Hello Supporters of the Jeudevine Library! News as of July 2022!

We have good and bad news to relate. As you have heard, the expansion project was upended by the pandemic and the inflated construction costs that ensued. When we went out to bid year, the bids were 50% over the original budget. We raised money and got an earmark appropriation by Senator Leahy’s office for $600,000 and have $2.43 million raised which we thought would cover the project.

The bad news is that we had a new round of bids this spring and they came in at slightly over $3 million. The bids were so close to one another indicates they are responsible bids reflecting the pandemic-induced inflation of costs—but they are $600,000 over last year's budget, which is a full 50% increase once again. The low bidder was E. F. Wall and Associates of Barre, VT.

One of our funders, the USDA Rural Development office, will not sign off until all the funds are in place and they require a 10% contingency, making the project a $3.3 million-dollar project. 

The Trustees are working at raising more money. The VT Department of Libraries is receiving an appropriation of $16.4 million for library construction grants, but the application process won't start until 2023. The library is also negotiating with the contractors to see if they can find ways to lower the costs of the project.

Please continue to support our project! If anyone has any ideas on how to raise the rest of the needed funds, please contact us. Call 802-472-5948 or email: jeudevinelibrary@hardwickvt.org.

Thank you for your support!