Amillion-dollar increase in the cost of expanding the South River Public Library has put a stop to the project before it could get started.

"We're not sure we can go forward," Mayor Raymond Eppinger said at Monday's Borough Council meeting.

Though an original estimate for the project came in at $5.5 million, the library board of trustees recently learned from the professionals hired to plan the expansion that it would cost $6.7 million to do everything as currently planned, with the exception of staffing the building.

Borough Councilman John Krenzel told the Sentinel that the council knew that residents would not support the cost of the project. Roughly 550 residents signed a petition last year opposing the cost of the project, saying that it should not exceed $3 million.

"It is our feeling that the people would not support the $6.7 million renovation and expansion project for the library," Krenzel said.

In order to reduce costs, the mayor and council are now looking at the possibility of dealing with two pressing issues at once - constructing a new library and a senior center that would share a parking lot and an elevator. Krenzel said the senior center's current location at 55 Reid St. is undesirable, since parking is limited, and the nature of Reid Street makes it difficult for seniors to navigate.

"There's inadequate parking," Krenzel said. "People don't want to go down there."

The borough used $300,000 from the water department as a down payment for the library project, Krenzel said, adding that this led to the $5.5 million estimate for the project.

"We backed into the bond," Krenzel said.

The borough will now assess the situation with various departments and buildings in order to make a decision that is based on priorities, Krenzel said.

"We are taking a snapshot of the town and seeing what the town needs," Krenzel said. "It's been almost 10 years since a needs study was done."

Eppinger, who took over as mayor on Jan. 1, said Monday that he and the council are aware of the lack of space in the current library, along with the facility's other needs.

"There is not a person on this governing body that doesn't know that things need to be done to the South River Public Library," Eppinger said.

"We have to start thinking about solving as many problems [as possible] at one time," he added.

Eppinger said the library board, and specifically Library director Andrea Londensky, did an outstanding job of putting together a plan for the facility's expansion and improvement. He added that a needs assessment is under way so that officials can determine what the borough should attend to first, since there are several public buildings in town that are not in optimal condition.

The buildings of concern include the South River Rescue Squad facility, the human resources building at 55 Reid St., the municipal building at the corner of Washington and Gordon streets, and the firehouse on George Street.

"We have issues with a lot of different buildings and different things," Eppinger said.

The topography of the library site contributes 15 to 20 percent of the project's costs, Eppinger said. He added that another problem is the fact that new portions would be added to an older existing structure.

During Monday's meeting, library trustee Leslie Roselli asked Eppinger about the purpose of the assessment study and how it is being paid for. Eppinger responded that the objective of the study, besides determining what the borough should do about the library, is to determine which needs are critical and have to be dealt with immediately. He added that architect Anthony Iovino and project manager David Coffield are conducting the study.

"The focus can go completely back on the library if there is not a problem at the other buildings," Eppinger said.

Borough Business Administrator Andrew Salerno said the study should take 30 to 45 days from when it started last week. He added that the criteria being used includes the work done for the library project already, as well as studies done roughly nine years ago and information provided by reporting departments.

The cost of the assessment should not be significant, Salerno said, since twothirds of the information is already available for review.

Londensky told the Sentinel that the project was underfunded when the council approved the bond last year. She added that the council's current process of assessing the boroughs needs before going forward will help ensure that the library's needs are met.

Among the options that the library board and the governing body are exploring is finding another location for the library. However, it is too early in the process to know what might happen.

The million-dollar shortfall was too high, Londensky said, and the project could not be scaled back to reduce costs. She added that the library board remains optimistic about the future of the library.

"I think we're all happy that it's not dead, because that was always a possibility," Londensky said. "… I still think we are in a position that this project is still viable and so, for that, I am very happy."

Londensky said the board did not want to shortchange any other departments as a result of the project. She added that they thought the building design would be within the borough's budget; however, the economic climate has changed.

"We live in this town too," Londensky said, "so we understand the context we are in. We are not East Brunswick and we are not Old Bridge.We don't have tons of ratables. We know what the community is like."