Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
The former Mill Pump property along U.S. Hwy. 281 is expected to go on the market, just not in the way commissioners envisioned at their Dec. 1 meeting.
In a special meeting convened on Thursday, Dec. 17, State’s Attorney Ashley Lies explained that Chapter 11.27 of the North Dakota Century Code (Sale of property by county commissioners) did not apply to this property, as it had been obtained through delinquent taxes. Therefore, the commission cannot sell it at auction in January as planned.
Rather, the section of law that applies in this case, Chapter 57.28, provides that if a property was taken due to delinquent taxes, it has to either be sold at the next November tax sale, or offered for private sale through a non-exclusive listing agreement with real estate agents. In addition, any listing agreement must involve a minimum sales price equal to the amount the property was offered for sale at the last delinquent tax sale. The minimum sales price for the Mill Pump property was set at $93,500 when it was offered at the November tax sale in 2015.
“We’ve been dealing with this property close to 10 years,” Commissioner Glenda Collier noted. She was referring to the fact that taxes had not been paid on the property since 2010, and at the time counties could not foreclose until taxes hadn’t been paid for five consecutive years.
The commission completed quiet title action on the property in 2019, which Lies guided them through. Therefore, the county has clear title to the property. Unfortunately, the delinquent tax law still applies, however.
Commissioners weighed the benefits and costs of both options, to authorize the non-exclusive listing agreement now or wait to sell the property at the November 2021 sale. The biggest question they had about the listing agreement was the maximum commission to be offered. Any commission would be added to the minimum sale price of $93,500. They questioned the marketability of the property at that price, then decided to research commission rates.
“I hate to close the door, because you don’t know” if someone may be interested in purchasing the property now,” Gehrtz said.
Lies will contact several real agents and ask for their commission rates, and the matter will be discussed again at the Jan. 5 regular meeting.
Commissioners also had a follow-up discussion about equipment and fixtures inside the Mill Pump building, as a former tenant presented an affidavit claiming ownership of a piece of equipment he says remains in the building. Lies said the law is quite a bit more vague about personal property rights, as North Dakota does not have a vacant property foreclosure process. She said the commission needs to determine what facts exist and then determine which section of law to apply based on those facts. There are essentially three options, give the claimant certified notice to get the property he claims to own, consider the property abandoned and proceed with private sale, or let the property go with the sale of the real property.
Although he has issued an affidavit, the claimant does not have a bill of sale to the property he seeks. Commissioners agreed that the affidavit was not adequate proof that equipment belongs to him.
On another hand, before the county could offer any of the property for sale privately, Lies says they would need to prepare a list of equipment to be sold and assign a value to each item.
“We don’t want to be in the mud,” Gehrtz concluded. “Personally I think selling or doing anything with that equipment is not a good idea.”
Therefore, the commissioners agreed to sell the property as is, with all the equipment and fixtures remaining in the building. They also asked Lies to research whether they can reassess the value of the property prior to the November tax sale proceedings.
Road Superintendent Todd Weber reported that the propane tank at the county communications tower site needed a refill. Gehrtz questioned why it wasn’t filled before the winter season. Gehrtz and Weber will investigate usage and inquire about enrolling the tank in the summer fill program.
Auditor Patty Williams updated the commission on the application process for the court facilities grant. Since the last meeting, she has learned that the floor tiles in the basement do contain asbestos, as well do the pipe joints and likely the ceiling tile. She said abatement will be required before renovation. An estimate prepared by MonDak Restoration totaled $8,800 to remove all floor tiles and pipe joints, as well as any ceiling tiles that contain asbestos. New flooring is about double the abatement cost, as an estimate from LaMotte’s Paint & Glass of Devils Lake amounted to $16,979. The estimate would cover the jury overflow room, filing room and hallway.
With the new information at hand, the commission decided to proceed with the court facilities grant application for asbestos abatement and new flooring in certain areas of the basement, assuming Ashley Lies determines that it fits the requirements of the grant. All grant funds must be used to renovate areas actually used for court proceedings.
Williams reported that more CARES act funding is coming for November and December, a total of $26,000. She noted that the commission could consider allocating those funds to the basement remodel.
The next regular commission meeting is set for Tuesday, Jan. 5 at 8:30 a.m.
