EAST COUNTY - Construction on the $3.5
million R.B. Tullis Library is expected to begin next
week.
The EMCID
donated land located next to the EMCID building in New Caney
for the project and $500,000 for construction costs. "We
wanted to offset some of the construction costs and provide
funding so the building will be a little nicer to look at,"
East Montgomery County Improvement District President Frank
McCrady said. The project originally was expected to cost
$3.3 million, but the nine bids submitted for the project
ranged from $3.78 million to $4.2 million. In July, the EMCID
Board of Directors voted to provide an additional $263,872 for
land preparation before construction could begin. The funds
were available for the project because money was left over
from the construction of the EMCID's building. McCrady said
the EMCID also has pledged an additional $187,000 for future
site improvements, bringing the district's total investment in
the library to nearly $1 million. The current library,
located at 21130 U.S. 59, has outgrown the 6,000-square-foot
facility, McCrady said. The new 30,000-square-foot library
will take 12-16 months to complete. "It wasn't large enough
for kids to fit inside if we have a summer reading program,"
McCrady said. "It's not to the size or standard residents
would expect from a community that residents want to live
in." McCrady said the EMCID is still in litigation
involving water lines constructed outside of the easement
areas, but the project will not be slowed by it. "(The
lines) are on an individual's property, and the district does
not have access to them," McCrady said. "Certainly we can go
to court, but we'd like to settle this before it gets
there." McCrady said the issue could be tied up in the
legal system for months. Mark Bosma, the county's
purchasing agent, said the new facility will be equipped with
the latest technology. "They are trying to upgrade to
Voice-Over-IP, a new way of running data and telephone lines
together," Bosma said. "With the current telephones, if one is
unplugged from the wall, then it has to be reprogrammed
completely. This will allow for easier maintenance." The
new library also will be furnished with fiber optics and
better computer systems. "It will give Montgomery County
residents better access to the Internet and computers," Bosma
said. Arie Wilson can be reached at
awilson@mail.hcnonline.net.
