Stephen Vance, Staff
Meaford’s council have made an attempt to implement a stop-gap measure which would ensure that Sydenham residents who use the Owen Sound North Grey Union Public Library won’t lose their library privileges on January 1, as a result of failed negotiations between the OSNGUPL and Meaford Public Library board that have resulted in the termination of a 10 year service contract with five years still remaining.
“There has been a lot of progress being made to start a new conversation, and that is where we’re headed with this today, to start that new conversation on a very different footing that is one of inclusivity for all residents of the Municipality of Meaford, not just those who live very close to that (the Owen Sound) border,” Mayor Barb Clumpus told council on December 12.
Mayor Clumpus introduced a motion seeking to increase the funding including in the 2017 municipal budget for the OSNGUPL contract from $119,900 to $120,500, then reallocating that funding from the library budget to the council budget in order that council could approve a grant to the City of Owen Sound in the amount of $120,500 in exchange for the waiver of non-resident fees for one year for any Meaford resident wishing to obtain an OSNGUPL library card.
While council unanimously supported the motion, it is contingent on acceptance by Owen Sound.
The move by council has already resulted in two resignations from the Meaford Library board including board Chair Peter Bantock, with more resignations possible. In an interview on Tuesday morning, Bantock told The Independent that he felt like he and the MPL board had been “stabbed in the back.”
“I feel badly betrayed by council, I feel stabbed in the back,” Bantock told The Independent. “When we took this task on in May, I warned the board not to touch it with a barge-pole, we’ve been there, done that. I said that they will screw us, they will stab us in the back, they did it once before, they created this mess, they (council) should get themselves out of it.”
Bantock says that council insisted they wanted the service contract with the OSNGUPL revisited as part of the ongoing municipal service delivery review.
“So then our council bobble-heads, and the Mayor said ‘we support this, we want this done, it’s unjust, and blah, blah, blah, it’s inequitable’,” explained Bantock who says he recommended to the MPL board that they not embark on the contract renegotiation initiative.
Meaford’s library board however opted to take on the project in hopes of inking a more equitable deal with the OSNGUPL.
“So now they’ve handed the ATM card for Meaford to Owen Sound,” Bantock suggested.
“There was no negotiating with them (the OSNGUPL board). We’re the customer. We are buying a service from you, you’re not doing us any favours,” Bantock said of his experience trying to negotiate with the OSNGUPL board.
Deputy Mayor Harley Greenfield, who also sits on the Meaford Library Board as a council representative, told The Independent that the motion approved by council on December 12 is an attempt to break the deadlock between the Owen Sound and Meaford library boards.
“The proposal from this evening’s meeting is a genuine attempt to break this deadlock. The offer of $120,500 has been made via a grant to Owen Sound Council, it is up to them to accept or refuse. They may insist that library negotiations must be made Board to Board (which we have maintained all along), however, with the stalemate between the two boards was going nowhere, and only creating mass discontent and frustration in the Sydenham sector, some alternative plan had to be launched. Personally, I cannot see Owen Sound refusing the money,” explained Greenfield.
Greenfield said he was saddened to learn of the resignations from the Meaford Library board.
“As for the resignations, I am saddened by the loss of Peter and Fred (Kennedy), although not surprised. They were wonderful dedicated volunteers with only the benefit of MPL in mind. We need their enthusiasm to work towards a new or enhanced library facility. My fear now is that it will be difficult to attract new volunteers. However, we will deal with the search for new members in the future. I am hopeful some or all of the other board members will stay. Our first priority has always been to improve our current Library facility. That should still be the focus,” Greenfield suggested.
What action would Bantock preferred to have seen council take in order to ensure that Sydenham resident wouldn’t lose their long-held library privileges at the OSNGUPL?
“They could have offered a non-resident fee subsidy,” Bantock suggested. “Not $500, we made that quite clear in our issue paper. If Owen Sound wanted the business, then they would have to offer a price that people would pay.”
The OSNGUPL has a non-resident fee of $500 per family, the highest of any library in the province, many of whom have been doing away with non-resident fees altogether, a fact not lost on Councillor Steven Bartley.
“I am on the Owen Sound library board. I was against what happened with the Meaford board cancelling this contract, but I understand why. They wanted each resident in the municipality to be able to use the (OSNGUPL) library, that was number one. Number two, whether we like it or not, what we are paying (in the OSNGUPL contract) with your tax dollars, is the highest amount of money paid to a library in Ontario, so we’re trying to get a better deal,” explained Bartley who added that while they Mayor’s proposal of a one year stop-gap measure isn’t perfect, it was a necessary step in order to ensure that Sydenham residents didn’t lose their library service.
Council now awaits a response to their offer from Owen Sound’s council.
On Tuesday morning the OSNGUPL issued a press release announcing that library services for Sydenham residents which were set to expire on December 31, would be extended until the end of January, 2017.
“The Owen Sound & North Grey Union Public Library Board appreciates the resolve and intent of the recent motion by the Municipality of Meaford concerning their 2017 funding of the library services provided by OSNGUPL. While the process may need to be adjusted to comply with the Ontario Public Libraries’ Act, we want to ensure that everyone recognizes that progress is being made on a new contract that was the result of the Meaford Public Library Board’s termination of the existing contract with five years remaining,” said the OSNGUPL in the press release. “As a gesture of faith and good will, the Owen Sound & North Grey Union Public Library will continue to provide full library services to existing members of the former Sydenham Township until the end of January, understanding that the funding has been set aside by Meaford Council for this purpose, with the hope that a new two year contract, as specified by the Meaford Public Library Board in their November 7 motion, is finalized to provide services for all residents of Meaford that seek to utilize the Owen Sound & North Grey Union Public Library in 2017 and 2018.”
Photo: Meaford Councillor Steven Bartley (far left) explains the resolution unanimously approved by council to Sydenham residents and OSNGUPL cardholders during a break at Monday’s council meeting.
