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She noted that the project has not been formally considered since the council referred it in February to the Planning Commission, which a month later gave a favorable report on the project. It would represent the first major expansion of the facility since 1979.
Mayor Patricia Murphy said in a July interview that the council decided to wait to seek funding for the project until the economy improves.
"We all understand we are in hard economic times, but this project was initially defeated in a robust economy," Mrs. Monaghan said regarding the decision by the council not to embark on a more ambitious $13 million project some time ago.
Town Council member Walter Bayer, an advocate for the project, said in a phone interview that the financing for the renovations might not have any impact for at least a few years, when the economy might be more vibrant.
Town Council Vice Chairman Roger Szendy said, "That isn't a strong argument."
He said in a phone interview that the town will be financing improvements to the wastewater treatment plant, the new ambulance barn and possibly improved communications for emergency personnel over the coming years, which would limit the ability to pay for improvements to the library, even though the renovation package is "a good plan" at a lower price than had initially been proposed.
Mrs. Monaghan said that there is $5.5 million in the landfill account and that some of that could be used to lower the costs for the library renovations.
Mr. Szendy said that, by ordinance, up to 10 percent of the money in that account can be used to pay for general operating expenses in the municipal budget, which helps lower tax increases.
He said that by using some of that money for the library, the town would have less funding to apply to lowering the impact of municipal expenses.
"We've been talking about this for 10 years," Mr. Bayer said. "I would like to see this project go forward, although I think a majority of the council wants to continue to wait until the economy improves."
However, Mr. Bayer said that there might be more support on the Town Council for the library proposal in December depending on next week's election results.
"People have said that we should put this forward and let the voters decide," Mr. Szendy said. "However, they said the same thing about the town pool proposal some years ago, and it was defeated by a 4-1 vote. You could end up with a resounding defeat that would kill the library renovations for 10 years."
Boston architect Jeff Hoover of Tappe Associates Inc. presented the revised plan to the council in February.
The ad-hoc expansion committee for the library disbanded this spring, and its chairman, Joyce Hermonat said in June that it was "unclear" what action, if any, would be taken on the proposal. It was revised from the more ambitious plan, which some municipal officials found too expensive.
Mrs. Monaghan acknowledged to the council that the petition was not binding but indicated in a later interview that she hoped that the new council, which will take office in early December following next Tuesday's municipal election, would immediately consider scheduling a town meeting on the project.
She said that her petition included signatures from 50 children who want additional space at the library, which is located facing the Village Green.
Mrs. Monaghan, who appeared at the meeting with her husband, Gerard Monaghan, the community liaison representative for New Milford First, and with former Mayor Robert Gambino, said that for the time being the political party would see "how things shake out" in the municipal election and would, if necessary, "pack the room" with library expansion supporters at subsequent meetings if no action is taken to schedule a special town meeting on the proposal.
Library Director Carl DeMilia wrote in the October edition of the library's newsletter that for the fourth consecutive year the facility set a record for circulation, up 14.4 percent over the previous fiscal year.
People who could no longer afford to buy books, magazines or newspapers used library-owned copies," he said. "Those who could no longer rent DVDs borrowed the library's collections."
"More than two years ago, you proposed a committee to study how to finance three major capital projects and how to sequence them," Mrs. Monaghan told the council.
"The committee was never formed, but the other two projects-the ambulance barn and sewer plant expansion-have been approved," she said referring to construction of the emergency services facility near the former Century Brass plant on Scovill Road that began in August and the $30 million renovation of the wastewater treatment plant last month.
Mrs. Monaghan said in a recent interview that bond rates are currently low and that due to the recession the bids would probably be lower than anticipated this last February since several companies are seeking projects.
The bids for the construction of the wastewater treatment plant and the ambulance barn were lower than anticipated.
