BUCKHANNON — On Thursday, Mayor David McCauley and 5 members of city council voted to purchase the old Chase Bank drive-thru lot for $200,000. Ordinance 443 authorized the City of Buckhannon to purchase the 1.032-acre lot at 15 Madison Street from Citizens Bank. The Mayor also identified that they currently do not have a specific plan for the property, though it has been presumed it will be used as a parking lot for quick access to Jawbone Park.
Only one council-member voted against the purchase, Councilman Robbie Skinner. Skinner also happens to be running against McCauley in the 2020 Buckhannon Mayoral election.
McCauley proposed two methods for purchasing the property: either dipping into the city’s Rainy Day Fund, a combination of council discretionary funds and Rainy Day Funds, or taking out a loan with a local bank. With low-interest rates, McCauley recommended the loan.
“If our city determines to finance all or any portion for this purpose (again, I’ve said it twice), interest rates are at historic lows,” McCauley stated. “[Only] if you’re borrowing; it doesn’t work out so good if you’re trying to get a return on your investment.”
Skinner interjected, expressing that he didn’t feel comfortable purchasing a property, when the city did not have an immediate plan for the location.
“I disagree with the fact that we should move forward with the purchase of the property without having the fully developed plan in place that we would like to realize for this property,” Skinner expressed.
Skinner continued, stating the council had not been presented with the official appraisal of the property. At the time, this estimate was entirely reliant upon the quote provided by the Mayor’s office from the Director of Public Works, Jerry Arnold, and the Street Department Supervisor, Brad Hawkins.
“In addition to some of my concerns last time, I still would like to see a hard copy of the appraisal,” Skinner stated. “I’d like to look at it. I hear the numbers that you’re quoting, but I would like to see them to make a decision on this.”
Skinner also stated another reason for his opposition is due to the coronavirus pandemic that has swept the nation, establishing that people in Buckhannon are financially hurting, and the city may face a decrease in overall revenue.
“Newly, for this council meeting, I think it’s quite frankly (certainly now so more than ever) premature for us to move forward on this when we’re in a situation where we have some uncertain times ahead of us financially, potentially, with the effects of what’s going on in our society right now. Our revenues could very well be down. Our expenses certainly aren’t going to go down. I certainly don’t want to go into our Rainy Day Fund and purchase this property.”
“I believe that we should hold off on this, certainly, until we know what’s going to happen relative to the health crisis that we’re facing right now, and the monies we may need available to help us as we go through the future. I still have concerns about this. I still would like to see a plan for it. I don’t like that we’re just moving so swiftly through this, without taking a step to consider what its full potential could be.”
McCauley stated that the City of Buckhannon had to act swiftly in acquiring the property, as there were also private sector bidders interested in purchasing the lot.
“Time is sensitive as there are other suitors seeking to acquire the property,” Mayor McCauley remarked.
The commercial aspirations of these suitors are unknown.
The meeting was also closed to the public, due to the restrictions placed in relation to the coronavirus pandemic. Therefore, public comment was prohibited, as the public was barred from the meeting. However, Thursday’s city council meeting was broadcast live on Channel 3.
A public forum is planned in the future, though the decision to purchase the property has already been made.