After an 11th-hour delay in finalizing the lease agreement between the city of Scotts Valley and the county of Santa Cruz for the new library branch on Kings Village Road, the deal is set to move forward pending a vote of the Library Joint Powers Board set for Monday, June 6.
The two-year lease, if approved, would allow the library to use the space at a rate of $1 per year.
Scotts Valley City Councilman Jim Reed, who serves on the joint powers board, said the delay arose when the county had what he described as “last-minute changes” to the lease agreement.
The Scotts Valley Redevelopment Agency charged itself in 1990 with providing a library facility to lease to the county, or a designee, for $1 per year, and it appeared that the county was ready to accept the deal.
The city bought the new library building — the former Scotts Valley Sports Center — for $4.5 million in 2009.
According to Reed, the county designated the Library Joint Powers Authority to act on its behalf during the negotiations with Scotts Valley’s redevelopment agency.
The sticking point, Reed said, was that the county wanted assurances that if it withdrew membership from the joint powers authority, the lease would revert to the county at the same $1-per-year rate.
“It took a few weeks to get to a point where everyone was comfortable with the lease,” Reed said.
In the meantime, library workers have spent several weeks preparing to move the library’s equipment, thousands of books and other materials from the Kings Village shopping center into the new branch. They began the actual move this week. The grand opening of the library is scheduled for June 18.
“All legal issues at this point are resolved, as I understand it,” said Barbara Gorson, joint powers chairwoman.
Gorson said she expected the lease would have no trouble garnering the board’s approval.
“I think we are all of the same mind,” she said. “We all want to move forward to get that great new library opened.”
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