INDIAN RIVER COUNTY – County commissioners said this week that they did not want to pay more than $360,000 for a half-acre piece of land off County Road 510. Instead, they counter-offered a lower, all-inclusive price for the Bass property located in Wabasso, just west of the railroad tracks off US 1.
Commission Chair Peter O’Bryan questioned why county staff wanted to buy the land now when widening of County Road 510 might not happen for a decade.
Fellow Commissioner Bob Solari also took issue with the terms of the purchase, noting that the County Attorney’s Office did not follow established policy.
Assistant County Attorney Bill DeBraal told commissioners that the sale agreement included a two-year lease back to the current owners for $1 each year.
Commissioners pointed to their policy that leases back to former owners were to be at fair market rates.
Commissioner Joe Flescher estimated that the county would lose approximately $10,000 a year if it did not have a fair market lease to the owners, Roy and Cindy Bass.
When commissioners started talking about turning down the proposed land sale contract, DeBraal asked them to reconsider and provide direction for what they would deem an acceptable contract.
Commissioners restated that the lease back needed to be at fair market value and that all the ancillary fees – surveying, appraisal and others – be included in the price.
They also wanted to counteroffer at the appraised $320,000 value.
“Both sides were surprised by the number,” DeBraal told commissioners of the $320,000 appraisal, explaining that even county staff thought the appraisal had undervalued the property.
The site is zoned heavy commercial and is developed with a single family home, a shed and a workshop/office/garage that is used for the property owner’s tractor repair business.
Commissioner Wesley Davis said that while he understood the concerns of his fellow commissioners, he disagreed with them on the terms of the counteroffer.
He took issue with O’Bryan’s statement that it could be 10 years before the county truly needs the property.
“We have a willing seller,” Davis said, which could save the county in the long run from having to go through eminent domain proceedings. He added that the property owners are limited in what they can do with their site – sell, fix up – until they now what the future holds with the county’s road project.
“I think we’re being penny wise and pound foolish,” Davis said.
Commissioners voted 4-1 to make a counteroffer. Davis dissented.