County to sell donated land

  • Anne Daley and Adam Molny flying in one of their planes. Daley purchased land more than 20 years ago that she recently donated to Cherokee County and will be sold through a sealed bid process.
    Anne Daley and Adam Molny flying in one of their planes. Daley purchased land more than 20 years ago that she recently donated to Cherokee County and will be sold through a sealed bid process.

        Liberty – A retired woman recently donated 18.69 acres of land to Cherokee County, which officials are selling through a sealed bid process.
        Anne Daley used to own a vacation home near Wilderness Lake Drive for more than 20 years. She sold the home but has been unsuccessful in selling the adjacent acreage.
        She retired in Naples, Fla., a little more than four years ago and felt it was best to donate the unsold land to the county instead of selling it for pennies on the dollar. She had been trying to sell the land for about two years.
        “I liked Murphy because it was very remote and beautiful with the mountains and the quiet,” Daley said. “Not many people like that, but I did.”
        Daley is originally from California but worked as a finance executive for MetLife in New York. She and her husband, Adam Molny, chose to retire in Naples because they are pilots.
        “We now live in an airport community,” Daley said. “The runway is right out our back door. And there’s no state income tax.”
        At the Sept. 15 meeting, Cherokee County commissioners approved a budget revision to spend $17,000 to pay the property taxes, homeowner’s association dues, closing fees, attorney fees and advertising costs associated with selling the land Daley donated. Commissioners also authorized county officials to set the minimum bid amount at $300,000.
        County lawmakers have the ability to reject all bids, including any that meet that minimum requirement. Acceptance of a bid will trigger an upset bid process, and then the property will be awarded to the highest responsible bidder.
        County officials say the property, which is in the Wilderness Lake Estates subdivision near the Tennessee line, is worth at least $570,000.
        The county will accept sealed bids for the property until 2 p.m. Monday, when the bids will be opened in public. Bids must be delivered to County Manager Randy Wiggins’ office in the courthouse and be accompanied by a 5 percent deposit in the form of cash, cashier’s check, certified check or surety bond.
        Bidders must be current on all property tax payments owed to the county. Deposits will be returned to the losing bidders when the property is awarded to the highest responsible bidder.