A crowd of local residents packed the April 7, Apalachicola city commission meeting to express their concerns over the city’s negotiations to purchase the Alan Pierce house for use by the Apalachicola Municipal Library.
In what is building up to be a spirited but healthy public debate, the commission heard from those attending the meeting alternatives to using the monies donated by the Key Estate to purchase the Pierce house to expand the library.
The most vocal was Jerry Hall who argued that the city needed to preserve its Historic residential district. He stated that he was not against the Library, “I’ve been on the Library Board, I’ve been the Chairman of Library Board, I love libraries, but I am now and have always been against taking R1 property for another use”, Hall said.
Apalachicola resident Bob Connors stated that as a person who uses the library and as a person who has supported the library in Eastpoint, he didn’t think that the Library Board decision to expand had been thought through. He further stated that he think that it would be good if the community had an opportunity to look at it in a broader scope to build more of a consensus.
Others questioned why monies from the Key Estate couldn’t be used to relocate the Library to the recently acquired Apalachicola High School building.
However, at the time the Library Board set its sights on the Pierce house, the city had not acquired the high school property from the school district.
In the end, at the recommendation of City Attorney Pat Floyd, the commission took no action on the Pierce house purchase. Instead, the Board let the matter proceed to the Planning & Zoning commission for a resolution on the issues surrounding use of the property.
In what is building up to be a spirited but healthy public debate, the commission heard from those attending the meeting alternatives to using the monies donated by the Key Estate to purchase the Pierce house to expand the library.
The most vocal was Jerry Hall who argued that the city needed to preserve its Historic residential district. He stated that he was not against the Library, “I’ve been on the Library Board, I’ve been the Chairman of Library Board, I love libraries, but I am now and have always been against taking R1 property for another use”, Hall said.
Apalachicola resident Bob Connors stated that as a person who uses the library and as a person who has supported the library in Eastpoint, he didn’t think that the Library Board decision to expand had been thought through. He further stated that he think that it would be good if the community had an opportunity to look at it in a broader scope to build more of a consensus.
Others questioned why monies from the Key Estate couldn’t be used to relocate the Library to the recently acquired Apalachicola High School building.
However, at the time the Library Board set its sights on the Pierce house, the city had not acquired the high school property from the school district.
In the end, at the recommendation of City Attorney Pat Floyd, the commission took no action on the Pierce house purchase. Instead, the Board let the matter proceed to the Planning & Zoning commission for a resolution on the issues surrounding use of the property.
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