Library cuts questioned at city council meeting

Bill Lanier, a frequent speaker at Havre City Council meetings, expressed concern Monday night about the city’s plan to reduce its support for the Havre-Hill County Library.

Lanier told Havre City Council he understood the city’s financial straits, but asked that the library be one of the last places to be cut.

Library officials have said the city plans to reduce the city’s subsidy by about $30,000. In response, the library board announced the library would be closed on Saturdays starting July 2 for the foreseeable future.

Mayor Tim Solomon told Lanier that as the city began preparing its preliminary budget it became clear that cuts had to be made. He blamed, especially, labor union arbitration rulings and Hill County’s decision to discontinue funding the swimming pool.

He said the library cuts “are not 100 percent certain.”

Lanier said he, too, was upset with the county’s decision to stop funding the pool.

He referred to it as “the Havre-Hill County Pool,” then stopped himself, “now I call it the Havre City Pool,” he said.

But he said the library offers tremendous services to young people.

“On Saturday, when you go in the library, who do you see? You see kids,” he said.

Other city services, such as the parks and the swimming pool, are aimed at athletic endeavors, he said. The library is the only one that concentrates on the academic side of things, he said.

The library board is looking at the possibility of seeking a countywide mill levy from voters in this fall’s election to offset the cuts from the city.