WILLITS, CA., 10/15/26 — The planned fix-up of the Willits library now costs more than four times what the county first set aside. Along the way, the design picked up new windows, restrooms, lighting, heating and cooling and an outdoor children’s area.
The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 on Oct. 6 to raise the Measure O budget for the Willits branch refresh and Americans with Disabilities Act upgrade from $600,000 to $2,591,393, according to the meeting agenda and roll call. A separate $65,000 pays for the added design work.
The money comes out of Mendocino County’s 2022 Measure O sales tax, from the 40% share that’s reserved for buildings. That fund had $6,003,358 in it when Willits library staff filed the request in September, the signed appropriation form shows.
An architect’s cost estimate attached to the agenda, dated May 22, puts the remodel at $2,089,891, plus $230,000 for new furniture. Nichols, Melburg & Rossetto, the Redding firm designing the project, priced the construction itself at $1,449,300. The rest is allowances for design changes, rising prices, construction surprises and fees.
Where the money goes
The biggest piece, $925,000, is inside the building: lighting, walls, doors, power and data lines, flooring and other finishes, heating and cooling equipment, and restrooms priced at $210,000. Outside work comes to $397,500. That covers new windows on three sides of the building, structural work and a $120,000 children’s patio. Another $126,800 goes to the entry and parking lot.
Mendocino County Librarian Mellisa Hannum requested the added work, which grew out of the design process, according to two requests for added services from the architects. The firm’s contract went from $50,000 to $115,000 and now runs through June 2028, according to the signed contract amendment. Bidding help and construction oversight weren’t in the original contract, the firm wrote.
The Mendocino County Library Advisory Board voted July 8, at a meeting in Fort Bragg, to recommend the extra $65,000 for design, according to its minutes. The appropriation request says the advisory board discussed and recommended the budget increase at that meeting.
The Willits branch at 390 E. Commercial St. is 37 years old and about 7,000 square feet. A 2023 county review of its buildings found the branch needed interior repairs, a new roof and ADA upgrades. The library’s plan says the remodel will bring parking, walkways, restrooms and the entrance up to ADA standards. A separate $317,424 roof replacement was budgeted for the branch last fiscal year.
A 10-year plan for every branch
The same day, supervisors voted 5-0 to approve Mendocino County Library’s 10-year capital plan. It lays out how about $20.5 million in Measure O building money would be spent across the county through mid-2035. The advisory board recommended the plan unanimously Sept. 9.
Measure O requires the advisory board to set a “fair and equitable distribution” of the money to all areas of the county. The plan sets a target for each branch based on how many people it serves, then adjusts for what each building needs.
Under those targets, Willits, which serves about 14,000 people, would get 16% of the money. The plan gives it $3,031,611, or 14.8%. Ukiah, the largest branch, serves about 41,000 people and has a 47% target, but is planned for 40.5%, or $8,305,643. Fort Bragg falls about $1.1 million short of its target. The Coast Community branch in Point Arena and the Laytonville branch get well above theirs, which the plan attributes to the cost of needed repairs at smaller branches.
Ukiah gets $1.3 million for a new roof and heating and cooling system this fiscal year, then a $6.5 million remodel planned for the 2030-31 fiscal year. That remodel would draw the building fund down to about $682,000, according to the plan’s budget. The plan also pays $831,500 for a new hybrid bookmobile, which the library expects in 2027.
Fort Bragg’s $2.8 million refresh, planned for the 2028-29 fiscal year, would also upgrade air conditioning and replace the branch’s antiquated heating system.
I am not sure why Fort Bragg is getting less than it’s equitable share and many other branches are getting more, although that might be because we have such an active Friends of the Library who are funding an expansion and that building will be brand new and up to current standards.