Chelsea Bossert/Daily Mining Gazette fter a public outcry of support for the Hancock School Public Library during the Hancock City Council meeting on Wednesday, a group of concerned residents and library patrons discuss the library’s current situation.

HANCOCK — The Hancock City Council chambers were unusually crowded at the councils regular meeting Wednesday. Among items under “new business”was the issue of funding for the Hancock School Public Library. Several people, both resident and non-residents spoke during the public comment portions of the meeting. The library discussion, a last-minute addition on the council’s agenda, proved to be the most contentious issue of the evening.

Some council members and City Manager Mary Babcock said they had no idea there was a budget crunch at the Library and said they did not have enough information to offer a viable solution at the meeting.

In particular, Babcock said she did not know if supplemental funding for the Library could come from the City’s general fund. Dillon Geshel,former director of the Portage Lake District Library, said since Hancock has a school public library, allocating funding from outside the school district would be challenging.

Mayor Kurt Rickard said he and other council members want the library to stay open, regardless of funding difficulties.

“I think the bulk of council is probably agreeable to wanting to keep the library open,” Rickard said. “So, I think we’ll look at the finances and see if we can find an account within the city budget that we could afford to help out the school district — if it comes down to it.” He said it all comes down to what the council can legally do. Babcock said she will consult the city’s legal counsel to look at options.

Mayor Pro-Tem Whitney Warstler said she wants the City Council to meet with all parties involved and learn more about the Library’s budget. Babcock acknowledged the council did not have a lot of time between its next meeting — scheduled for June 3 — and the Hancock Public School District Board of Education meeting on June 15 where the next fiscal year budget is to be voted on.

Portage Lake District Library Board Treasurer, Tim Scarlett, said PLDL cannot help with funding due to Hancock being outside the library’s millage area of Houghton and Portage Township. “The board of trustees at PLDL really wants that (Hancock) library to be successful and we really want to help,” he said. “It’s our legal obligation to be quite firm in this case that it must pay for itself.”

Scarlett added the PLDL Board would be excited if Hancock residents vote to be a part of the area PLDL serves. Such a scenario was not discussed at the meeting.

The school district is will go over the proposed budget for next fiscal year, which allocates HSPL funding and renews the contract with PLDL, at its June 15 meeting.

The discussion concluded with Rickard and other council members agreeing to do more research and potentially meet with parties involved in order to get the full picture.

Other new business items discussed and approved by the Hancock Council, included the purchase of a speed radar display trailer shared between the Hancock Police Department and the Department of Public Works, a new Ford Explorer Police Vehicle for and financial backing for recreation projects for the Hancock Campground and Driving Park.

A representative from UPPCO requested the council grant a 20-foot easement on the south end of Birch Street to work on a project which will add an underwater utility line to the other side of the Portage Canal. Babcock announced there will be a public hearing regarding the easement on June 3 .

Voting for the Portage Lake Sewage and Water Authority budget for next fiscal year was tabled due to a clerical error in its language.

The next city council meeting will take place on June 3.