Voters in Stanwood appeared to reject a $9 million bond issue proposal Tuesday night to build a new 20,000-square-foot library.
The early returns, however, did not include votes from Camano Island in Island County, who also have a say in the matter.
The measure barely missed passing in the Sept. 14 primary, lacking just 27 votes to get the required 60 percent supermajority.
If the early results hold, Mary Kelly of the Sno-Isle Regional Library System said she and her staff would have to ask voters why it failed.
“We’ll have to take this as feedback and find a way to respond to that feedback in a way that the Stanwood-Camano community can accept,” she said.
The new library was planned for 4 acres north of downtown Stanwood that the city also is eyeing for a new city hall. The land purchase was contingent on voters passing the library proposal, though, so the new city hall is now up in the air.
Owners of a $200,000 home would have paid about $35 a year for the 20-year bond issue.
Supporters said the existing 5,400-square-foot library is too small to serve the area’s growing population of about 36,000.
In the primary election, voters did decide to form a taxing district so money could be collected to build a library. They just didn’t approve the $9 million amount.
They weren’t approving it Tuesday, either, so Kelly said it’s back to the drawing board.
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