This is an exciting time for residents of Cloquet and the surrounding area. Our public library has been awarded a grant of $784,000, contingent on the City providing the balance of construction costs. That is no small change, and a great savings to our city for an improvement to a well-used city building.

I understand that bids came in higher than anticipated, and this now creates a dilemma for our city council on whether to proceed with the project. If the council rejects the project based on the bids, they will lose $784,000. The library needs an addition. It was originally planned with the...