July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
PEDC to bid on X-PLEX land
Portland Economic Development Coporation
A city economic group hopes to be the highest bidder for land it previously owned.
Members of a local board have voted to recommend that $200,000 in Portland Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT) funds be used to bid on 58.87 acres the Portland Economic Development Corporation formerly owned. If approved by members of the city council, an additional $39,500 in rainy day funds would be added to the bid for the land that was purchased from the PEDC in 2005 by Glynn and Julie Barber.
The land was a portion of the site of the now-defunct X-PLEX Extreme Competition Park, city attorney Bill Hinkle told members of the Portland EDIT advisory committee Monday.
The land is being sold at a sheriff's sale as part of a recent settlement of a lawsuit by two contractors who worked on the sports park. The sale will be held April 22 at 10 a.m. in the sheriff's office at the Jay County Courthouse.
The PEDC, which was included in the suit by the contractors, plans to submit a bid of $239,500 (or about $4,090 per acre) for the land. Hinkle said the remaining amount for the PEDC's bid could come from the city's rainy day fund, if the Portland City Council votes to allow the funds to be used.
Hinkle said this morning that during negotiations in settling the lawsuit, all parties agreed that the PEDC would submit this bid amount. The PEDC is an independent, not for profit, and is not considered a government entity. Therefore, the land does not need to be appraised before the PEDC could purchase it, Hinkle said.
The Barbers purchased the 58.87 acres at a cost of $181,800, Bill Bradley, executive director of Jay County Development Corporation, said this morning. He said during Monday's meeting that Glynn Barber claims he made $250,000 in improvements to the spec building he was leasing - including adding heating and air condition, adding a floor and adding a sprinkler system.
Profits from the sale will be used to pay real estate taxes, costs associated with the sheriff's sale, and $25,000 will be used to pay off the Barbers' Old National Bank mortgage. After all of these payments are made, any remaining profits from the sale will be given to Hoosier Excavating and Wolverine North America.
Hoosier Excavating filed the suit against the Barbers for failing to pay the company for work on the park project. The suit was settled in Jay Circuit Court on March 18.
Hinkle said the PEDC will likely never see the $431,524.28 it was awarded as part of a settlement in the lawsuit. This money was granted for unpaid lease payments by the Barbers for use of land and the spec building.
The Barbers paid a total of $138,285 in lease payments, and $12,120 in property taxes, city clerk-treasurer and member of the EDIT Committee Randy Geesaman said this morning. The city council discussed the land purchase in an executive session on March 15, he said.
Hinkle said after the meeting that the PEDC will not bid higher than $239,500, even if that means a higher bidder gets the land.
Before the EDIT Committee members voted, Bradley expressed the importance of purchasing the land.
"This gives us an asset ... an asset to market," he said, adding that the spec building, which the PEDC owns, will be more marketable now that the legal issues have been resolved.
Bradley added that prospective investors have looked at the spec building in recent weeks, but have been turned off by the fact that the land near it was in legal limbo.
The next meeting of the Portland City Council is scheduled for Monday at 7 p.m.[[In-content Ad]]
Members of a local board have voted to recommend that $200,000 in Portland Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT) funds be used to bid on 58.87 acres the Portland Economic Development Corporation formerly owned. If approved by members of the city council, an additional $39,500 in rainy day funds would be added to the bid for the land that was purchased from the PEDC in 2005 by Glynn and Julie Barber.
The land was a portion of the site of the now-defunct X-PLEX Extreme Competition Park, city attorney Bill Hinkle told members of the Portland EDIT advisory committee Monday.
The land is being sold at a sheriff's sale as part of a recent settlement of a lawsuit by two contractors who worked on the sports park. The sale will be held April 22 at 10 a.m. in the sheriff's office at the Jay County Courthouse.
The PEDC, which was included in the suit by the contractors, plans to submit a bid of $239,500 (or about $4,090 per acre) for the land. Hinkle said the remaining amount for the PEDC's bid could come from the city's rainy day fund, if the Portland City Council votes to allow the funds to be used.
Hinkle said this morning that during negotiations in settling the lawsuit, all parties agreed that the PEDC would submit this bid amount. The PEDC is an independent, not for profit, and is not considered a government entity. Therefore, the land does not need to be appraised before the PEDC could purchase it, Hinkle said.
The Barbers purchased the 58.87 acres at a cost of $181,800, Bill Bradley, executive director of Jay County Development Corporation, said this morning. He said during Monday's meeting that Glynn Barber claims he made $250,000 in improvements to the spec building he was leasing - including adding heating and air condition, adding a floor and adding a sprinkler system.
Profits from the sale will be used to pay real estate taxes, costs associated with the sheriff's sale, and $25,000 will be used to pay off the Barbers' Old National Bank mortgage. After all of these payments are made, any remaining profits from the sale will be given to Hoosier Excavating and Wolverine North America.
Hoosier Excavating filed the suit against the Barbers for failing to pay the company for work on the park project. The suit was settled in Jay Circuit Court on March 18.
Hinkle said the PEDC will likely never see the $431,524.28 it was awarded as part of a settlement in the lawsuit. This money was granted for unpaid lease payments by the Barbers for use of land and the spec building.
The Barbers paid a total of $138,285 in lease payments, and $12,120 in property taxes, city clerk-treasurer and member of the EDIT Committee Randy Geesaman said this morning. The city council discussed the land purchase in an executive session on March 15, he said.
Hinkle said after the meeting that the PEDC will not bid higher than $239,500, even if that means a higher bidder gets the land.
Before the EDIT Committee members voted, Bradley expressed the importance of purchasing the land.
"This gives us an asset ... an asset to market," he said, adding that the spec building, which the PEDC owns, will be more marketable now that the legal issues have been resolved.
Bradley added that prospective investors have looked at the spec building in recent weeks, but have been turned off by the fact that the land near it was in legal limbo.
The next meeting of the Portland City Council is scheduled for Monday at 7 p.m.[[In-content Ad]]
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