The Fontana Regional Library agreement, signed in 2013 by Macon, Swain and Jackson Counties, governs the regional library system of six local libraries. Some commissioners in those counties have called for more active management of the library, in an attempt to make it “socially and politically neutral.” The language in the proposed agreement could shift a burden onto commissioners to police the library’s activities, according to the Jackson County interim attorney.
Macon County Commissioners sent a new proposed regional agreement to the other two counties in November. The new agreement mostly focuses on the library board structure and ownership of library materials, but how those structural changes would work in practice isn’t clear.
Jackson County Commissioners discussed the revised Fontana Regional Library agreement during the January 9 work session. The commissioners agreed that the three counties need to meet and discuss the contract to end this long discussion.
Discussions about changes to the regional library system have been ongoing since early 2023.
In April, Macon Commissioner voted to stay in the regional library system but amend the agreement.
The three county managers shared a recommendation in August.
At the December 12 meeting, Jackson County Manager Don Adams recommended that the document be sent to Jackson County’s lawyer and explained that his biggest concern with the document was how equipment and books that are owned by the entire library system would be divided up if one of the counties wanted to leave the agreement.
“At the end of the day, here’s what I recommend that Jackson County do. Make sure that you are not paying for anything that other counties do,” Adams said.
He explained that a lot of the computers in the region are paid for by Fontana Regional Library grants. If those computers are kept by the county leaving the library system, then the remaining counties could be on the hook for those monies.
At Jackson commissioner’s next meeting on December 19, the library discussion was tabled to give the county attorney more time to go over the contract.
Who will be responsible for overseeing library activities?
Interim Jackson County attorney John Kubis explained that the agreement changes the structure of the Fontana Regional Library system, the governance and the process for withdrawal.
The language required the library to be “socially and politically neutral” creates ambiguity that commissioners may have to sort out if the measure is signed, according to Kubis.
“Certainly whatever it does mean, the commissioners are now going to be in a position to determine whether or not the library is operating in accordance with the “socially and politically neutral” manner language,” Kubis said.
He said it is unclear how that policing would happen.
Kubis also raised concerns about how assets would be divided when a county leaves the agreement.
“There’s questions as to whether there is a sense of fairness in the counties keeping those assets,” Kubis said.
Commissioners offered a number of suggestions about changes to the contract and questions about the document.
Jackson Commissioner Mark Letson asked to loop in the Fontana Library Board of Trustees chair. Kubis agreed that the board needs to be consulted as a party of this agreement.
Letson also asked how division of property between the libraries would work within the Cardinal library system, a statewide system that allows participating libraries to loan books and equipment from anywhere in the state. Fontana is a member of the Cardinal system.
Letson and Commissioner John Smith both agreed that it would be hard to delineate between county monies, grant funding and regional funding within the current FRL system.
Letson also asked about the “socially and politically neutral” language.
“The wording is easy to read, but it’s very subjective. You could move it however you want it to depending on who is on the board,” Letson said.
Smith said he knows that Macon County Commissioners are working to revise that language.
“I’m not sure when they will vote on that,” Smith said.
Macon County attorney Eric Ridenour told BPR on January 11 that “Macon Co. is not currently working on amending the draft that was submitted to Swain and Jackson, but rather waiting to hear back from Swain and Jackson.”
Smith said he thinks that the commissioners should not be the first he doesn’t think commissioner should be the first group deciding if the libraries are following these guidelines.
“The library system itself should be self-governing, to a point. Just like the planning board is self-governing unless there is a problem that needs to be moved forward in the chain,” Smith said.
Commissioner Todd Byson recommended that the three counties meet.
“I don’t know how we do this but wouldn’t it be smarter if we could have like a joint meeting or something with the county. Because if we pass something here and then we send it back it’s just going to drag on and on and on,” Bryson said.
Letson concluded the discussion.
“I think the consensus is that we need to get some other board input,” Letson said. He directed the interim county manager Darlene Fox to work with the other two county managers to organize some form of a joint meeting soon.
Questions about the revised agreement
Jackson County resident Donald Selzer emailed BPR comments on December 22 stating that the revised contract sent by Macon County commissioners did not highlight all of the changes made to the regional agreement.
BPR compared the 2013 agreement and the proposed revised contract and found a number of changes that were not highlighted as revisions.
Macon County attorney Eric Ridenour told BPR that the failure to highlight any revisions was an oversight in an email on January 11.
One un-highlighted change on the revised contract said each county will pay the Fontana Regional Library an “adequate” amount of money necessary for the Fontana Regional Library to carry out its “primary” mission “of being a caretaker of resources.”
The revised contract is also missing a provision from the original agreement that states that all materials at Hudson Regional Library that were acquired by Fontana Regional Library are the property of the Fontana system.
The revised contract states that the inter-local agreement must be updated every 10 years. However, the original agreement states that it will automatically renew after the initial 10 year period for successive 10-year periods unless the counties terminate it.
Selzer explained in his comments that beyond the omissions in the revision, the importance of some of the changes were not explained in the revision. The biggest is the removal of the FRL as a party in the agreement.
“The proposed Agreement removes Fontana Regional Library as a party to the Agreement, creating validity issues and confusion. Without it being a party to the proposed Agreement, none of the obligations it has under that Agreement would be enforceable," Selzer wrote to BPR.
Swain County Commissioners had the Mariana Black Library Contract on the January 2 work session agenda. Commissioners discussed the expansion of the Mariana Black Library according to the Smoky Mountain Times and are still considering the Fontana Regional Library Revised contract. Swain is expected to discuss the agreement on January 16.
Macon County Commissioners met on January 9. Commissioner Danny Antoine, library board liaison, confirmed that Macon is waiting for recommendations from Jackson and Swain.
County Manager Derek Roland clarified that once the recommendations are received from the other counties the agreement will be sent to the FRL Board. Commissioners then appointed Marsha Moxley to the Macon County Library Board. The appointment was previously tabled at November and December commission meetings, according to the agenda packet.
The Macon County Commission's agenda packet stated that Macon County Librarian Abby Hardison recommended Moxley for the position due to the resignation of Bill Trotter from the board. Three other applicants also applied for the board position: Phillip Cucuru, Jennifer Cambrook, and Debra Dyal.
