With the March election quickly approaching, voters will have to decide the fate of the Wadleigh Memorial Library’s “Expanovasion.”

The proposed Wadleigh Library expansion, Warrant Article 3, is one of the priciest items on Milford’s 2020 ballot — and faces a stiff — and necessary article on emergency services.

Since 1995, Milford residents have never had the option to vote for library repairs only. And again this year, a repair-only option was requested, but was a no-go by the library trustees.

“What does repair only cost?” The answer to that question has been “rough estimates” provided by trustees that climb ever higher the closer we approach Election Day.

While the “reno” might look good on paper — they have a rich brochure touting the benefits of this renovation and expansion, their inflated numbers in virtually every area do not match, as meeting minutes and other documents show.

The expansion will include 576 gross square footage added to the upper flow while the main floor will gain more than 1,800 gsf. There also will be a new lobby and café. The total new square footage totals more than 18,000 gsf.

Then there’s been a huge question about the amount of parking that the library has between three lots and the fact that although that parking would be beneficial to businesses and their customers in the downtown area and the Milford Oval, the library said “no” to allowing anyone who is not there on official library business. Violators, according to the library, would be towed at the owner’s expense.

In their brochure, they state the Wadleigh renovation/expansion would impact Milford residents by $14.25 per $100,000 house evaluation. That’s a chunk of change for a library that has a dwindling number of patrons, and little opportunity to gain profit.

In the minutes from the Dec. 17, 2019, Wadleigh Library Trustees Meeting, attended by Kathy Parenti (chair), Shirley Wilson, Janet Hromjak (remote), Lynn Coakley, Jennifer O’Brien Traficante and library director Betsy Solon, it states that “on average, 800 persons per day come into the library.” But on the Wadleigh Library’s own website in their annual report, it states that the total patrons for 2019 was 114,812, or a daily average of just 315 visitors. Eight-hundred? The difference between the two numbers is more than 254.

In a library presentation by Parenti and Solon, approved minutes of the Milford Board of Selectmen’s meeting on Dec. 23, 2019, states that “there are about 400-900 people who come into the library every day.” This completely misaligns with the trustees’ minutes, and completely contradicts their own data from their own website.

Looking at Wadleigh’s own 2010 stats (also available on their website, patrons then number 189,835, which equates to 521 visitors per day. That’s a 60% drop in patrons. Yet in their brochure, they boast that Milford has grown 42% between 2007 and 2017. That’s true. It’s also true that libraries are a dying breed — since 2016, 350 libraries in the U.S. have closed.

With regard to the expansion project, in a document from the Board of Library Trustees meeting on May 21, 2019, it states it is “important for us to develop elevator speech to defend nay-sayers about “fancy lobby” and what we are getting for $3M.”

Also, in minutes from a Waleigh Library trustees meeting on Jun. 18, 2019, with references to the new lobby and a 3-D presentation, under line 13e., it states, “Don’t use the word ‘lobby’ or ‘café.”

With intentionally misleading language, it is questionable as to why the library would withhold information from its own taxpaying residents.

As of Oct. 15, 2019, a project cost outline from the architectural firm of SMP (out of Concord), details that the project will cost $3,443,559.

The line items are listed, $6,000 for survey, $25,000 for civil engineering, just to name two. Under “building construction,” however, the line item is $2,997,756, with no explanation or breakdown.

Many residents have asked for the library to repair only and skip the unnecessary renovation. But since 1995, only expansion has been on the ticket, not a repair option in sight.