County approves property purchase
Matthew Hundley / (matthew.hundley@averyjournal.com)
Avery County Board of Commissioners has accepted Avery County Humane Society’s offer to purchase the land currently occupied by its new Avery County Adoption and Education Center.
At a special meeting held on Monday. Feb. 13, the commissioners met with representatives of ACHS and Friends of the Shelter for more than 90 minutes before passing a motion with a 4-to-1 vote in favor of selling the land to the humane society, with Commissioners Glenn Johnson, Martha Hicks, Kenny Poteat and Phyllis Forbes voting in favor of the motion, and Commissioner Scott Heath voting against it.
Since fall of 2011, ACHS has been in discussions with the county to either modify the current lease agreement – in place for 99 years – or to be allowed to purchase the land they are currently leasing. Owning the property would give the humane society clear title, which will give it the collateral needed to enter into a loan, which it needs in order to complete its new facility. According to Catherine Morton, who serves as chair of ACHS’s board of directors, ACHS will require a loan of approximately $1 million in order to complete the interior construction and equip the facility.
The lengthy motion, which was introduced by Johnson, was the product of months of discussion over the topic. The motion agreed to sell the approximately four acres to ACHS for the offered $25,000 under two conditions. The first condition being that the county have the option to pay off any loan ACHS takes out and regain control of the land in the event that ACHS faces foreclosure, thereby preserving the land for public use. The second condition Johnson specified in his motion was that, once ACHS’s proposed loan was repaid to the bank, the single-use clause that limits the land for use as an animal shelter would be reinstated.
The commissioners, who were primarily concerned with preserving the county’s rights to reclaim the land should it cease to be used as an animal shelter, were satisfied with those conditions, with the exception of Heath, who insisted that that the risk of losing the land to the bank, or being forced to purchase the property, was still too great for him to agree to the motion, even though, according to Morton, an endowment capable of eliminating the loan in full will be available to AHCS in 2018.
With the motion passed, the land will now be advertised for an upset bid process, though any purchaser would be subject to the 99-year lease held by the humane society, making the land useless to anyone besides ACHS.
“I am very happy,” said Morton in response to the commissioners’ decision. “I really think that Commissioner Johnson made an excellent motion because now the county will have the opportunity to pay the note if the humane society cannot. That way, the building and the facility will always remain in the service of the people of Avery County. I do this for the animals, but we are here to serve the people of Avery County as well, so I am really glad that we covered that base.”
With the negative side effects of a potential foreclosure mitigated, most involved seemed more comfortable with the motion, though Commissioners Johnson and Poteat voiced their confidence that ACHS would manage itself without defaulting, as it has for more than 30 years.
“We are going to be disciplined, just like every family in America, to live within our means,” said Morton, who insisted that Avery County Humane Society would continue to exist and persevere, even if it means not using the new facility to its full capacity.
“We are so happy for it,” said Rachel Deal. “I cannot understand why they would think that we would default. I have more faith in the county, the people of the county and the people we have worked with than to think they would let this go.”
Commissioner Hicks also commented on the value of the humane society, remembering days in Avery County before such a service existed.
“I can remember when we had a landfill and people would take animals and put them in boxes, just hoping someone picked them up,” said Hicks. “I think they deserve to have the property.”
At a special meeting held on Monday. Feb. 13, the commissioners met with representatives of ACHS and Friends of the Shelter for more than 90 minutes before passing a motion with a 4-to-1 vote in favor of selling the land to the humane society, with Commissioners Glenn Johnson, Martha Hicks, Kenny Poteat and Phyllis Forbes voting in favor of the motion, and Commissioner Scott Heath voting against it.
Since fall of 2011, ACHS has been in discussions with the county to either modify the current lease agreement – in place for 99 years – or to be allowed to purchase the land they are currently leasing. Owning the property would give the humane society clear title, which will give it the collateral needed to enter into a loan, which it needs in order to complete its new facility. According to Catherine Morton, who serves as chair of ACHS’s board of directors, ACHS will require a loan of approximately $1 million in order to complete the interior construction and equip the facility.
The lengthy motion, which was introduced by Johnson, was the product of months of discussion over the topic. The motion agreed to sell the approximately four acres to ACHS for the offered $25,000 under two conditions. The first condition being that the county have the option to pay off any loan ACHS takes out and regain control of the land in the event that ACHS faces foreclosure, thereby preserving the land for public use. The second condition Johnson specified in his motion was that, once ACHS’s proposed loan was repaid to the bank, the single-use clause that limits the land for use as an animal shelter would be reinstated.
The commissioners, who were primarily concerned with preserving the county’s rights to reclaim the land should it cease to be used as an animal shelter, were satisfied with those conditions, with the exception of Heath, who insisted that that the risk of losing the land to the bank, or being forced to purchase the property, was still too great for him to agree to the motion, even though, according to Morton, an endowment capable of eliminating the loan in full will be available to AHCS in 2018.
With the motion passed, the land will now be advertised for an upset bid process, though any purchaser would be subject to the 99-year lease held by the humane society, making the land useless to anyone besides ACHS.
“I am very happy,” said Morton in response to the commissioners’ decision. “I really think that Commissioner Johnson made an excellent motion because now the county will have the opportunity to pay the note if the humane society cannot. That way, the building and the facility will always remain in the service of the people of Avery County. I do this for the animals, but we are here to serve the people of Avery County as well, so I am really glad that we covered that base.”
With the negative side effects of a potential foreclosure mitigated, most involved seemed more comfortable with the motion, though Commissioners Johnson and Poteat voiced their confidence that ACHS would manage itself without defaulting, as it has for more than 30 years.
“We are going to be disciplined, just like every family in America, to live within our means,” said Morton, who insisted that Avery County Humane Society would continue to exist and persevere, even if it means not using the new facility to its full capacity.
“We are so happy for it,” said Rachel Deal. “I cannot understand why they would think that we would default. I have more faith in the county, the people of the county and the people we have worked with than to think they would let this go.”
Commissioner Hicks also commented on the value of the humane society, remembering days in Avery County before such a service existed.
“I can remember when we had a landfill and people would take animals and put them in boxes, just hoping someone picked them up,” said Hicks. “I think they deserve to have the property.”