Soil problems once again are plaguing construction of an expanded Kinston-Lenoir County Public Library.

Library officials recently learned that petroleum products from a gas station on the property until 1966 could have contaminated soil on and around the expansion site. Now, library Director Agnes Ho is facing another problem.

Ho learned this week that some of the land is not stable enough to support the library’s expansion project.

“The first few feet are too soft,” she said. “We’ll have to replace the soil.”

At least 3 feet of soil will need replacement and that could increase to as much as 1,000 cubic yards, Ho said. The cost could be as high as $15,000.

“They probably had to replace some of the soil when they built this building” in 1982, she said.

Results of borings to determine whether the site is contaminated are still pending.

“I don’t have a full report in terms of what problems or difficulties they’re running into,” George Graham, chairman of the Lenoir County Board of Commissioners, said. “I feel certain we’ll do everything we can to make this project work. We may have to back up and punt – consider other alternatives.”

Problems with questionable soil come on top of an aging heating and air conditioning system library officials say needs replacing. The price to upgrade the system is estimated at $240,000. Little bank is offering to pay half of that amount. Ho and Mike Parker, chairman of the Friends of the Library, say the county should pick up the tab for the other $120,000. Ho and Parker say voters approved the $2.6 million bond last fall to expand and upgrade the library, not to correct aging systems.

“We told voters that we were going to expand the library with this money,” Parker said. “Fifteen thousand dollars isn’t a huge amount of money, not to the county. If we take it out of the proceeds [from the bond issue], we’d have to cut somewhere. We adopted a plan to expand the library based on having $2.6 million, minus architectural feels, plus some safety for change orders.”

Graham earlier this week said commissioners were likely to settle the heating system question at their meeting Monday. It is unclear whether this latest problem will delay their decision.

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