By Kelly Doran
Sun staff

The Milford Board of Education accepted the proposal to swap land with the Clermont County Library at a board meeting on May 21.

The Milford Exempted Village School District will give the library a parcel of land, estimated to be seven acres or less, located adjacent to 5950 Buckwheat Road in Milford in exchange for the Milford-Miami Township branch building.

The land is of more value to the library than the district, Chris Hamm, chairperson of the Business Advisory Council, said. Also, the land does not have good market value because it’s in-between two schools. The BAC recommends that the board accept the proposal.

The library building that Milford will get when the library vacates it is in good condition. The mechanicals appear to be in working order and the library has spent a lot of money on upgrades, Hamm said.

The library’s land is very valuable to the district, whereas the Mulberry land is not, said Andrea Brady, board president.

The library wants to build a new Milford-Miami Township branch on the site, which could also include a new home for the county library administrative offices, said Christine Wick, library director.

“We thought it was a prime location to provide library services in the community,” Wick said.

The land has more acreage than the library’s current location and it is close to a lot of families and students, especially since three schools are nearby.

In addition, building a new facility will allow the library to upgrade the technology and other services, Wick said. The branch is growing so much it was time to either renovate the current building or build a new one.

There is a lot of potential for the library’s land. The district could move the central offices, central maintenance, central development or more there, Farrell said.

The agreement requires the new library property to be split from the rest of the district’s 27 acres. The library will take possession of its new property at closing. The district will take possession of the former library 45 days after the new library is completed and occupied.

The board was uncomfortable making a decision because the land has not been surveyed yet, and as such, the board is not sure how many acres they would be agreeing to swap.

Because the land has not been surveyed, there are more documents to bring to the board in the future, Farrell said.

Milford will have possession of the library building once the library vacates it for its new building in 2017, unless some rehabilitation has to be done, Farrell said.

The library board will look at the agreement during the June meeting, Wick said.

“It’s a real win-win situation for both the school district and the library,” Wick said.