The Missouri River Regional Library is moving forward with a study that could map out the next 10 years of repairs and improvements to its facility.
The library board has approved engineering firm Clark Enersen Partners of Kansas City to lead the study, and the next step includes MRRL entering into negotiations with the firm regarding pricing.
Clark Enersen Partners submitted a plan to MRRL Director Helen Rigdon at the beginning of the month, outlining the scope of a study of four different areas of the library facility - heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) enhancements; building maintenance evaluation; Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) enhancements; and first floor reorganization.
For the study, Clark Enersen Partners expects its personnel to expend 404 hours, totaling a ballpark fee of $55,830, which is negotiable.
Rigdon said the funds for the study are included in the $250,000 designated for the HVAC replacement in the library's 2013 budget.
She said the study will enable MRRL to create a 10-year facilities plan.
"We figured while we have them (Clark Enersen Partners) here (for the HVAC), we'll have them study everything at once," Rigdon said. "It's a more efficient way."
She said a new HVAC will allow different parts of the building to be different temperatures.
"Right now, we have one temp for the whole building," Rigdon said.
She said she hopes to have a new HVAC installed in early spring or October of next year, but other improvements may be more long term within the next 10 years.
One of the major things the study will look at is energy efficiency within the building.
"We're also looking at repairs to the elevators and the roof," Rigdon said. "We also want to rearrange the main floor to make it more welcoming and efficient for staff."
If completed within the 2014 fiscal year, those improvements fall within an allotment of $186,011.91 for building repairs and improvements in the library's 2014 draft budget.