From the Johnson County Daily Journal:
The library district would have another two chances at getting voters to approve a new downtown Franklin library and get cash and land from the city, according to a contract approved last year.
But members of a city board are looking at whether that contract, which gives the library district $3.5 million and more than an acre of land, can be changed.
Members of the Franklin Redevelopment Commission said they want to research the contract, which was signed in December, to see if changes can be made to the time frame allowed for the library to get a referendum approved.
The contract approved by the redevelopment commission gives the library until November 2014 to get a referendum approved and allows until June 2015 to finalize an agreement to give the library the land and money for a new branch.
But members of the board said voters spoke loudly in the recent referendum, resoundingly rejecting the library project, and that the city board wants to use that money and land in the next two years, rather than letting it sit.
If the library plans a future project, then both the library board and the city could discuss possible assistance from the city at that time, board members said.
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McGuinness said he would like the city to have the land and money to use for future projects. For example, when the city was trying to land Abbott Laboratories earlier this year, that deal included a large amount of cash incentives. The $3.5 million promised to the library could be very helpful in a future deal, he said.
Also, the land could be used in a future development, such as if a business wants to locate there, McGuinness said.
“It hamstrings us if that land has to sit for years as is. What happens if another developer wants to do something, like put in a business? And $3.5 million is a lot of money to be earmarked for that period of time, particularly if a big project comes in,” McGuinness said.
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http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/local_story/By_Tom_Lange_Daily_Journal_Sta_1336705354/
