KINGWOOD — Preston commissioners hope extending an online auction will bring in more bids for a home donated to benefit the animal shelter.
Dolores Ryan left her entire estate to the shelter when she died in 2017. That included $292,809 cash and her home at 103 Oak St., Kingwood. The commission put the home up for sale on govdeals.com.
The high bid when the auction ended after a month was $17,171. The county placed a reserve of $20,060 on the home. The reserve is the home’s assessed value.
Commissioner Samantha Stone questioned taking the $17,171 bid and made a motion to put the house back up for sale. She asked that ads be bought, advertising the sale.
Commissioner Don Smith noted the sale was publicized on the commission’s website and Facebook page, and mentioned in news stories. The Dominion Post did a Sunday feature on the house April 28.
Stone had questions about what the auction costs the county and the value of the home, so commissioners recessed so County Administrator Shannon Wolfe could contact her office to find those answers.
County Network Specialist Biff Armstrong answered the questions: Five different bidders participated in the auction on the small, 119-year-old home. The winning bidder pays a fee to govdeals.com. The county does not pay to list the property on the site.
Although he voted for the motion to relist the home through July 31, Smith had concerns.
“If we just keep prolonging this and prolonging this and prolonging this, all we’re going to do is sit on the property forever, which is not what [Ryan] wanted,” Smith said.
County Administrator Shannon Wolfe noted there is also a risk that when the home is relisted the current high bidder may not bid.
“It’s just a matter of does that $2,800 make a difference for us? That’s what we’re talking about,” Commission President Dave Price said.
“It was a gift to the animal shelter, and I believe that by not getting as much as we can, even if it might be a little more effort on our part, we’re not really doing justice to the” donor, Stone said.
Also at the meeting:
County Clerk Linda Huggins said some water got into the records room, in the basement of the courthouse annex, through some drains last week. The problem was discovered by an attorney who was there Friday. He called county employees, who cleaned it up.
Price said anyone who doubts Preston County roads are in a state of emergency only needs to talk with emergency services personnel. He said an Oakland, Md., fire truck responding to help a Preston fire company hit a hole so hard it caused the truck’s brakes to lock up.
Commissioners unanimously adopted a resolution to begin the process of closing 691 estates, going back to Jan. 1, 1999. Notices will be mailed to parties in the estates, giving them 30 days to respond. Later, a public hearing will be set. The action comes as the result of new state legislation to close old estates.
Tonya Myers transferred from a position with the county clerk’s office to home confinement secretary and utility officer with the sheriff’s department. She starts the new job July 16 at $30,160 per year.
Commissioners agreed to the sheriff changing starting salaries for court security officers from $10.48 per hour to $12.
Rodney Kiser was appointed to the board of Public Service District 1.
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