This week I am taking off my editor’s visor and putting on my other hat as the president of the Blue Earth Community Library and Fossil Discovery Center, to pen the following letter.

To the Editor:

The story in last week’s Faribault County Register concerning the Blue Earth City Council meeting and their decision to end their contract with Jim Pollard and no longer allow the Fossil Discovery Center to be in the Blue Earth Community Library was well written by reporter Fiona Green and was an accurate description of what happened at the meeting.

However, as the president of the Blue Earth Community Library and Fossil Discovery Center (an official name change will be necessary at the next library board meeting, I would guess, since the fossil discovery center is no more), I would like to take this opportunity to set some of the record straight.

At least, from my perspective.

It was a couple of years ago that Blue Earth resident Jim Pollard approached the library board with a proposal to put in a display of dinosaur fossils in the library.

After quite a bit of discussion, it was decided by the library board that this would be a wonderful addition to the library. And, it would not be much of any expense to the library and the library staff would have little to no extra work to do. Because Jim Pollard was going to do everything himself, and did not want nor need, any assistance.

We thought of it as a win-win-win-win situation. A win for the library to draw more people in the door, a win for the downtown Blue Earth area for the same reason, a win for the community as a whole as this would be a big time attraction and tourist and visitor draw.

Plus it would be a win for Jim Pollard as it would give him a place that was open to the public to display all of his many wonderful fossils.

The city administration and City Council wanted a formal agreement with Jim Pollard and so one was created. It covered a variety of things, such as how much space Jim could use, when he could be in the library to swap out fossils and how insurance was going to be handled, who had rights to different things, and other items like that.

The contract was agreed to by the city, library and Jim Pollard.

There was more.

Jim Pollard found, and refinished, eight display cases for the fossils to be displayed in – and then donated six of them to the library at a value of nearly $8,000.

He then donated a large Acrocanthosaurus dinosaur fossil skull to be on display in the library, valued at $8,250.

Next he went out and fundraised $40,000 from members of the community (individuals and businesses) to get a huge Pteranodon fossil mounted and donated to the library/fossil discovery center.

He put another giant dinosaur arm fossil display at the Giant Welcome Center with the sole intent of drawing visitors at the GWC to come downtown. He designed a brochure about the discovery center and paid to have them printed. He also did the same with little pamphlets to describe what fossils were in each cabinet.

What else? He took a Blue Earth kid and their parent on a fossil dig the last couple of summers – and is doing that again this summer – at a cost of $5,000 out of his own pocket. He also created a fossil cabinet, filled with small fossils kids could actually take out and hold in their hand.

What else? Well, he had plans to purchase kits where kids could scratch away part of a brick-size block and discover a fossil inside.

What else? He has spent thousands of dollars more on some fantastic new fossils including dinosaur footprints, which would have been on display soon, but now, sadly, will not be.

Late last year a Fossil Discovery Center subcommittee of the library board was formed with the express purpose of working with Jim on these new fossils and displays and where they should be placed.

Unfortunately, in the six months since the subcommittee was formed, it has never met with Jim Pollard a single time. The reason? One member of the subcommittee has questioned everything about the current agreement with Jim Pollard, and suddenly the city adminstration and city attorney were involved in remaking the agreement.

I, personally, and as president of the library board, disagreed with that, and felt there was no need to rewrite the agreement. It had been hammered out over a long period of time, signed by all involved and was working. Or sure seemed to me to be working.

Meanwhile, Jim Pollard had been virtually barred from doing anything to the fossil discovery center for the last four or five months.

Then came the stunning action at the City Council meeting on Monday, May 15.

Surprisingly, neither Jim Pollard, the library board nor myself, had been asked to be at the meeting, nor notified of this possible devastating action going to take place. I had seen a line in the council agenda which read simply, “Fossil Discovery Center Report,” and I thought it might be a good idea if the Fossil Discovery Center donor (Jim) and the president of the library board (me) were there to see what this “report” was about.

Shockingly, the “report” was completely negative and ended with a council vote to remove the fossil discovery center out of the library.

No notice whatsoever was given to the library board which originally made the decision to have the Fossil Discovery Center in the library, and which, by the way, is a governing board (not an advisory board), so it does have quite a bit of authority over the library itself.

Apparently, not as much as one would think. The library board wasn’t even given any chance for input on this shocking decision, much less make its own decision on the matter as a governing board.

The city did give Jim Pollard 180 days to remove his fossils out of the library. He didn’t need that long. He moved them all out the very next morning ­- except for items which he had donated to the library/city or had been donated by others.

The City Council did form a committee of two council members to assist Jim Pollard with a search for a new location for the Fossil Discovery Center. While I would like to be optimistic, I doubt very much that is ever going to happen. But, I will be one of the first to celebrate that miracle, should it occur.

And as far as what is going to happen to the $8,000 worth of display cabinets Jim donated to the library/city, or the $8,000 Acrocanthosaurus skull Jim donated to the library/city, or the $40,000 Pteranodon fossil mounted on the back wall of the library which was donated by citizens/businesses of Blue Earth to the library/city?

Your guess is as good as mine. I understand that the city attorney is going to work with Jim Pollard on this matter. Again, the library board was not notified to be involved in any of these discussions or decisions involving the library.

There is actually more to this story, but you get the idea. And, besides, it is obviously a done deal and pretty much too late to do anything about it.

In closing, I just want to say that this is really a shame. Jim Pollard offered the community of Blue Earth an astounding gift, an amazing attraction at little to no cost and something no other city or town anywhere around here has. It was almost guaranteed to be another giant attraction for Blue Earth.

And instead of saying, “thank you,” to Jim Pollard, the powers that be said, “no thank you.”

Incredible.

Chuck Hunt,