The board of directors of the Coweta County Library System voted unanimously Oct. 21 to approve a request by Senoia that the city’s five-year Joint Operating Agreement be terminated two years early. The decision also means that the city will no longer be required to contribute $20,000 per year for the city library’s maintenance and operation costs.
Minutes of the Oct. 21 meeting of the Coweta County Library Board noted that Senoia representative and Councilman Jeff Fisher indicated his intention to terminate his position on the board at the end of the current term in December, adding that the city would not seek to replace him since Senoia wanted to end the five-year joint operating agreement with the library system. The agreement began in 2008 and was to extend through 2013, thus the move by the board at Senoia’s request effectively ended the agreement two years early.
Board member Lillie Smith at the meeting asked for clarification on Senoia’s annual $20,000 payment to the library system. Fisher said the annual payment would end with the termination of the agreement, though funds generated through impact fees would continue.
The library board at the end of the discussion voted unanimously to terminate the Joint Operating Agreement.
Prior to the formation of the board Senoia had provided the funding for the city’s library. The library board was formed by the Coweta County Commission in 2006 with City Administrator Richard Ferry representing Senoia on the board. Senoia beginning in 2008 entered an agreement with the county to contribute $20,000 per year to the maintenance and operation of the library. This figure represented a significant decrease from the $100,000 per year the city had been paying up until that time, Ferry said.
It was in 2009 when discussions on the construction of a new library were ongoing that Councilman Jeff Fisher took Ferry’s place on the library board.
The Oct. 21 agreement request by Senoia and approved unanimously by the library board ends Senoia’s annual financial contribution and removes the city’s position on the board.
“The city will be well represented by the County Commission representative to the board. There is no further reason for the city to have a representative on the board,” Ferry said.
Construction on the 6,563 square-foot replacement library located on 1.04 acres on Pylant Street at Marimac Lake Park is expected to be completed in late January.
