For good reason.

“The other day I was invited to a meeting with our (library) board chairman, Sherrill Jones, the mayor and the city manager. They informed us they would be seeking mediation with the county,” Reese said.

Reese added that he was also informed that, beginning July 1, the city would be willing to fund the library at just 80 percent of its current level – a reduction of $101,503.

This turmoil is the by-product of recent negotiations between the City and the County in reference to the Service Delivery Strategy – an agreement between governments as to who will finance which services for city and county residents. The current agreement is more than 25 years old and assigns the county services such as the recreation department, the Health Department, and animal control, while the city funds entities such Allied Arts and the library.

Reese said that, annually, the city provides $507,000 to fund the Twin Lakes Library System (both the downtown library and the lake branch), a figure that hasn’t changed since fiscal year 2004. If the library’s funding is indeed cut by $101,000 in July, the actual money lost will be much more drastic.

In a March 5 letter to Reese, Deputy State Librarian David Singleton explained the maintenance of effort (MOE) requirement for state aid to Georgia’s public libraries. There are a number of requirements that a public library system must meet to qualify for state aid, including MOE.

“Non-compliance with any of these requirements would make the library system ineligible to receive state aid,” Singleton wrote. A specific Board of Regents policy requires that “local support for the current year shall be equal to more than half the preceding year.” If funding levels aren’t maintained at the current level, the local library system will lose $160,778.64 in state grants.

In addition, the library system would lose several benefits that are paid by the state on behalf of the local library system including PINES (the card catalog system), GALILEO (the database) and the internet lines. In 2007 the value of the internet lines alone to the library topped $10,000.

The library would also lose federal grants that fund the Vacation Reading Program, plus other competitive grants.

Reese has already begun planning for the worst, trying to figure out how to make the funds he might be left with stretch as far as possible. In a letter patrons checking out books started receiving last week, Reese listed probable cuts:

• Reduced hours of operation – Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. only

• No Lake Sinclair Library

• Staff reduced by almost 70 percent (from 17 to 5)

• Reduced public programming such as Story Time and Baby Time

• No Vacation Reading Program

• No longer a member of the statewide library system, PINES

• No internet access

• No access to Galileo

In the letter library patrons are urged to contact either their city or county representatives to voice their support of library funding.

“This is not anything that we want to do. We’re just planning on how we can stay open. This would be a horrible situation for us and everybody in the county, from those who bring their kids to Story Time to those who depend on us to check their email,” Reese said.

He feels like the child caught between warring parents.

“We don’t care where the money comes from – they are good people, on both sides,” Reese said. “But it’s a scary thing. I feel terrible. For some people this is their career – they’ve been here 10 or 20 years. When I became director I wanted to see the library grow and expand. It pains me to think I might be at the helm when we lose so much.”

In a Jan. 4 letter to County Manager Joan Minton, City Manager Scott Wood stated that it is the city’s position that Service Delivery Strategy agreements reached in the past are “history.” He wrote: “For over a quarter of a century the City has complied with them fully, but we are aware of no obligation – contractual or moral – which dictates that the City must continue to fund library operations ‘ad infinitum.’ As pointed out earlier, library services are equally available to all county residents and the subsidy cost should be transitioned so that the expense is equally borne by all county taxpayers (and not solely the incorporated ones). However, as has also been previously pointed out, recognizing that this cost represents a new expense for the County, and in a spirit of cooperation, we remain agreeable to a five-year incremental transition at 20 percent per year.”

In a February City Council meeting City Attorney Jimmy Jordan said that state law requires cities and counties to adopt a service delivery strategy by Feb. 28 and to submit it to the Department of Community Affairs. If the two parties can’t agree, Jordan said state law provides an alternative – first, non-binding mediation, then court-ordered mediation, and finally a hearing in front of a Superior Court judge who would determine the outcome.

In a Feb. 29 letter to Georgia Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Mike Beatty, County Commission Chairman Bobby Blizzard stated that it is the county’s position that the Service Delivery Strategy currently in place did not expire on Feb. 28. As part of the Comprehensive Plan process the country reviewed its Service Delivery Strategy and finds that “no revision is necessary to that Strategy.”

“Our understanding is that our (Service Delivery Strategy) Agreement remains in full force and effect unless some revision is necessary due to some inconsistency with the Comprehensive Plan...or the parties agree to revise the plan,” Blizzard wrote, adding that Baldwin County has made “substantial concessions and accepted compromise positions, just as has the city...we do not believe that any one single component can be pulled from that agreement without going back through all of the elements that make up the agreement.”

Minton said that the county did not want to go through the expense of formal arbitration, but instead wanted to continue to negotiate on a local level. She said that the conflict resolution process mandated by DCA does not go into effect until Jan. 2009. However, Jordan said that a section of state law governs Service Delivery Strategies.

“It sets forth when the governments involved cannot agree by the deadline that either party can file a petition with the Superior Court and a judge outside the circuit can order mandated mediation,” Jordan said. “Once you go through the mediation process, if the parties still disagree, you can ask the judge to hear evidence and (issue a ruling.)”

Jordan said that the county believes that both governments need to agree that the mediation is necessary, while the city believes that just one side has to want mediation.

“We are still working on these issues, and I hope we can find a resolution,” Minton said. “We are still working cooperatively and I still feel there is a possibility that we can resolve things.”

“We too are hopeful that we’ll make movement towards resolving outstanding issues,” Jordan said. “As long as we’re communicating and able to be working towards a solution to those issues, that’s what we want to do.”

Meetings between city and county representatives are scheduled to continue this week.