Property worth at least $140K
Murphy – The bidding process to sell a county-owned commercial property downtown has begun, albeit with contention among lawmakers.
With a vote of 3-2, Cherokee County commissioners authorized officials to sell a former maintenance building at 35 Central St. The two-story building occupies .07 acres of land and sits adjacent to the courthouse.
Officials will sell the building through a sealed bid process, with the minimum amount set at $110,000. County lawmakers can reject all bids, including any that meet the minimum requirement. Acceptance of a bid will trigger an upset bid process, and the property will be awarded to the highest responsible bidder.
County officials say the property is worth at least $142,990, although several factors could affect that value.
“I, personally, don’t think we need to get rid of it due to the building’s proximity [to the courthouse],” Commissioner Gary “Hippie” Westmoreland said at the May 18 board meeting. “If we ever do an expansion on the courthouse, I don’t believe that we can [buy it back] for $150,000. I think we should keep it.
“It’s a great asset.”
Commissioner Cal Stiles echoed those comments.
“I think we have some properties, some of which is just vacant land, that are adjacent to other properties that we really don’t need,” Stiles said, implying the county should sell something else. “This building is adjacent to the courthouse, and there’s not any other property available [downtown].
“We need to keep this property. If it needs a roof, put a roof on it. We don’t know what we might need three to five years from now. Very few of us sell property that joins us.”
The county will accept sealed bids for the property until 2 p.m. Friday, June 19, at which time the bids will be opened in public. Bids must be delivered to 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.
Deposits will be returned to the losing bidders when the property is awarded to the highest responsible bidder. Bidders must be current on all property tax payments owed to the county.
County lawmakers also planned to begin accepting bids for the purchase of a building at 59 Hiwassee St. However, state law says government officials cannot declare a county- or city-owned building as surplus as long as it remains in use.
The Hiwassee Street building is occupied by Emergency Management Services and other government agencies that county lawmakers want to move to the National Guard Armory building on James A. Mulkey Drive off U.S. 19/74. County officials are discussing how to best move forward so they can sell the downtown property.