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Tag: Ridgeway Library

  • County proposes new Ridgeway library lease

    WINNSBORO – After voting last month against purchasing the building that houses the Ridgeway library, council voted Monday evening to present a revised lease to the owner of the building. The action had been recommended last week by the County’s Finance and Administrative Committee.

    “With the option to purchase pretty much off the table,” interim Deputy County Administrator Laura Johnson said during the committee meeting last week, “we need to decide whether to extend the lease for two more years, terminate the lease or present the owner with this new lease revised by our attorney (Tommy Morgan). We still have 90 days to let the owner know what we’re going to do.”

    The term of the revised lease is for a year, with the option to extend it for five additional years. The new lease reduces the monthly lease payments from $892.50 to $750 for each of the first twelve months and those lease payments would increase by two percent every other one-year option term beginning July 1, 2023.

    The revised lease would also include an option to purchase the property for $100,000, down from the current asking price of $160,000. It also specifies that any payments made by the county from the period beginning July 1, 2018, to the date of purchase, would be subtracted from the purchase price and credited toward the total consideration paid by the county.

  • Council OKs, then denies library funds

    WINNSBORO – They actually did vote for the $521,000 before they voted against it.

    At its Oct. 14 meeting, the Fairfield County Council inadvertently voted to award $521,000 in matching funds for the Fairfield County library in Ridgeway.

    Later in the meeting, the council voted to reconsider the library vote, meaning the county now is not awarding any funds. The do-over vote passed 5-2, with council members Moses Bell and Mikel Trapp opposing.

    The library vote paradox unfolded when council members considered a proposal to spend $521,000 to match a Community Development Block Grant, or CDBG, for the “purchase, renovation and future operations” of the Ridgeway library.

    The county’s administration and finance committee had recommended disapproval of spending the money.

    When Council Chairman Neil Robinson asked for a motion, Councilman Jimmy Ray Douglas promptly stated, “I make a motion that we don’t do it.”

    A few minutes of discussion followed.

    In calling for the vote, Robinson simply asked “all those in favor?” Nobody replied.

    “Opposed?” Robinson asked.

    “Nay,” all seven council members answered, a majority of them believing they were voting against the money. In reality, they voted for it.

    “That’s a win,” Trapp stated.

    “That’s a win,” Bell affirmed. “It makes no difference, we’ve taken that vote.”

    “The nay was a winner,” Trapp added.

    A period of confusion followed before the meeting continued. Councilman Douglas Pauley introduced the motion to reconsider later in the meeting.

    Pauley’s motion came following a legal opinion from Tommy Morgan, the county’s attorney, who said any council member was entitled to bring the matter up for reconsideration.

    “There was a double negative that was used, ergo the seven nay votes that all voted against not taking action ended up voting to take action,” Morgan said.

    As it stands, the money is not being awarded.

    County Administrator Jason Taylor said conditions of the CDBG match would have required the county to keep the library open 40 hours a week, which is not currently the case. Taylor said finances proved problematic as well.

    “We also had a situation where the library had committed to a portion [one half] of the purchase,” Taylor said. “We’d have to purchase the building for $180,000, and they withdrew that support of $90,000, or half. That left us with a situation where we had to pay $521,000.”

    Robinson said he reconsidered approving the money until the library backed off its commitment to pledge $90,000 toward the project.

    “When the library withdrew their $90,000, it kind of led me to a little hesitation as far as, ‘do we need to go through this project?’” he said.

    Taylor said the Ridgeway area has great potential, but noted that infrastructure remains the county’s top priority.

    “Water and sewer is one of those things we have to concentrate on. Growth follows water and sewer,” Taylor said. “The library is something we hoped we could do. It is an area we need to concentrate on.”

  • County delays action on library purchase

    The county recently renovated this building for the Ridgeway library, located on Palmer Street in downtown Ridgeway. The county is currently leasing it with an option to purchase.

    WINNSBORO – Plans to purchase a permanent home for the Fairfield County Library branch in Ridgeway are on hold for now.

    At a recent administrative committee meeting, council members voted unanimously to table a proposal to buy property the library is currently leasing on South Palmer Street.

    It was not immediately clear when the matter would return for a vote, though it will likely be later this year.

    That’s because the county wants to pursue federal grant opportunities that could potentially unlock more money to help cover costs of buying the property at 235 S. Palmer Street in Ridgeway.

    County Administrator Jason Taylor said up to $500,000 is available through the Community Development Block Grant, or CDBG, program.

    “It would be beneficial for us all if we try to secure the grant,” Council Chairman Neil Robinson said.

    Grant money would be especially helpful since the sale price is substantially higher than the property’s estimated value.

    Eric Robinson, the county’s library director, said at the June 24 committee meeting that the property owner is asking $169,900.

    Fairfield County property records, however, list the property’s fair market value at $66,700.

    The property last sold for $85,000 in June 2005 and was then deeded over to the current owner, Lok-Yan Yip Patterson for $1 in 2008, records state.

    “Has anyone tried to bargain with the lady?” Councilman Jimmy Ray Douglas asked.

    “Feel free to do so. She’s a shrewd business person,” Eric Robinson, the county library director, answered.

    “I know she is. She’s had the place remodeled and now is trying to sell it for three times what it’s worth,” Douglas replied.

    Robinson said he and the board prefer to remain in the existing building since the South Palmer Street is an ideal location. He said the library would incur additional costs if it had to move, citing the integration of technology in the current facility.

    “If you read the history on this, we’ve bounced around Ridgeway. We’re into our sixth different building,” Robinson said. “Because we’ve sunk so much money into it and the county has sunk so much money into it, we would like for this to be our permanent location.”

    At present, the library board has said it’s willing to offer about $90,000 to buy the facility, which is essentially half the current asking price plus any rent remaining on this year’s lease.

    Library officials, however, said the owner signaled she’s not interested in that amount because she would lose rent revenue in the long term.

    County attorney Tommy Morgan said there’s no harm in delaying action on buying the property. He said the lease agreement allows the county to renew for another two years, with rent only increasing from $850 to $892 a month to account for Consumer Price Index increases.

    In the meantime, negotiations over a final sale price can continue. The CDBG avenue also requires multiple appraisals, and would also work in the county’s favor.

    “The county is pretty much in the cat-bird seat when it comes to that,” Morgan said.

  • RW cuts ribbon for new library

    County Councilman Moses Bell, Board Member Polly Phillips, County Administrator Jason Taylor, Circulation Manager Beth Bonds, Branch Manager, Chrishonda Gaither, Assistant Library Administrator Mike Poole, Board Chairman Paul Dove, Town Councilman Dan Martin and former County Councilman Dan Ruff | Darlene Embleton

    RIDGEWAY – A new Ridgeway branch of the Fairfield County Library opened on Wednesday with a ribbon cutting and open house hosted by the Friends of the Library at the new 235 S. Palmer Street location. According to Fairfield County officials, the location will serve the community until a more permanent location can be found at a later date.

    Superintendent Dr. J.R. Green, Town Councilman Dan Martin, County Councilman Moses Bell, former County Councilman Dan Ruff, Board Chair Paul Dove, County Administrator Jason Taylor, Chamber Director Chris Stephenson and County Councilman Neil Robinson.

    “This new branch, is nearly twice the size of the prior Ridgeway location and can accommodate nearly twice the number of books and computers,” said Fairfield County Library Director Eric Robinson.  “Our services include resources duplicating those at our main library.  We can provide access to SCLENDS, a 20-library consortium that shares books through a lending program (accessed at fairfieldcountylibrary.com), on-site printing, copying and scanning,” Robinson said. Color printing is not yet available at the branch.

    There will be seven computers for accessing library resources.  Four offer Microsoft Office and three have internet access.  Wi-Fi is available.

    Circulation Manager Beth Bonds, left, Branch Manager Chrishonda Gaither and Assistant Library Administrator Mike Poole. | Barbara Ball

    Chrishonda Gaither will be the Branch Manager for Ridgeway.  Branch hours will be Monday and Wednesday from 9 am to 1 pm and Tuesday and Thursday from 2 to 6 pm.  The Bookmobile will continue to serve Ridgeway on an as-needed basis.

    “The Library Board would like to thank Fairfield County for the refurbishing and getting us up and running,” Robinson said.  “We would also like to thank the Ridgeway Town Council and former County Councilman Dan Ruff for helping us secure this site. We are very happy to once again be able to conveniently serve the people in the Ridgeway community.”

    The new location has on-site parking.  For more information, call 803-337-2068 or fax 803-337-0529.