RICHMOND

Nearly a decade of failed attempts to build a new town library has a local resident crafting a proposal for one that’s scaled down and can be funded with available money.

The Board of Selectmen will hold a public hearing at 6 p.m. Wednesday to offer residents a glimpse of plans for a 3,000-square-foot, single-story structure that would sit on a slab at the site of the former Isaac F. Umberhine Library building.

The former library, a 162-year-old house at 86 Main St., was torn down in 2011 because of mold and other issues. Since then, the library has occupied leased space at 164 Main St.

Steve Musica, a former town manager in Litchfield who has done construction management for towns, said he’s been involved in three aborted attempts to build a library at 86 Main St. in Richmond.

Each time the library design was turned over to an architect, it came back “with a monument” that would cost $900,000 to $1 million. The town has since turned down numerous proposals, Musica said, adding: “I voted against it, too.”

With about $250,000 in town funds earmarked for a library, Musica approached selectmen in September 2012 about building a library on a slab using local contractors with the town as the general contractor.

He requested spending up to $400 to draft plans, which Hancock Lumber did for $190, Musica said.

He then took the plans — broken into components such as roofing and framing — to local contractors for cost estimates. A friend who is an architect also made some drawings.

Musica reported back to selectmen that it looked like the plan was feasible at a cost of $235,000 with a contingency.

If the project, which so far has been well received, has the support to move forward, Musica says he has volunteered to coordinate the work, 90 percent of which would go to Richmond contractors, he said.

“Richmond’s got a great, talented group,” of public works employees that can do some of the site work and create savings, Musica said. The building would be on town water and sewer and “will be a great looking building,” if approved.

The meeting notice states that the proposal “suggests using the existing library grant funds that total approximately $245,000,” and notes that grants and public donations must be returned if unused.

At 2008 Town Meeting, voters approved borrowing $300,000 for a new 5,800-square-foot library, but not to spend it.

The library was then given three years to raise $1 million for a $1.3 million project.
In 2010, the town agreed to take over operation of the library.

At town meeting in April 2012, stopping any debate on the matter, residents voted 71-66 to dismiss an article authorizing selectmen to issue up to $300,000 in general obligation bonds to build a new library at 86 Main St.