BELFAST – It cost the city $2.2 million for its new library and it appears it’s going to cost a bit more.

The City Council on Tuesday approved a Belfast Free Library request to hire three part-time employees to help run the expanded library. When the council committed to the expansion two years ago, it was assured that no new staff would be needed when the project was completed. The library opened its new front doors this spring.

While money for the new employees salaries will be drawn from a library endowment fund until June, the taxpayers will be expected to foot the bill from then on, according to Victoria Sears, president of the library board of trustees,

“If we need them now, we will still need them next year,” Sears told the council. “I don’t think we can carry them alone.”

Sears and library director Jacqueline Schultze informed the council that demand at the expanded library had exceeded the board’s expectations by a wide margin. New registrations have increased dramatically, circulation has seen a boost of 20 percent and use of the Internet is exploding.

“Information isn’t in books anymore,” Schultze said in explaining the popularity of the Internet. “A lot of the books we used to purchase we don’t purchase anymore.”

Although the council and library board had expected the library to become more efficient once it was expanded, the opposite was true. Three floors of books, two circulation desks and many more patrons, have taxed the current staff, Sears said.

“It’s not the size of the building, it’s the amount of people,” she said.

The library already has one part-time employee that may need to be picked up by the city and Councilor Tammy Lacher questioned the wisdom of approving an additional three. The city is only five months into its current budget and Lacher worried about making a personnel commitment that could have repercussions on the 2001-02 budget year.

“By adding these people now we would be building in the necessity to ask us for money next year,” said Lacher.

Despite their reservations, the council voted 5-0 to approve the board’s request.

By another unanimous vote, the council approved taking $86,000 from surplus to cover the cost of replacing pilings at the city landing. The current piling system has been destroyed by ship worms and the surplus appropriation will be used to install a new system comprised of pilings of worm-resistant wood, with metal and rubber anchors.

The ship worm solution was recommended by the city’s harbor committee following a lengthy review of the various options used to combat worm damage in other harbor locations.

“We considered quite a few options, from essentially replacing it as it is to going high tech,” committee member Michael Cunning told the council. “We decided on a hybrid system.”

Councilor Mark Riposta commended the committee for researching the various solutions. He noted that the harbor has become a valuable part of the city’s economic growth and voted with the other councilors to fund the repairs.

“I ‘m really, really pleased with the amount of energy put into this proposal, it’s an excellent proposal,” Riposta said. “I think the harbor is one of the greatest potential revenue-providing sources we have.”

Riposta was less positive during an earlier discussion about the current moratorium against so-called “big box” stores. The council enacted the six-month moratorium in August and is considering extending it into June.

At the time of its approval, the moratorium was viewed as necessary to buy the city time to revise its planning and zoning rules to accommodate large-scale retail development.

The city has yet to accomplish that review, prompting city manager Terry St. Peter to recommend the council consider a “planning summit….the equivalent of a retreat,” to address its needs.

“Not everyone in the city is in favor of extending the moratorium,” observed Riposta. “I’d like to end it tomorrow.”