MURDOCK — Charlotte County commissioners kicked off 2013 Thursday with a new twist on an old process.

The County Commission now holds its preagenda meeting in the County Administration Building, 18500 Murdock Circle, Room 119, Murdock, at 1:30 p.m. the Thursday before the commission’s regular-agenda meeting — typically held at 9 a.m. the second and fourth Tuesday of each month in the commission chambers.

Preagenda meetings are public meetings at which officials discuss board business that will be voted on at the regular meetings. The public is invited to attend preagenda meetings and to listen in on board discussion; however, citizens are not allowed to comment or ask questions. Public comment is reserved for the regular-agenda meetings.

Among the issues commissioners discussed Thursday was a change order in the amount of $282,673.36 for the Englewood-Charlotte Library expansion project. Commissioners will vote next week on whether to approve the change order, which will cover parking-lot renovations, including constructing 244 parking spaces; and installing 17, 20-foot light poles and 29 LED light fixtures at the Tringali Recreation Center facility in Englewood.

But commissioners wanted to make clear that the change order was not exclusive to the library expansion. In fact, it will affect a much broader area.

“These parking spaces are spread out all over Tringali. They’re not just for the library,” Commissioner Stephen R. Deutsch pointed out. “It’s really expansion and improvement of the facility at Tringali. Maybe that’s a minor talking point, but I think it’s significant.”

Facilities, Construction and Maintenance Director David Milligan agreed.

“We’re actually combining four new projects to accomplish this. This is not library funding,” Milligan said, explaining that the funding for the project comes from a variety of sources, including parking and stormwater improvement, pedestrian lighting and energy initiatives funds.

The $2.3 million library-expansion project calls for adding 6,775 square feet to the existing 7,049-square-foot library. The plans also call for a historical archive for Englewood historical materials that will occupy about 1,000 square feet.

Commissioners will vote on the matter at their regular agenda meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Email: bbarbosa@sun-herald.com