ROYAL CITY — Progress toward a new Royal City library took a big step forward Tuesday at the Royal City City Council meeting.

The council chamber was filled to standing room only as proponents of the library turned out in support of the lease agreement between the city and the Royal City Friends of the Library. The move was made possible in part by a grant the Friends of the Library received from the Lauzier Foundation: $150,000 in July of this year, to be followed by $200,000 in 2024 and $150,000 in 2025, for a total of $500,000. Between that and other funds the Friends of the Library have raised, there is currently $620,000 available for the work.

The Friends of the Library have been raising funds and making plans for a new library since 2019, according to President Susan Piercy. The existing library is only 1,200 square feet; the library the organization envisions — and has had tentative plans drawn up for — is 4,000 square feet.

The location the Friends of the Library have had their eye on is a piece of city-owned land on Camelia Street. A sign erected at the site in April proclaims it the future home of the Royal City Library, but the formalities have remained up in the air. The Lauzier grant prompted city Finance Director Shilo Christensen to bring the matter to the council.

“The city owns the land,” Christensen explained. “If we built this building, it would cost a lot of money. The Friends of the Library said that they would be willing to pitch in to help. So if we leased the land to the Friends of the Library for a small lease amount, they, through volunteers, would build it for the city and at the end of the lease, that building would be turned over to the city.”

North Central Washington Libraries would supply the books and furnishings for the library, Christensen explained, but the building, as well as the land it occupies, would belong to the city. The city also owns the land and building the current library occupies, and could sell that property once the new one is completed.

The timeline envisioned by the Friends of the Library, once the city council and the city planner have both approved the plans, would set a groundbreaking for Sept. 27 of this year and a completed library in early 2025.

City Attorney Katherine Kenison expressed some concern about the city’s liability for costs incurred if the construction project were to fall through.

The Friends of the Library have two sources of funding,” she said. “One of them is the recent Paul Lauzier grant and the other one is the pledge from our central library ... The city, however, is not a party to either of those funding agreements. Those commitments have been made to the Friends of the Library. So we don't have a contractual guarantee that those funds are actually going to be paid.”

If the funding were to fall through, Kenison explained, the city could be left with a half-finished building and have to find the money to finish it.

“If this was a typical construction project that the city was entering into, you would have both a performance bond and a payment bond,” she said. “I would (suggest) something similar to that to ensure performance by Friends of the Library. And that would be an additional expense ... because it's buying insurance.”

Piercy pointed out to the council that much of the labor in the library’s construction will be donated, which makes the actual cost of construction considerably less than the official estimate of about $840,000.

“I would like to say one thing,” Andersen said. “You know, we have pretty much followed Katherine's counsel, but sometimes you have to take a little bit of a risk to do something. And this might be a risk where we can go into an agreement with them and have confidence that the project is going to go the way that (is planned). If you look at the Paul Lauzier Foundation, and you look at every other project done in every other city, they've never defaulted once. I don't think we're gonna go out on a very big limb.”

The council voted unanimously to authorize Kenison to draft a lease agreement between the city and the friends of the Library.

“Fantastic,” said Friends of the Library member Sharon Chesterman. “It’s been a long time coming.”

Joel Martin may be reached via email at jmartin@columbiabasinherald.com.