ruf pointed out some statistics: “Ten cities, two times the size of Rockland, spend less property tax dollars on the library.” She said that Bath Regional Library gets “59 percent of its revenue from sources other than local tax properties. Bath pays $16 per resident, in property taxes, for a library card...What Rockland pays, per resident, it is anywhere from $67 to $72 per person. Then we go to non-residents. Non-residents pay $35 for a library card — not per person, but that’s per family. So if there’s a couple who’ve got three children, they are only paying $35.”

Councilor Valli Geiger said, “Thirty-five to 40 percent of people who use the library do not live in Rockland.”

This disparity of cost is because of an interlocal agreement.

“The library will remain open,” MacLellan-Ruf said. “Regardless of what happens, tonight, and into the first of July, the library is going to remain open.”

According to MacLellan-Ruf, the community is willing to see fundraising occur in order to keep the library functioning, and “equitable fairness for Rockland taxpayers.”

Isginitis told the audience: “There are sections of Owls Head that are serviced by our sewer system. There are sections of Rockport that are serviced by our sewer system. There’s coverage for fire/EMS/police for those municipalities that are all part of an interlocal agreement.”

Public speakers on behalf of the Recreation Department relayed sentiments of teen spirit and character building, distractions from substance abuse, the activities of years ago and alternatives to sedentary lifestyles that contribute to obesity.

Public solutions included renting out the Tower Room, charging for games and charging fees to those who can afford to give. The proposed recreation department budget for 206 is $370,595.

Councilor Larry Pritchett said: “Will [Clayton] and I [and a few others] really worked overtime in 2011 to have the public understand the challenges to the Recreation Building, to understand the value that it has been to the community. And I think without our efforts, the building would probably be closed at this point. I appreciated [the comment] made earlier. It certainly was our intent as the people shepherding the evaluation through, shepherd the $675,000 bond, that this building would continue to serve the community in some form, and serve the kids in some form.”

Pritchett said that a lot of the ideas suggested by the public were ideas Councilor Will Clayton has already pushed for: promotions, structured memberships and to “re-energize” some of the sponsorship programs. According to Pritchett, he and Clayton reached out to various organizations in an attempt to rent out the Tower Room. That was only two percent successful, according to Pritchett.

Related stories:

• Rockland City Council begins budget talks with department heads about requests

• Rockland’s city manager introduces $21.6 million budget

• Rockland council honors Interim City Manager Tom Lutrell for a job well done

• Rockland's budget reflects zero tax increase; city won’t fill vacant positions

•$1.1 million could leave Rockland budget

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com