$5.2 million asking price for 40 acres of woodland not even in the realm of reason

As haymakers go, the appraised value of this property is enough to knock down this proposal.
Morgantown’s City Council will decide tonight whether to pay $5.2 million for 40 acres of forest listed at $1.2 million.
But for anyone on City Council who is suffering from delusions, we’ll be blunt.
To spend that amount of money on a tract of land that is valued far under its asking price is crazy.
If our city has that kind of money to spend, why not just drop the user fee, and spend it on our roads and sidewalks.
Or, if you want to spend that money on public recreation, draft a levy that will fix up, improve and build new parks across the city for its residents.
Furthermore, the city’s funding mechanism to pay for the Haymaker Forest is vague, at best. Unknowing, at worst. Needless to say, how you finance something is vital.
Tell any lender you’re unsure how you will pay a loan back and they won’t even humor you.
Admittedly, it’s hard for many of us to think beyond the fiscal irresponsibility this effort represents.
But when we do so, this “plan” looks all the more suspect for any one of a number of reasons.
For one thing, the timeline on this initiative to buy the Haymaker Forest makes us feel as though, if we blink, we’ll miss what happened.
If council members said this is all purely exploratory from the start three weeks ago, it might make sense. That would indicate it is allowing for months of debate and public input to reach a consensus — or not.
There is also the other matter of the home of the city’s deputy mayor — who is leading this effort — bordering this land.
Who wouldn’t love to have a large woodland bordering his or her home? But that usually comes at a steep price to homeowners personally, not via a tax on everyone.
It also stands to reason there should be a comprehensive plan, or at least the inkling of one, in print on how this property will be used.
If the idea is to leave it as is barring any development for recreation, that needs to be known now. Simply preserving 40 acres of forest for one small neighborhood’s benefit is just a backhanded NIMBY effort to stave off development, while raising its property values.
This council appears to be out of step with reality. This is an issue because it has made it an issue. On several occasions in the recent past, this council has gotten ahead of itself, but later thought better of it. That’s smart.
Call it covering up or what have you, but discussions about closing bars early, election changes and applying Home Rule laws to regulate local roads all ended up on the mat where they remain.
We urge City Council to floor this effort to buy this property, as well.