Today’s Metro Council meeting promises fireworks

There should be no shortage of action at this afternoon’s Metro Council meeting, at which members will once again take up two controversial projects downtown: the $21 million downtown library and a $900,000 stage canopy for Galvez Plaza. A resolution urging the library board to rethink its plans for a new library is cosponsored by council members Ulysses “Bones” Addison, R.J. “Smokie” Bourgeois, Donna Collins-Lewis, Chandler Loupe and Mike Walker—and even their opinions on the issue differ. While Collins-Lewis says she never supported the $19 million allocation for the new library in this year’s budget in the first place, Bourgeois says the library board should “repurpose the building” and Loupe says he is not committed to any particular course of action. “I’m interested in exploring other options. But I’m not necessarily in favor of renovating the old building for $10 million,” Loupe says. East Baton Rouge Library Board of Control President Kizzy Payton, a supporter of a new downtown library, says she understands the growing opposition and assures all that the library system is prepared to address any situation the council mandates. “At the end of the day, our goal is to ensure that citizens receive library services,” she says. “The board must look for a way to compromise with the council. If not, the citizens will ultimately lose.” The Metro Council is scheduled to meet at 4 p.m. today on the third floor of the Governmental Building, 222 St. Louis St. —Ian McGibboney