Critics question cost of new Costa Mesa library plan

The prospect of building a new library in downtown Costa Mesa was met with some skepticism by a city committee Tuesday tasked with citizen oversight of City Hall spending.

The Finance Advisory Committee heard the City Council’s plan for the estimated $34.5-million project, which includes demolishing the Neighborhood Community Center in Lions Park, constructing a new 20,000-square-foot library in its place and renovating the Donald Dungan library branch into a meeting space.

City officials have not determined if the committee will issue recommendations on how to pay for the project, though one member, Tom Pollitt, compared it to the Newport Beach Civic Center, whose initial cost of about $107 million skyrocketed to some $140 million by its completion in 2013. The project is now being audited.

“This is going to be worse than the ‘Taj Mahal’ in Newport Beach,” Pollitt said, referring to the nickname that detractors have used to criticize the municipal building.

Committee member Howard Hull questioned if, given the proliferation of smartphones and other computers to find information, rather than books, an expensive library is needed at all.

On Nov. 17, the council gave a preliminary OK to a financing plan for the project, with taking on at least $25 million in debt to be paid in annual installments of about $1.53 million for 30 years.

The council also suggested that the plan include paying off construction costs for the new fire station on Royal Palm Drive.

Adding the station would add another $6.8 million to the long-term debt plan and increase the annual payments by $415,000, according to interim Finance Director Stephen Dunivent.