The story was the same for city officials who are in the process of a building-swap with the library. Gaylord has been looking at expanding its library, including adding classroom space for the area’s relatively large Spanish-speaking population.

The original plan was to build a new library on a vacant lot, a project that was expected to cost $2.5 million, said Chuck Klimmek, the president of the local Economic Development Authority. Looking for a more cost-effective option, city officials decided to offer its municipal building — which included a large and under-used auditorium — to the library.

The move will boost the size of the library from 3,300 to 7,300 square feet and cost about $900,000 in renovation expenses. The city needs about $400,000 to retrofit the library for city administrative offices and is asking for about $200,000 from the state.

A suburban senator noted that bonding funds are supposed to be reserved for projects with statewide or regional significance and asked Klimmek to justify the use of state funds for a municipal building.

After the meeting, he conceded that the senator’s question makes the project a tough sell. But he noted that the city took a hit to help the library serve a broader and somewhat regional population, slashing the cost of the library project and opening the vacant lot to a new mini-mall that will help revitalize the downtown of a county seat.

“We sacrificed city hall to solve that at half the cost,” he said.

As for the Lake Titloe folks, they can make an easy case for regional or statewide significance. The polluted lake flows into the Rush River, which pours into the already polluted Minnesota River — a major contributor to the pollution of the Mississippi River.

Today, the committee will be asked for help with emergency response training facilities in Marshall, the Jeffers petroglyphs in Cottonwood County, the Mountain Lake fire and ambulance building, a bio-energy plant in Heron Lake, the Worthington fire hall, the Worthington-based community college, the Lakefield Science Center and a Fairmont sports complex.

On Thursday, New Ulm, Lake Crystal and Mankato get their turn.