FOCUS: Call to action on James Island library

Contact county council members now for best site (updated)

By Carol Tempel  and Stewart Weinberg  |   The future of the James Island library is at stake this month.  The Charleston County Council is scheduled June 16 will have a final vote for the location of the new library on James Island.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: The vote on the library’s location originally was scheduled for June 2, but has been postponed until later this month.  We hear the vote is now set to be June 16.]

Last week, the library board presented a report to county council on available sites for the James Island Library.  Many of us had ideas for a location, but we waited until the report was presented to the council before voicing a preference.  The report confirmed our thinking…the Bi-Lo site or the Dills Bluff land owned by the James Island Public Service District would be the best choice.

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The library board developed a score sheet to provide objective criteria to rank sites for new libraries in West Ashley and James Island.  The criteria included geographic centrality, density of the population, site size (building, parking and possible expansion), access to the site from all parts of James Island, visibility and the environment, such as possible re-use of an existing building.

After examining all of the sites using the criteria listed above, the library board recommended six acres owned by the James Island PSD on Dills Bluff Road — a location very near the existing library.  But because that land may not be available at a reasonable price, the board recommended a second site just down the road — up to 25,000 square feet next to the Bi-Lo grocery store on Folly Road.

Since the PSD is requesting an inflated price for its land, the Bi-Lo site is the best site for matching all of the criteria adopted by the board. It would also be the most economical and most centrally located for the residents and schools on James Island.  In fact, the county would save almost $2 million by re-using the Bi-Lo building, in part, because infrastructure like utilities, a parking lot and more are already in place.

At county council’s finance committee meeting on Thursday, May 28, the council, voting as a committee of the whole, ignored the library board’s recommendation — making a motion before the library board had a chance to present its data and the public could make comments.

At the finance committee meeting, county council voted 5-2 for the old Baxter Patrick school property next to James Island Elementary School on Grimball Road at the south end of James Island.  This site does not meet the criteria established by the library board as well as the Bi-Lo site does. Not only is it not central to most people, only 13,000 people live within two miles of the site.  That’s half the density of the Bi-Lo site.

Comments were made at an earlier meeting that the majority of community members voiced their support for the Baxter Patrick site. This support came from petitions that were not widely circulated on the island and that misinformed members of the adjacent community that if the Baxter Patrick site were not chosen for the new library, that the school district might use it for a bus parking lot.

Next steps

Now is the time to do something to ensure that new James Island library is built near most of the people and schools on the island, not just people at the south end of the island.  It’s time for your voice to be heard today and tomorrow before the 6:30 p.m. Tuesday meeting at county council’s chambers, 4045 Bridge View Drive, North Charleston.

Let our elected representatives know that you want the new library located on the Bi-Lo site.  You should thank council members Joe Qualey of James Island and Herb Sass of Mount Pleasant for voting against the Baxter Patrick site.  Ask them to do what they can to get three more votes to make the Bi-Lo site the home to our new library.

You should contact the two members of council who abstained — Colleen Condon of West Ashley and Dickie Schweers of Mount Pleasant — and encourage them to do the right thing for James Island by voting for the Bi-Lo site.

And you should write the five members who supported a bad decision to locate the library away from most people and schools on James Island.  Let Anna Johnson of John’s Island; Teddie Pryor, Henry Darby and Elliott Summey, all of North Charleston; and Vic Rawl of West Ashley know they voted against most people’s interest.

Contact info

Send emails and phone today.  And if you can attend the meeting on Tuesday — even better.  Let them know in person what they should do:

Thank you:

• Joe Qualey joequaley@qlawfirm.com
• Herb Sass hsass@sassherrin.com

Don’t abstain and do vote for Bi-Lo:

• Colleen Condon  colleen@colleencondonlaw.com
• Dickie Schweers dickieschweers@tds.net

Don’t make a bad decision:

• Anna Johnson ajohnson@charlestoncounty.org
• Teddie Pryor tpryor@charlestoncounty.org
• Henry Darby henrydarby@msn.com
• Elliott Summey esummey@charlestoncounty.org
• Vic Rawl AVRawl@aol.com
• Click here to find their phone numbers.

Carol Tempel and Stewart Weinberg live on James Island. George Tempel and Margaret Weinberg also contributed to this article.