Board to talk timber sales
By Steve Herring
Published in News on February 6, 2018 5:50 AM
Wayne County commissioners will consider a request from the Wayne County Board of Education to sell timber to help pay for school projects when they meet today.
County Manager Craig Honeycutt said in a letter to the board that proceeds from the timber sales would be used for gym projects since the school board thinks final construction cost may be more than the original budget.
The meeting will begin with an 8 a.m. agenda briefing followed by the formal session at 9 a.m. Both will be held in the commissioners' meeting room on the fourth floor of the Wayne County Courthouse Annex.
"The start of looking at timber sales came from the expansion of the gym at Southern Wayne -- something we have to do anyway to clear the land for construction -- and that mushroomed the discussion to look at additional areas while they were harvesting the current site," Honeycutt said in the letter.
The school board is recommending that the county start with two tracts -- one at Southern Wayne High School because of the gym project and the other at Spring Creek High School.
Timber is considered real property under state law. If the property is deemed no longer necessary, commissioners have the first option at the fair market value or a negotiated price between the two boards.
Otherwise the property can be sold at public auction, through a negotiated offer, advertisement and upset bid or through a sealed bid.
In other business, commissioners will consider motions to approve:
* The sale of surplus property at 1007 N. Center St. The property is jointly owned with the city of Goldsboro that is recommending the sale.
* A sole source letter for The Maxwell Center beer and wine purchases.
"Beer and wine can only be purchased from certain beer and wine distributors, therefore the bidding process is not possible," Maxwell Center Director James Wade said in a memo to commissioners. "Each distributor only sells certain brands and brands are only sold by one distributor in each market. For example: R.A. Jeffreys sells Anheuser-Busch products and Coastal Beverages sells Miller products.
"We will need both for our bars. Per state laws, pricing is set and all wholesale purchasers pay the same amount for the same product. If there is a sale on wholesale cost, it applies to everyone purchasing. We request the Wayne County Board of Commissioners approve the purchase of beer and wine for the Maxwell Center per the sole source statue."
* An application for Property Tax Exclusion for the Goldsboro Housing Authority for two parcels of property.
Also on the agenda, Finance Director Allison Speight will present the county's quarterly financial statement for fiscal year 2017-2018 through Dec. 31.
She also will present the quarterly financial statement for the same period for the Wayne County Tourism Development Authority.
The only item on the consent agenda is budget amendments.
The public comments part of the meeting starts at 9:05 a.m. Speakers have four minutes to comment on their topic of choice.