Grants Pass, August 21, 2025 — In an unexpected turn, the Josephine County Board of Commissioners today approved a new lease for the Grants Pass library branch — but only after adding back a clause that undermines months of negotiations. Commissioner Andreas Blech introduced an amendment to reinstate the “termination for convenience” provision, allowing either party to end the lease with just 30 days’ notice, and the Board of Commissioners voted to approve it.
Library Board Vice President Rachele Selvig added, “This amendment puts us right back where we started. After months of good-faith negotiations, the outcome today does not provide the stability our community deserves.”
This outcome marks a reversal from the negotiated Draft Lease Agreement. On January 6, the commissioners had abruptly voted to terminate the district’s $1-per-year lease for the Grants Pass library — the community’s main branch and headquarters of the countywide system since 1959 — triggering months of uncertainty. That decision set off months of uncertainty, with commissioners citing internal needs and unrelated property sales as reasons to terminate. In May, Commissioner Chris Barnett was appointed lead negotiator, meeting with library leaders and legal counsel through July to develop new terms. That draft reflected a fair compromise: the district would assume additional building costs, and in return, the County would commit to a five-year lease with no option for early termination.
The proposed lease is the product of many hours of meetings from May through July between Commissioner Chris Barnett, as the commissioners’ designee, and the library district’s leadership and legal counsel. The draft reflects a fair compromise, with the library agreeing to assume additional costs and responsibilities for landscaping, routine maintenance and repairs, and an amortized contribution toward the roof replacement. In return, the County would maintain its $1-per-year lease commitment for the next five years, with no option to terminate during that time except for cause.
Today’s vote did not reflect that agreement. By reintroducing the termination-for-convenience clause — the same clause the commissioners used to end the lease in January — the Board of Commissioners has undone the core assurance the district required.
“No commercial tenant, much less a public library serving thousands of residents, can reasonably operate under a lease that can be terminated with just 30 days’ notice,” said Library Director Kate Lasky. “Our district board made clear throughout negotiations that this was a nonnegotiable term. A library cannot relocate in 30 days, nor can we responsibly plan for services under that condition. The County has a Charter obligation to support and maintain the main library and its branches, and this action falls short of that duty.”
The library district board will meet tonight, Thursday, August 21, at 5:30 p.m. at the Grants Pass branch for its regularly scheduled board meeting and will discuss this issue in open session. The district will continue to keep the public informed as the situation develops.