AURORA — A decades-old agreement between the city and a now-defunct developer may keep the Mission Viejo library branch from closing its doors for good.
City officials met with the Mission Viejo Homeowners Association on Tuesday afternoon after the HOA threatened to sue the city to keep the library open.
The group produced a signed agreement between Aurora and the Mission Viejo Co. that dates to 1973, in which the company agreed to give the city the land for a library, but it had to remain open for 50 years.
City officials will now reconsider closing the library. They plan to meet soon to decide whether to do that or fight in court.
“I think it’s going to go in our favor,” said Mission Viejo HOA president Todd McMahan. “It’s a neighborhood library and a community asset.”
The library, at 15324 E. Hampden Circle, is one of four Aurora libraries scheduled to be shut at the end of the year. Voters this month rejected a ballot measure that would have kept the libraries open. City officials said they can no longer afford to fund all seven of the libraries in this slumping economy.
City Attorney Charlie Richardson is disputing the wording in the agreement. He said an attachment to the original document only obligated the city to keep the library open for 35 years.
“A combination of municipal corporation law and contract law produces a result that invalidates the 50-year provision,” Richardson said. “Mayor Paul Beck’s signature is on it, but we cannot find a resolution or ordinance that approves the agreement.”
Bob Hoban, an attorney hired by the HOA, said the meeting Tuesday was productive.
Both sides talked about a number of ideas to keep the library open, including reducing staff and hours, as well as a possible financial contribution from the HOA, although that is unlikely. The HOA is a volunteer organization and has little money in its coffers.
The city will make a decision on the library by Dec. 9. How much is cut will probably determine whether the HOA sues the city.
The library is currently open five days a week at a cost of $680,000 annually, Hoban said.
City Councilman Bob Broom, who represents that part of the city, said if the library is kept open, other library services would probably have to be cut.
“Nobody in the city wants to close libraries,” said Broom, who lives three blocks from the Mission Viejo Library. “It’s just that we have a really tough financial situation we are dealing with here.”
Carlos Illescas: 303-954-1175 or cillescas@denverpost.com
