Senoia City Council did a slow burn Monday night at news of having its library site be dismissed by state officials.
The Council reacted with surprise as Library Board attorney Mark Mitchell said a state official from the library system had visited the site in the city’s park and said there were two main problems: being too close to power lines and the railroad tracks.

Mitchell told the City Council it could try and convince the state the site would work, or look for another site. The sticking point is the city applied for a state grant in 2005 to build the library, but thought it was not going to receive the money.

But now it looks like the city will receive the $1.2 million, so the state has control over where the library is built.
“We told officials we would be interested in the grant, but only if it didn’t affect our groundbreaking which was set for April 28,’ said Mayor Robert Belisle.

Belisle was also upset that the library visit was conducted without the knowledge of city officials.

“Why wasn’t the city involved in this visit?” he said.

Councilman Bobby Graham wanted to know who locally set up the visit to the site. Librarian Aime Scarbough said the state official stopped by the library the day of the visit, along with Coweta Library Director Barbra Osborne-Harris.
“I think we have our answer now,” said Graham.

Library board member Liz Camp said the city had applied for the grant back in 2005, which was prior to her being appointed to the board. The city is also receiving $500,000 from the county to build the library, and Camp said the county was not aware the city planned to break ground in late April.

Belisle was frustrated at the lack of communication between state officials and said a meeting needed to be scheduled with all the officials.

“Coweta County needs to be involved in this. They don’t need to spend any more money, since this is a site-specific design and would change if we had to move locations,” he said.

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