THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 11, 1996 TAG: 9609110465
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: 69 lines
The Manteo Board of Commissioners will hold a special meeting at 7:30 p.m. Thursday to consider two new identical bids for a controversial 5.2-acre tract owned by the town.
The separate offers of $183,800 were made by newspaper publisher Francis Meekins and a group of prominent Manteo residents using the name ``Save Our Town.''
The group includes former mayors John Wilson IV and Mollie Fearing, former commissioner Edward Greene, and business executives H.A. Creef and Jennifer Frost.
The bids were submitted hours before a 5 p.m. deadline Monday for bids higher than a $175,000 offer submitted by a Wilson partnership. The new bids matched the minimum required for an overbid.
Had the deadline expired, the tract would have gone to Hubquarter Partnership of Wilson.
The proposed sale of the property ignited a firestorm of criticism. Opponents of the sale questioned the method by which the property was sold, as well as the need to sell the land.
The land is located on Exeter Street and includes some older buildings and the Manteo Police Department.
Under state law, a town can dispose of surplus real estate in one of three ways: through public auction, by sealed bid or by a third method - used by the town - known as negotiated offer, advertisement and upset bids. Under that method, the town granted a provisional acceptance to the highest offer. Other parties then have 10 working days to submit a counter offer or ``upset bid.''
If the town grants a provisional acceptance to one of the two upset bids it received Monday, the 10-day clock begins again, giving others an opportunity to bid on the tract.
Under the statute, the town has the authority to reject any and all offers. It was not clear how the commissioners would decide between two identical bids.
Manteo Town Manager Kermit Skinner said that Meekins' offer did not disclose plans for the use of the property. Meekins is the owner of the Coastland Times, published in Manteo.
Creef, one of the partners in Save Our Town, said his partners have not settled on a specific use for the property.
``At the meeting last week, I saidthat maybe a group of citizens may be interested in buying the property,'' Creef said. ``I am interested in the property behind the Duke of Dare Motor Lodge. But I'd also contribute to ideas on how the entire tract would be used. There have been some ideas put on the table. But nothing has been settled yet.''
Creef said he does not support the concept of an apartment complex at the site. ``I don't think the idea of an apartment complex is a good one,'' he said. ``The market will not support it.''
The initial bid, submitted by Hubquarter Partnership, was submitted in hopes of building moderate-income apartments, said Clyde W. Harris Jr. He and his partner, Frank Barnes, have done a number of development projects.
Harris said Tuesday afternoon that they are unsure of their response in the wake of the upset bid.
``We haven't had time to really analyze the situation,'' Harris said. ``With two upset bids, we are uncertain as to what we'll do.''
Harris sought to set the record straight concerning his company's plans for the property. Contrary to earlier reports, he said, his development would not be low-income housing.
``What we wanted to do was build moderate-income apartments for teachers, firemen, people who don't make $50,000 to $100,000 a year,'' Harris said. ``My kids are just getting out of school, and if they wanted to move to Manteo, they couldn't afford to pay $800 to $1,000 per month. This is geared to working people.'' by CNB