Communication Failure Blamed For Beverly Library Funding Denial

BEVERLY, MA — The failure of a proposed $18 million Beverly Public Library renovation that would have included a new geothermal heating and cooling system, roof replacement and accessibility upgrades was because of the administration's failure to include the City Council on updates and discussions that saw the price tag for the proposed renovation balloon more than five times the original cost forecast two years ago, according to City Councilor Scott Houseman.

Speaking to the Council during Tuesday night's meeting — a week after the long-debated project failed a 5-3 vote of the Council with Houseman not in attendance — Houseman said Mayor Mike Cahill's office needs to do a better job working with the Council on capital projects that require funding approval or risk more negative votes.

(Also on Patch: Major Beverly Library Renovation Voted Down: City Council)

"Agree or not with the outcome of the library vote," Houseman said, "I think the Council really did its job last week and I am very proud of the Council as an institution for insisting upon both transparency and accountability from the administration. We can work and collaborate together but that's a two-way street and the administration has to, in my opinion, sort of seek advice and consent from the Council.

"There were a lot of decision trees that kind of came and went that the Council was not involved in. And if we had been involved with them that library vote may well have been different because the decisions made along the way may have been different."

Cahill had pledged more communication with the Council as he pushed for the library funding that would have ultimately had Beverly residents paying for about half of the $18 million renovation with the rest covered through state and federal grants, earmarks and other reimbursements.

"The project is not what was talked about almost two years ago when we looked at the feasibility analysis of the various ways of replacing the HVAC system," Cahill told the Council on March 18. "It's clear that there are some very significant challenges that the building has and so the scope is
very different."

Cahill had pledged in subsequent meetings to be more communicative with the Council on upcoming capital projects, including the anticipated $25 million City Hall renovation.

"I call on the mayor to deliver on the commitment that he made last meeting to provide progress reports to the Council on capital expenditure projects in an orderly, effective and regular manner," Houseman said. "For me, it means delivering on that commitment before another vote is taken on another capital expenditure project, and we do have one that is coming up before us on a near-future agenda."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)