Victoria MN Newspaper-City Scoop

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"Last year 54% of our calls were for medical or car accidents," he said. "Only 5% were for actual fire."

Asked Mayor Tom O'Connor, "Is there a way to reconfigure the training for the predominant calls that you respond to?"

"Cities on the western end of the county are doing that," said Andrew.

Said Councilmember Joe Pavelko, "It takes a different type of mentality and person to do your job."

"It does take a special person to deal with those things," agreed Mayor O'Connor.

Said Councilmember Strigel, "There are warning signs all around us."

"The trigger will be when we don't have a person available to send out on a call," said Andrew. "There's not a magic number right now."

He added that the addition of a response vehicle would cut down on response time. "Firefighters could then respond directly from their home rather than report first to the Fire Station and then to the incident."

Said City Manager Don Uram, "We rely on our Fire Department as well as on Mutual Aid. At this point we understand the challenges facing us."

LIRARY PROPOSED FOR VICTORIA

A SHARED CITY-COUNTY RESPONSIBILITY

If all works out, the City of Victoria could become home to a branch of the Carver County Library System. Current branches now exist in Chanhassen, Chaska, Waconia, Norwood Young America, Watertown, and the Law Library at the Carver County Government Center.

Nick Dimassis, director of the Carver County Library System, attended the August 26th Victoria City Council meeting. "The County Commissioners work hard to make the county a good place to live and work," he said. "There is something unique when a city has its own library."

He said that preliminary drawings for the genius of a Victoria library anticipate a proposed 5,000 square feet for a library connected to a proposed Victoria City Hall. "Is this library going to remain relevant?" he asked. "I say, yes."

Mr. Dimassis pointed to the preliminary design of a stairway in the middle of the first floor level that will enhance innovative library offerings. A library is proposed to occupy to the first floor of a two-story City Hall complex in downtown Victoria in one of either two locations.

Mr. Dismiassis said there are currently 4,100 library cold holders in the City of Victoria. The current population of Victoria is estimated to be just over 8,000.

"A library branch in Victoria would serve over 11,000 people," he said, looking at the wider Victoria community. He said that ebooks account for approximately 1.7% of the county's book circulation, but "people are still taking things out of the branch libraries."

He said that although there was a 14.84% decrease in library circulation in St. Paul, Minnesota, during the years 2007 through 2012, there was at the same time a 22.61% growth in library circulation in Carver County.

"There are incredibly high speeds as a result of the county fiber project," said Mr. Dismassis, and he pointed to county costs for a space of 5,000 square feet as offered on a proposed basis by the City of Victoria, for the first floor/ground level of a new City Hall complex.

He said 5,000 square feet would accommodate 12,000 library items, 14 computer stations, and 2 and 1/2 full time staff. He said the county's one-time costs for furniture, fixtures, and equipment would amount to $555,000 while the county's ongoing annual operating costs would amount to $175,000 for a total of $730,000 in initial total capital and operations cost.\

He summarized that a city is, by and large, responsible for the four walls and the space, the roof, the electrical, and the heating of a library, while the county is responsible for the books, the stocks and the staff for that space.

Said Steve Taylor, Assistant Carver County Administrator, "The county is responsible for personnel, books, pc's, furniture, around 80% of the total lifetime costs of the library." He said the city is responsible for the costs of air conditioning, heating, water, lighting, snow removal, and such annual utilities.

Mr. Taylor summarized the dichotomy of responsibilities: "If you can take it out of the library, it's the county's responsibility. If it stays in the library, it's the city's responsibility."

"It was a unanimous nodding of the head to go ahead with this," said Mr. Taylor. "We work hand in hand with you."

Said Mr. Dismassis in responding to a question about a recent dip in library usage, "Libraries and economies have an inverse relationship. When the recession hit in 2008, library usage went up. Libraries continue to respond to what people want."

Click here to continue Proposed Library.