Voters rejected by a 114-75 margin a motion to develop a plan to repair Kellogg Hall.
Granby Town Meeting voters rejected a motion to develop a plan to repair Kellogg Hall.GRANBY – It’s not often that someone goes before Town Meeting to give money back to the town instead of asking for it, but that’s what Virginia Snopek, head of the trustees of Granby Free Public Library, was able to do on Monday night.
In 2010, supporters of the library had asked for $30,000 to help fund a feasibility study to build a new library, promising to repay it if they were able to raise the sum themselves.
Since then, the library was offered a $150,000 challenge grant by Dr. Thomas Bombardier. Snopek announced that supporters of the library have been able to match that challenge, drawing applause from voters who filled the gymnasium at the Junior-Senior High School.
Snopek also reminded the assembly that Granby residents Fred and Alice Steward had donated a site for the proposed library.
On this night, Town Meeting was asked to approve the design of the proposed library, which appeared on a stand in the front of the gym.
Voters approved.
In June the library will learn whether its application to the Massachusetts Public Library Construction program was successful, meaning that it would get 60 percent reimbursement for the first $3 million in costs for the building.
Another important building in Granby drew impassioned debate. To some, the aging Town Hall is the heart of Granby, while to others it is a hopeless wreck that should be demolished.
Supporter Pam Maheu told voters that the 1889 building was eligible not only for the State Registry of Historic Buildings, but for the National Registry as well.
She enjoined voters to “take the necessary action to protect and preserve Kellogg Hall” - as the building is known, after the Victorian family that paid most of the cost of building it - “and immediately develop a plan for repair within six months.”
Although supporters were well-organized, with a slide show and a flier, participants voted against the motion 114-75.