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Education / News / Southampton Press / 697068

Hampton Bays Library Postpones $9.9 Million Bond Referendum Vote; Reschedules For April 4

authorAmanda Bernocco on Mar 13, 2017

The Hampton Bays Public Library’s $9.9 million bond referendum has been rescheduled for Tuesday, April 4, after inaccurate predictions of heavy snowfall prompted the postponement of Tuesday’s vote.Hampton Bays Library Director Susan LaVista said a decision was made late Monday to postpone Tuesday’s vote and close the library due to the pending snowstorm, though the East End ended up receiving sleet and rain.Members of the library’s Board of Directors called an emergency meeting on Wednesday morning so they could reschedule the vote as quickly as possible, settling on Tuesday, April 4. Registered district taxpayers can vote in the library’s main program room between 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. that day.In a Tweet issued Monday evening, library officials announced that the Ponquogue Avenue facility would be closed on Tuesday and the bond referendum vote postponed indefinitely: “BOND VOTE POSTPONED due to anticipated storm and accompanying dangerous conditions. A new date will be announced asap.”The $9.9 million plan calls for the complete gutting and renovation of the 20,000-square-foot single story library, and the purchase of an adjoining half-acre lot at 3 Argonne Road for $390,000 to provide a few dozen additional parking spaces. If approved by taxpayers, the bond—library officials have not yet disclosed if they will borrow the money over 20, 25 or 30 years—would finance the creation of a new floor plan for the renovated building, the finishing of basement space so it can house some library operations, the replacement of the building’s roof, and the installation of a new heating and cooling system, among other upgrades.

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