Board Axes Land Sale To City (complete article from source)
Source: swtimes.com, by Mary L. Crider
January 09, 2007
A county-owned former piece of Fort Biscuit plant property probably won’t be the site of the city of Fort Smith’s new intermodal transit center after all.
In a 1-2 vote, the Sebastian County Approval Board nixed the sale of the about 41,000-square-foot property to the city.
After the meeting, citing the timing of grant funding requirements and the difficulty of obtaining the needed approvals from the Federal Transportation Authority, the Highway and Transportation Department, environmental approvals and other involved agencies, Deputy Fort Smith Administrator Dean Kruithof said, “We’re going to find another location.”
Approval Board member Sheriff Frank Atkinson voted for the sale, likening the property to a pond that’s sat for years without being fished. He said he thought the city’s $270,000 bid was a fair price.
The county advertised for sealed bids in November for the property located off Garland, contiguous to the U.S. National Cemetery and east of the Trolley Museum.
Approval Board members Circuit Clerk Nancy Brewer and Treasurer Linda Willsey Murry voted against the sale, stating their role is to look out for the best interest of the county, and they believe the county can get a better price for the property, perhaps from a private entity, particularly because the city will now be the home of the U.S. Marshals Museum.
Kruithof said the proposal that the transit center be situated so near the planned museum was a selling point in Fort Smith’s favor with the U.S. Marshals site selection committee. The transit center plans include three elements: The city transit buses, Jefferson Bus Lines and the city’s tourist buses/trolleys, he said. Transit center plans have been in the works for about two years.
Although Approval Board chairman County Judge David Hudson recommended accepting the bid, saying he believes it is in the best interest of the county and city, he is not a voting member of the four-person board. The board’s structure is state law-mandated.
Businessman Phil White of Fort Smith-based General Pallets, a former Fort Biscuit owner, bid $285,000 for the parcel, then withdrew his bid, stating both that he’d respect the county’s decision to allow the city to purchase the property if it decided it would be in the best interest of the community — and that he’d decided the parcel wasn’t the best fit for his investment portfolio.
County Assessor Becky Yandell appraised the lot, based on its use as a parking lot, at between $301,612 and $305,044, depending on the appraisal method used.
“The problem is a property is only worth what someone will pay for it,” Yandell said.
Assistant County Administrator Tom Minton said the first attempt to sell the property by bid in 2003 drew three bids — the highest was $165,000.
About $225,000 of the expected proceeds of the sale has been set aside in the county budget to help fund the construction of the new, $12.9 million, 70,540-square-foot courts building just a few blocks away at 901 S. B St. Construction began in August. It is expected to open in spring 2008.
Under state law regulating sale of county property, Arkansas code 14-16-105, the county cannot accept a bid of less than three-fourths of a property’s assessed value — or $228,750 in this instance.
Hudson said he’d ask the Quorum Court to eye its options for the property.
Click here for complete article from swtimes.com
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