Lynnfield Demonstrates Danger of Juggling Building Projects

Voters Squash Nine-year-old Library Plan as Public Safety Complex Costs Jump
As Amherst awaits construction bids for a renovation and expansion of the Jones Library budgeted at $46.1 million, prepares to build a new $97 million elementary school, and plans to replace a deteriorating and obsolete central fire station and public works facility, it may be helpful to heed the difficulties encountered by the town of Lynnfield, Massachusetts.

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Described as one of the most prosperous suburbs on the state’s North Shore, Lynnfield embarked on an initiative to replace its tiny 130-year-old library in 2015. After completing a feasibility study, the town applied to the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) for a construction grant to subsidize the project that was predicted to cost $21.4 million. In 2017 Lynnfield was placed on the waiting list for a provisional MBLC grant.

While waiting, Lynnfield leaders recognized the need for new facilities to replace the town’s outmoded fire and police stations.  Plans were drawn up for a new public safety complex that in March 2022 was projected to cost $41.2 million. With inflation hitting the construction industry, costs for the new complex had risen to $63.5 million by November when Lynnfield’s Open Town Meeting was asked to authorize borrowing for the project.

Lynnfield residents saw the public safety complex as a priority and authorized the appropriation, which required a two-thirds supermajority, by a vote of 287-33.  The next month voters were asked to approve a debt exclusion to fund the public safety project estimated to increase the average residents’ tax bill by $385 annually. The ballot question passed with 58% voting yes.

By July 2023, Lynnfield’s provisional library grant had come through, contingent on the town approving funding. A town-wide survey showed that 57% of respondents were satisfied with the current library and an updated cost estimate revealed that the library project was now expected to cost $34 million. Sensing resistance, library trustees brought in MBLC construction grant overseers Lauren Stara and Andrea Bono-Bunker for a presentation of “tips and tricks for getting a positive vote at Town Meeting.”

Nevertheless, a warrant article at Lynnfield’s October 16 Town Meeting failed to muster the two-thirds needed to borrow the necessary funds, leaving the project dead in the water.

Undeterred, new-library proponents jumped into action. They appealed to the MBLC and received a three-month extension until April 30, 2024, to secure the required appropriation. Project advocates successfully circulated a petition to call a Special Town Meeting for the purpose of reconsidering the library funding vote. However, Lynnfield’s charter required the Finance Committee to recommend putting the library question on the warrant, and the committee voted 7-3 against it. 

Consequently, the Special Town Meeting scheduled for March 18, 2024, was held, but without any warrant article to vote on.

Resident Curtis Craffey told Itemlive, “This grant from the MBLC is like getting a gift card from Target for $25, and spending $100, and being excited about saving $25 when you actually spent $75.”

Lessons for Amherst
Lynnfield’s experience may be instructive to Amherst leaders promoting the nearly $50 million Jones Library renovation-expansion. As in Lynnfield, surveyed Jones Library patrons reported being largely satisfied with existing library services. Yet, lured by a large bundle of cash from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, and without seeking meaningful approval from the public, Amherst officials have spent 10 years and $2 million getting a viable project design ready to bid out.

Meanwhile, long awaited replacements of the town’s central fire station and public works facility – both ranked higher in priority than the library on the town’s capital improvement plan – sit on the shelf growing ever more expensive, and Amherst schools face painful cuts in FY25 and beyond to satisfy budget limitations.

The question of whether Amherst will spend more than $1.2 million annually from its tax levy for the next twenty years on the library project is expected to be settled by April 16, the deadline for general contractor bids to be received.

A side-by-side comparison of the Amherst and Lynnfield Library projects