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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, which would represent the first major expansion of the facility since 1979.
Mayor Patricia Murphy said in an interview in July that the council has decided to wait on seeking funding for the project until after the economy, which reportedly has been in a recession since late 2007, improves.
Ms. Murphy said in a phone interview this week that municipal officials have not reached the point where they have identified the potential tax impact over the length of the financing for the project or what the project might entail in terms of parking, new employees and technology upgrades.
She apparently was addressing a comment made by Mrs. Monaghan.
"What capital project in this town ever had a firm revenue source ... the high school? ... the ambulance barn?" Mrs. Monaghan said.
"You have to have the revenue streams identified and you have to have the tax impact identified before you can go to the voters," Ms. Murphy said. "They need that information and that is the way that we do it with every project. I'm very careful about what happens when we are spending the residents' money."
New Milford First has endorsed Robert Coppola, the Democratic nominee for mayor, who will face off against Ms. Murphy, a Republican, in next Tuesday's municipal election.
Connecticut had an 8.4 percent unemployment rate in September, and there have been several business closings in the area over the last 18 months.
"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, which has been revised from the more ambitious plan, which some municipal officials had said was 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 has set another record for circulation, which was 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 stated regarding the impact of the economic recession. "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, making reference to construction of the emergency services facility near the former Century Brass plant on Scovill Road that began construction in August and the $30 million renovation of the wastewater treatment plant that underwent construction 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 New Milford wastewater treatment plant and the ambulance barn had been lower than anticipated.
