Hastings submits only bid for safety building purchase
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The city of Hillsboro received and accepted one bid for $74,000 for the sale of the city's former safety building.
Drew Hastings, who owns properties in the uptown area including the Bell's Opera House and the former Fifth Third Bank building, submitted the only bid. The bid submission included a check for 10 percent.
By law, in order for the city of accept the bid, they had to receive at least two-thirds of its $110,000 appraised value. That figure would be just over $73,000.
Kirby Ellison, a clerk in the mayor's office, opened the bids with Hillsboro Mayor Dick Zink. Ellison said that the Hillsboro City Council had to approve the purchase, and that it must be signed by safety and service director Ralph Holt. The property will then be transferred to the Community Investment Corporation because, "The city can own property, it just can't sell it."
Inquiring about the check submitted with the bid, Zink joked, "Is it good?" Hastings laughed and said that it was.
"I'm real excited about this," Hastings said at the bid opening. "It's a heck of a piece of property. I hope I can get a little development going, call it Courthouse Square or Firehouse Square, and get some small businesses in there, maybe a restaurant, maybe a coffee house."
"I think that you have shown you are invested in the community," Ellison said.
Ellison said the sale should be completed within 30 days.
Hastings asked Zink and Ellison if an existing lien against the city would affect the sale of the former safety building. Ellison said that judgment should not affect the sale.
In May, a lien was filed against the city in Highland County Common Pleas Court by the attorney for the Union Stockyards for the amount of $156,880. Union Stockyards owners Bill and Janet Butler sued the city in 2008, following Hillsboro City Council’s passage of an emergency resolution on Oct. 2, 2007, which authorized Mayor Dick Zink to purchase the stockyards property for no more than $325,000. An appraisal report the city later had conducted valued the 1.53 acres of property at $185,000. The city ultimately did not go through with the purchase. In December 2009 a judgment filed in Highland County Common Pleas Court ordered the city to pay $140,000 to the Union Stockyards, at a rate of interest of .67 percent for 2008 and .42 percent for 2009, with further interest to be determined at a later date.
The city of Hillsboro received and accepted one bid for $74,000 for the sale of the city's former safety building.
Drew Hastings, who owns properties in the uptown area including the Bell's Opera House and the former Fifth Third Bank building, submitted the only bid. The bid submission included a check for 10 percent.
By law, in order for the city of accept the bid, they had to receive at least two-thirds of its $110,000 appraised value. That figure would be just over $73,000.
Kirby Ellison, a clerk in the mayor's office, opened the bids with Hillsboro Mayor Dick Zink. Ellison said that the Hillsboro City Council had to approve the purchase, and that it must be signed by safety and service director Ralph Holt. The property will then be transferred to the Community Investment Corporation because, "The city can own property, it just can't sell it."
Area residents Bob Lambert and Terry Collins were also in attendance at the bid opening.
"I'm real excited about this," Hastings said at the bid opening. "It's a heck of a piece of property. I hope I can get a little development going, call it Courthouse Square or Firehouse Square, and get some small businesses in there, maybe a restaurant, maybe a coffee house."
"I think that you have shown you are invested in the community," Ellison said.
Ellison said the sale should be completed within 30 days.
Hastings asked Zink and Ellison if an existing lien against the city would affect the sale of the former safety building. Ellison said that judgment should not affect the sale.
In May, a lien was filed against the city in Highland County Common Pleas Court by the attorney for the Union Stockyards for the amount of $156,880. Union Stockyards owners Bill and Janet Butler sued the city in 2008, following Hillsboro City Council’s passage of an emergency resolution on Oct. 2, 2007, which authorized Mayor Dick Zink to purchase the stockyards property for no more than $325,000. An appraisal report the city later had conducted valued the 1.53 acres of property at $185,000. The city ultimately did not go through with the purchase. In December 2009 a judgment filed in Highland County Common Pleas Court ordered the city to pay $140,000 to the Union Stockyards, at a rate of interest of .67 percent for 2008 and .42 percent for 2009, with further interest to be determined at a later date.