LAKE STEVENS — Sno-Isle Libraries last week bought land for a new Lake Stevens Library.
A bond measure to build the library could be in front of voters as soon as February.
The library district’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved the $850,000 purchase of land on the northwest corner of 99th Avenue NE and Market Place during a Sept. 26 meeting.
The parcel is next to property the city of Lake Stevens bought this spring. The lots are on Chapel Hill, not far from Frontier Village.
The library district and city have signed an agreement to work together on a plan for a new civic center there, including a police station and library.
Work on the plan is expected to start this month.
The city is in the middle of a public planning process regarding the downtown area on the northeast end of the lake. There also is talk about whether to move City Hall to Chapel Hill.
Whether or not City Hall moves, the current buildings at the North Cove property downtown are expected to be demolished. Among them is the current library, which is run by Sno-Isle in a city-owned building next to City Hall.
Officials say new public buildings, especially a library, are overdue. The Lake Stevens Library is the second smallest in the Sno-Isle system and the smallest in Snohomish County, even though it serves the fifth-largest population of the district’s 21 libraries.
More than 110,000 people used the library in Lake Stevens in 2015, according to Sno-Isle.
To build a new library, Sno-Isle needs voter approval of two measures. The first would ask them to form a library capital facility area, which would set the boundaries for taxing on the bond. Those boundaries likely would be the same as the Lake Stevens School District. The measure would need more than 50 percent of the vote to pass.
The second measure would be for the bond itself. An amount has not been set. To approve a bond, at least 40 percent of the people who voted in the last election need to turn out. The measure would need 60 percent approval.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
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