Amador County – About 11 people attended a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday to mark the reopening of the Pine Grove Town Hall, but the turnout tripled an hour later when the Pine Grove Town Council discussed the fate of their long-closed Library branch.

About 34 people attended, and council member Debbie Dunn said turnout would be larger if the meeting was better publicized. Council moderator Andy Byrne agreed to make the Library a repeating agenda item.

Attendees urged the return of the Pine Grove librarian, who for the last year-and-a-half has worked his same hours at the Jackson main branch.

Amador County General Services Department Director John Hopkins said the county faces funding issues, including a lawsuit for ERAF funding from. It could lose the suit and be “looking at having to repay $2.7 million.” There are also two murder cases with special circumstances and six defendants, which could potentially cost the county millions.

Hopkins sought to convey the Town Hall building and operation to the Pine Grove Community Facilities District. The group declined, after finding a “couple of hundred thousand dollars worth of renovation that still needed to be done on the property.”

Hopkins said the only option is to leave the Pine Grove Library open, but staff it with volunteers. Members of the public, including librarians and Friends of Amador County Library, said the volunteer staffing would not work, one calling it “naïve.” Dunn asked for the County to let Pine Grove citizens try to raise funds.

Hopkins said he can task County Librarian Laura Einstadter to meet and talk with the group, because “she knows most of you.” An he would consider having the Pine Grove librarian return and backfill the Jackson branch with volunteers, but only if it had no extra cost.

He said if the county has to raid its reserves, it would be the first time in County history, since 1854. If so, “there are a lot of non-essential services that are going to go away,” and they could face more layoffs. The Jackson Library laid off two full-time employees in the past two years.

Supervisor Chairman Louis Boitano said “as a Supervisor, I support keeping the library open, but what I don’t want is come budget time in June to have to shut it down.” Boitano said: “We’ll get it done” and “we’ll think out of the box.” He thought the Library Improvement Facilities Taskforce was a good place to take this.

Boitano said the County will maintain the building for the next 30 years, but he thought it was important for everyone to know the ongoing cost. Hopkins said the Town Hall renovation uncovered increased operation costs, which total $42,000 annually.

Pine Grove Town Council meets 5:30 p.m. the first Wednesday of every month.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.