• The majority of the roof is completed.
• The interior is 80% complete. This includes the drywall, paint and ceiling tile, the restrooms, the flooring, and the fire alarms.
• The gym is nearly complete. However, the basketball goals will not arrive until mid-February due to COVID-related supply chain issues.
• Library equipment (book sorter, computers, printers, and scanners) will be arriving in mid-February.

• The furniture is shipping from overseas and, due to COVID-related supply chain issues, it will not be delivered until early May.
• We all know COVID has resulted in detrimental supply chain problems across the globe. I am in communication with the Library Department to find out exactly why we had to purchase furniture from overseas. I have asked them to explain to me why the furniture couldn’t have been purchased from a local supplier and why it wasn’t purchased earlier to avoid these foreseeable disruptions in shipping.

• While the waterproofing preparation and installation was set to begin last week there have been delays due to the current high levels of moisture within in the concrete flood wall. This is because the position of the sun is not strong enough on the north and south ends of the building to effectively dry these walls. There are ongoing discussions about how to remove this moisture, but a solution has not been reached yet.

• Shortly before the Christmas holiday, an electrical inspector from the Permitting Department was taking a second look at the current approved design for the electrical duct bank and stated he was unable to approve the design. The inspector stated this electrical work was supposed to be designed for two buildings instead of one. Apparently, the previous inspector did not catch this. Now the contractor must go back to the drawing board and re-design the electrical duct box. The contractor was unable to provide us with an estimated timeline for competition of the re-design. However, because this is a major electrical problem, the Library Department cannot move-in and begin set up until work is complete.
• I am currently in talks with Public Works Department Director Carol Haddock to find out exactly how this breakdown in communication occurred. I personally find this totally nonsensical both procedurally and structurally. This was bought to my attention relatively recently and as soon as we learned of it, I set about trying to find out what we could do to solve this issue. Unfortunately, this is not a new issue in the Permitting Department. One set of plans could be approved one week by one inspector, and then the next week those same plans are rejected by a different inspector. This process must change within the department and we have continuously voiced this concern.