For several decades, the two local governments of Orange County and the Town of Carrboro worked to bring a new branch of the county library to downtown Carrboro. Despite increased construction costs and after several iterations of the project, each government passed final approvals for construction to begin.

The 203 Project, a development planned for 203 South Greensboro Street, is moving ahead with a guaranteed of price tag more than $34 million and a final project budget of more than $41 million. Each local government voted at respective Tuesday night meetings on the Guaranteed Maximum Price of construction, with the Carrboro Town Council voting 5-1 and the Board of Orange County Commissioners voting 5-2.

Based on the final project budget, the county government will pay for approximately $22.2 million of construction and Carrboro will pay for nearly $19 million. On Tuesday, the Orange County commissioners approved the use of $3 million in cash reserves to help cover the near $5 million increase in costs since their last approval. Doing so will limit any additional of tax increase in the county, with the project already leading to some tax increases to recoup what the county borrowed for the costs.

Discussions by the Board of Orange County Commissioners in recent weeks saw several elected officials voice concern and displeasure with The 203 Project’s rising costs. While the board ultimately voted in favor, some commissioners were urgent in their advocacy for approval.

Commissioner Sally Greene is one of those who spoke, and voted, to approve the final allocation. She said in addition to the benefits a library would offer to the community, like equitable access to learning, literacy and internet, she believes it is important Orange County not pull out of the project and strand the Town of Carrboro. Greene said if the commissioners had voted to scrap the library plans, it would be “a colossal breach of faith.”

“Let’s say we were to not do it,” she said in speculation. “Are the seven of us going to agree where that money goes? No, we would have many different opinions about what that priority is. And I’m going to go on a limb and say that a public library is just about as important as a school, just about as important as a behavioral health center.”

Commissioner Earl McKee is one of the board members who has most routinely share concerns about the rising price of The 203 Project. He described Tuesday how he’s dealt with this project all 12 years he’s been on the board and said he believed the county was at a fork in the road.

“To me, we’re at a point where we either need to approve [this project] or kill it,” said the District 2 official. “I don’t want to kill it. I don’t particularly buy the economic development arguments or [cost per person arguments.] What I am convinced of is it’s a component of education.

“We’ve looked at this long enough,” McKee added, “It’s not going to get any cheaper.”

While the years-long focus has been to bring about a southern branch of the Orange County Public Library, The 203 Project also plans to offer several other resources to the public and Town of Carrboro. Part of the building will be dedicated to an Orange County Skills Development Center, which the county commissioners voted on Tuesday to keep in the project, as well as space for Carrboro’s Recreation and Parks department. There will also be performance space, a Virtual Justice Center, a teen space and a new home for the community radio station WCOM. A parking garage for the building and public will also be constructed, since the site will replace a public, town-owned surface lot.

Carrboro began exploring using the 203 South Greensboro site as the spot for a new library branch in 2016. Initial project estimates in 2018 were around $15 million, with costs rising over time due to its scope and rising nationwide construction demand.

The two dissenting Orange County Commissioners, Jean Hamilton and Jamezetta Bedford, laid out why they voted against the cost approval. Hamilton pointed to the variety of needs in the county’s two school districts and cited the county’s obligation for funding improvements and expansion. Bedford said the needs of schools also influenced her decision, as did other county efforts. She described the increased costs of the parking deck attached to the building as a tipping point for her feelings around The 203 Project.

“I very much supported doing the parking deck a year ago,” Bedford said Tuesday night. “I just can’t see the cost of $48,000 per parking spot when we have so many needs in this county.”

In Carrboro, Sammy Slade was the lone council member to vote against the project, citing preferences that the funds be put toward response to climate change. He said while he appreciates the staff’s work, he cited the impact of spending on Carrboro’s debt limit and the need for the town to put more resources toward its climate action goals.

“Given we’re in a climate emergency,” said Slade, “this project, for me, is crazy — just because climate emergency represents a threat to our species. The [United Nations] chief recently said delay is death, so it is within that context that I cannot vote as the opportunity cost is life, and that’s what I’m weighing.”

Many Carrboro Town Council members voiced their support for the project, pointing to not only the library and local resources it would offer but also the chance for more vibrancy and activity downtown.

Council member Randee Haven-O’Donnell made a motion for approval just minutes after the Orange County Board of Commissioners’ vote.

“I want to thank [the commissioners] for their belief in the people of Orange County and providing an amenity that will last as long as the county and Carrboro last,” said Haven-O’Donnell. “I do want to say: while we need to look at the financing and we need to be careful stewards, we also need to be looking at our potential to move forward.”

 

Photo via Perkins + Will/Town of Carrboro.

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