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A Martin Brothers Construction worker Thursday clears the way for the building of the new Blue Ridge Elementary School in Seneca. A construction crew is grading the 55-acre tract across from Seneca Baptist Church on Highway 59. School officials have offered a 5-acre parcel on the site to the county for a library. Photo by Carlos Galarza/Staff

SENECA — A construction crew continued Thursday to clear and grade a 55-acre tract on South Oak Street to make way for a new elementary school diagonally across from Seneca Baptist Church.

As the School District of Oconee County proceeds with its plans to open the approximately 100,000-square-foot Blue Ridge Elementary School by August 2009, its offer to Oconee County of carving out a 5-acre niche to possibly build a new Seneca library still stands.

Earlier this week, Oconee County Council members again mulled over the offer, but still could not agree on what to do with the land.

Also factored into the decision-making process for the council was whether to accept the school district’s offer to have the 5-acre parcel graded for about $120,000. School officials contracted the grading job to Martin Brothers Construction of Gray Court near Mauldin for the low bid of $1.7 million for the 55 acres, or almost $31,000 per acre.

Council Chairman George Blanchard liked the idea. He said the cost of grading the parcel would be obviously higher if done at a later time, rather than taking advantage of the construction crew and equipment at the site now.

Councilman Frank Ables asked County Administrator Dale Surrett where the $120,000 would come from. Surrett replied that the county’s contingency fund would be as good a place as any.

Blanchard appeared inclined to think that the school district’s proposition is a no-brainer.

“It’s not always that you have the opportunity to get such a beautiful piece of land in such a great location fronting Highway 59,” Blanchard said.

Councilman Tommy Crumpton had other thoughts. He said spending $100,000 to grade a piece of land that the county still doesn’t know how it’s going to use it is fiscally unwise when there are other priorities on the table.

“I’d hate to spend $100,000 in these tough times when we don’t know what we’re going to do with it,” Crumpton said. “Can’t we leave (the land) alone?”

Council members also discussed whether the land could be used for an activity center or something else other than a library.

Surrett said he’d only heard about the school district donating the 5-acres in the context of building a new library.

Blanchard directed Surrett to ask Michael Thorsland, assistant superintendent of school operations, whether there are any restrictions on how the county could use the land.

Discussions about the need for a new Seneca library have been bandied about for years. In April 2006, the cost of a 33,000-square-foot library was estimated in excess of $8 million.

Oconee County Library Board Chairman John Adams has said there could be cost savings realized if the library is done in conjunction with the elementary school construction.

Thorsland could not be reached for comment Thursday on whether the use of the 5-acres is restricted to a new library.