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Trustees revisit Seneca branch accessibility plan after council tables $132,000 bid
Summary
Board reviewed prior engineering and a previously passed ordinance that allocated $57,000; trustees and staff discussed scope, SCDOT encroachment permit needs, alternate back‑entrance options and drainage and parking regrading concerns.
Trustees spent extensive discussion time on a proposed Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ramp and front entrance work at the Seneca branch after the county council tabled a $132,000 construction bid.
Library staff described the project as more than a ramp: construction would level front parking, install two designated accessible parking spaces, replace stairs, build a ramp with required landings and regrade the sidewalk and adjacent surfaces. The director said the roughly $132,000 figure reflected “expensive concrete work, pretty much redoing the whole front of the building.”
The board was reminded that council previously passed an ordinance last fall to set aside about $57,000 from a local governments/tribal ARPA fund toward the project; the director said the smaller allocation reflected an earlier estimate before parking and grading were added to the scope. “They actually did pass an ordinance… for us to have, like, $57,000, which was what they initially thought it would cost before they realized they were gonna have to also do the parking lot,” the director said.
Trustees and staff discussed alternatives after council members expressed reluctance to pay the larger amount. Possible approaches included seeking roads-and‑bridges assistance to regrade the parking area and then rebidding the concrete ramp, or improving the back entrance (currently used as the accessible entry) with cameras and a buzzer as an interim measure. The board noted a back‑entrance solution raises security and public‑perception issues because the front entrance has been the established public entry since 1968.
Staff said the Seneca front entrance project would require a South Carolina Department of Transportation commercial encroachment permit because the building faces a state road; trustees raised concerns that a commercial entrance would require a traffic study, right‑of‑way work and additional engineering. The director said some council members and county staff were exploring an alternate plan involving a new driveway off Depot Street but cautioned that drawing was “very crude” and would likely need survey, engineering and SCDOT review.
Why it matters: trustees said making the front entry fully accessible would provide a single, welcoming public entrance and eliminate the current arrangement in which some patrons must use a back entry and ring a bell. The director also flagged longer‑term building needs including a small meeting room that the branch outgrew decades ago.
What’s next: the director said she has heard the topic will be brought back to a council committee; she will notify trustees when the item is scheduled so the board can provide comment to council or committee members.
