FERNDALE, Wash. -- The Ferndale Public Library's quest to pay for a new building has suffered a setback.

The city had applied for economic development investment funds from Whatcom County to help pay for a new library.

But Ferndale City Clerk Sam Taylor says the county has declined to bring the request to the EDI board, and now the city is looking into other options.



Ferndale needs $5.1 million to build a new library, and the city still has $2 million to come up with.

The Ferndale Public Library currently occupies a temporary site at Pioneer Pavilion on Cherry Street - its former location on Main Street is being converted into the new police station.

Taylor says the city will meet with several groups to discuss more ways to raise the rest of the funding sometime in mid to late July.