This may be bold, but it is rash, if not reckless.
At face value, it is rash to rush into almost any property purchase for
$5.2 million. Especially when the seller declares neither the price nor the time frame to buy it is negotiable.
But it borders on reckless when you’re spending somebody else’s money — the taxpayers’ — to buy a forest with little to no consensus and marginal input on the proposal.
We urge Morgantown City Council not to rush into the 40-acre Haymaker Forest property transaction.
Some would refer to these circumstances as a high-pressure sales job. We are one of them.
Council is acting as if it has gun to its head on this deal. But making matters worse, it appears to be putting a gun to the public’s head.
This editorial should not be taken as an absolute rejection of plans by the city to buy this forest. This is not the last word on this proposal.
But, for now, there are far more questions up in the air than there are answers on the ground.
For instance, how does City Council plan to pay for this property transaction?
A trial balloon for a levy proposal on council’s April 2019 ballot is being floated, but that’s iffy, at best.
What if it fails to pass? The city would be on the hook for $5.2 million without a funding mechanism.
And just as importantly, can the city afford to do this?
Or more to the point: Can the city afford to make this purchase while disregarding many other needs?
Imagine what BOPARC could do with just an additional $1 million in its budget. Or the good $1 million spread across a dozen nonprofit social service agencies would do.
Another question that begs an answer is why would you pay four times the assessed value — $1.3 million — for a land parcel?
That’s a good question that we suspect is better than the answer we’ll get from the seller or the city.
When undeveloped property becomes worth what developed property would be, we don’t buy it.
Another question that demands an answer is, how does the city plan to use the forest?
Some will be more than willing to preserve green space simply for the sake of green space.
However, many will expect recreational opportunities be made available, allowing the public to use it.
Another question that comes to mind is, does the city’s purchase of this land incorporate it into Morgantown by default?
Bold initiatives might be construed to mean immediate in certain instances, but not this one.
This proposal certainly looks to be more than a whim, and green space in our city is always welcome.
Still, not only is the price not right for this parcel of land, but funding does not grow on trees.
