Residents urge council to protect youth sports fields as library relocation is considered

Several residents who spoke during citizen remarks said they support an improved library but not at the expense of existing youth sports fields without a funded replacement plan. Speakers cited specific concerns about lost field space, parking, increased traffic, stormwater runoff from new impervious surfaces and the absence of a responsible party for replacement fields.

"Once the library is built and the existing fields are gone or diminished, our leverage and our options will be gone with them," Shana Wallenstein said, asking for a clear statement of who will design, fund and complete replacement recreational facilities. Other residents asked whether the city had explored renovating or expanding the current library site and requested open-house joint sessions with the library, school district and city to provide public presentations and Q&A.

Residents also pressed for traffic monitoring and security for adjacent residential streets if site access were to be placed on Edgewood or other neighborhood streets. School and city representatives responded that the project team has been working on field redesigns, that the library agreed to cover demolition of a vacant preschool on the Fairmount site, and that field upgrades will be negotiated through a shared services agreement and cost estimates acquired during the design/estimation phase.