Suisun City Council looks to extend library lease

From Daily Republic, Fairfield, Ca. // June 20, 2005

By Ian Thompson // Staff Writer

SUISUN CITY - The Suisun City Council is voting Tuesday to keep a branch library in town by extending the lease on the library's home at 333 Sunset for another three years.

Councilmembers are also voting on a deal with the Fairfield-Suisun School District that requires the city to sell the old Crystal Middle School site within a year to developers.

The proposed lease extension is to ensure residents will continue to have a library while Suisun City, the Solano County Library and the school district finish planning and building a permanent library next to Suisun Elementary School on Pintail Drive.

The plan is the result of efforts to keep a library branch in town after the City Council said last year it can no longer afford to pay a $122,520-a-year lease for space at 333 Sunset because of budget problems.

The city had considered giving the library a permanent home next to the Joe Nelson Community Center in Heritage Park when it was built, but that idea was shelved.

The present lease is set to expire June 30. If the new deal is approved Tuesday, the city will pay the owner of 333 Sunset, The Wiseman Company, $111,384 a year.

In other business, the council will vote on an agreement to spend the next 12 months marketing the old Crystal Middle School to developers.

If the city fails to find a buyer within that time, the city will have to pay the school district at least $2.25 million, the amount the site was appraised at.

The school district wants the money to help pay for building a new school district facility. Suisun City wants to push forward aggressively as possible with the now vacant school site's redevelopment.

Should the city manage to sell the site for more than the assessed value, the school district will get half the profit, according to a memo to the city council.

If approved, the city plans to plans to market the property for residential development.

The Suisun City Council meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Suisun City Council chamber at 701 Civic Center Blvd.

Reach Ian Thompson at 427-6976 or at ithompson@dailyrepublic.net.