Vote on Mariners library set

June Casagrande

NEWPORT BEACH -- City Council members are expected to support a

Mariners joint-use library at Tuesday’s meeting, likely bringing to a

close an increasingly emotional debate.

A public hearing will give residents one last chance to weigh in on

the proposal before council members vote on whether to apply for state

funds to build the library.

The project, a library on the Mariners Elementary School campus that

will serve as the school’s library and as the new Mariners branch of the

public library, has been met with snowballing concern among some parents

who have worried that the project puts schoolchildren in danger by

exposing them to the general public.

Planners responded to these concerns by designating the school portion

of the library as closed to the public during school hours. Exceptions

are made for people who sign in with staff, which is the same guideline

now in place for allowing members of the public onto school campuses.

“I think it will be safer than most other public properties and most

school properties too,” City Manager Homer Bludau said, “because there is

a physical barrier between the public and the kids. Any adult who wants

to enter has to go through a screening process.”

The project cleared its first major hurdle Wednesday when supporters

announced they had met the deadline for raising $1 million. The council

vote on Tuesday will decide whether to apply to the state for the

remaining $2 million required to build the library. The state Proposition

14 funds up for grabs are earmarked for such joint-use projects.

“Joint-use facilities are here to stay,” said Mayor Tod Ridgeway,

citing studies by New Schools/Better Neighborhoods, a California

organization dedicated to educational and community improvement. “There

are hundreds of them, and there are going to be more.”

Though the state has more than $1 billion in requests for the $350

million in grants available, Newport Beach officials think they have a

good shot a getting a grant.

Bludau said the fact that the $1-million matching fund came from

private donations should give the city a competitive advantage.

“I think that’s a huge plus because it really shows a commitment on

the part of community for the facility,” Bludau said.