GREEN COVE SPRINGS – When it comes to one local library, all is quiet.

The Green Cove Springs City Council unanimously rejected a $380,000 bid to renovate the Augusta Savage Arts and Community Center Library in a busy meeting on Oct. 18.

The council previously had requested a bid for tearing down the library and rebuilding it, with the expectation that it would be more cost-effective than renovation, but the estimate from Bidhe & Hall Architects came back higher, at $402,000.

Now, the architectural firm will go back to the drawing board.

“I don’t understand why it would cost more to just get rid of the thing and start fresh,” Council Member Van Royal said.

However, it turns out that a miscommunication occurred. The firm’s estimate of demolition and rebuilding was based on a structure identical to the renovation plans. Now, Bidhe & Hall will have more leeway in coming up with a different structure.

There is no timetable for the new bid, but Council Member Steven Kelley emphasized cost-effectiveness.

“If we don't save a dime with the new bid but we come up with a more functional space, I think the community will be happier,” he said.

Bidhe & Hall is the largest architectural firm in Clay County. It has designed homes, businesses, schools and military buildings in multiple states.

The Augusta Savage Arts & Community Center was built as Dunbar High School in 1942, and is located on a five-acre parcel of land near the center of Green Cove Springs. Augusta Savage donated the property for the first and only black high school in Green Cove Springs, according to the city’s website.

In other action, the council unanimously passed an ordinance authorizing the city to borrow up to $34.1 million from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection State Revolving Fund for upgrading of the Green Cove Spring’s wastewater collection, wastewater treatment and reclaimed water facilities.

Residents had turned out in opposition to the measure in the previous meeting, but no one spoke at last week’s public hearing.

Also last week, the council unanimously approved on first reading a one-year moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries in the event Amendment 2 passes on Election Day, Nov. 8. The measure will be considered for a final vote in the next council meeting.

“Orange Park and other places have instituted similar moratoriums,” said L.J. Arnold, city attorney.

In its session last week, the Orange Park Town Council unanimously voted for a year-long moratorium to study how to zone potential marijuana dispensaries.

Miami-Dade County recently adopted a measure restricting dispensaries from opening near residential areas or within 1,000 feet of a school. Hillsboro County, Sarasota County and Orlando all have similar restrictions.

A statewide, 60-percent supermajority is necessary on Election Day for Amendment 2 to pass, effectively amending the Florida Constituion. In 2014, 65 percent of voters in Clay Country pulled the lever in favor of legalization, but the initiative narrowly failed statewide.

This year’s version of the amendment clarifies language to ensure only licensed physicians can recommend cannabis use and specifies parental consent for a child to receive medical marijuana.

A CBS News poll in April found that 87 percent of Americans support the use of small amounts of medical marijuana prescribed by a doctor.

Cannabis has shown efficacy in patients suffering from a variety of medical conditions – in some cases alleviating symptoms, and in others offsetting side-effects of treatment – such as Parkinson’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, cancer and epilepsy.

Email Christiaan DeFranco at chris@opcfla.com. Follow him on Twitter @cdefranco.