Library System puts High deal on hold

A few eyebrows have been recently raised regarding certain actions of the Lancaster County Library System, led by Administrator Susan Hauer. The newly formed Public Libraries Task Force, at its meeting last week, had to take the System ‘to task’ for having negotiated a lease extension without consulting the County Commissioners’ initiated research panel. As Task Force Chair Terry Kauffman put it, “Quite frankly, [System office space] is one of the things that we identified we want to look at.”

Some area library officials have suggested that the System’s current space is unduly expensive for this component of library services in Lancaster County—especially as many local libraries are laying off staff and slashing services to cope with State-level budget cuts. The System, which had at one time operated out of the Lancaster Public Library on Duke Street, now absorbs about 50% of all state and county library-related dollars in Lancaster County.

At an October 20 meeting, more than a month after the Task Force was officially formed, the System Board voted unanimously to “move forward” on a lease extension for its Greenfield Corporate Center offices. The extension, adding three years to an existing 2013 expiration, was negotiated with landlord High Real Estate at the incentive of three months’ rent forgiveness—$26,751 in apparent savings.

In her remarks at a November 12 County Commissioners budget work shop, Hauer explains how the opportunity first came about:

“In the middle of the year last year we were looking for savings. We were talking to all our vendors, all of our providers, about—could they cut us a better deal? And, as part of that…we asked [Mike Lorrelli, Senior Vice President of Commercial Asset Management for High] for a 20% reduction in our lease for the year in 2010….He said, ‘I’ll get back to you,’ and he did, and he said, ‘If you extend your lease by three years, from 2013 to 2016, we will give you three months rent forgiveness—so that’s about $25,000. And he said, furthermore, ‘If, at the end of 2013, you decide not to extend your lease, you’ll just have to pay it back.’ And there’s no interest, there’s no penalty.”

This matter, however, was not made known to the Task Force in its early inception. After the System Board’s October 20 vote, Kauffman only learned of this agreement through a phone call from an individual who had attended the Library System’s meeting.

With both Hauer and Board President Bud Rettew present at last week’s Task Force meeting, Kaufman took a moment to address the lease extension: “Terry Kauffman,” the meeting minutes recount, “reported that he was contacted about an amendment to [the System’s] lease with High, and he expressed objections to the extension….Kauffman especially objected to the breakdown in communication and the way he was informed.”

The minutes go on to note that “Hauer and Bud Rettew, who participated in the lease amendment discussions, assured Kauffman that extra effort will be made to assure better communication with the Task Force.” Rettew later specified to NewsLanc that “the lease extension proposal is still in the hands of the System and has not been returned to High, pending the Task Force’s review and recommendation.”