Brunswick County Commissioners will meet at 6:30 p.m. tonight in county commissioners’ chambers in Bolivia.
Two items of note on the agenda are an offer to purchase what was once Brunswick Community Hospital and the elimination of the county’s sewer base charge of $18 per month for properties that have meters removed.
At the request of county manager Marty Lawing, commissioners will entertain an offer to sell the former Brunswick Community Hospital for $1.75 million.
The $1.75 million offer to purchase the 60-bed hospital and 30-plus acres of land on which it sits was submitted by East Coast Lands One LLC on Sept. 24, according to Lawing.
This is the third group to submit an offer to purchase the aging hospital facility since commissioners started the process to sell the hospital facility about a year ago. They’ve formally entertained two bids—an initial $1.5 million bid and a $1.575 million upset bid—but never entered into contract to sell the property with either bidder.
In July commissioners accepted the $1,575,050 upset bid from Jacobs Real Estate Advisors LLC and Katierich Asset Management LLC. The Jacobs Real Estate Advisors/Katierich Asset Management bid upset the county’s only previous bid—a $1.5 million bid by Crown Management LLC.
“A purchase contract that included a lease agreement was forwarded to Jacobs Real Estate Advisor LLC in August, and no response has been received to date. The offer of East Coast Lands One LLC is not considered to be an upset bid, but should be considered an initial offer since the last offer accepted by the board of commissioners did not result in an executed contract,” Lawing said.
If commissioners accept the offer, officials with East Coast Lands One LLC wish to close on the property by Nov. 30.
Finance director Ann Hardy will present a recommendation that commissioners eliminate a sewer base charge of $18 per month for properties where the meter has been removed.
“In September 2008, at the recommendation of staff, the board of commissioners resolved to discontinue charging availability of fees for water and sewer with the exception of charging a base service fee of $18 for sewer service in the situation where the meter was removed,” Hardy said.
The rationale behind the base sewer charge, Hardy said, was to discourage season residents from removing their meters and the end of each tourist season and re-installing meters at the beginning of the season to avoid a charge.
“It was unforeseen that the housing market would decline due to the great recession. As a result, many properties were vacated and meters removed for non-payment. When the meters were removed, the county began charging the property owners the $18 base service sewer charge for a property with a removed meter,” Hardy said.
Of the 154 customers the county bills, only 41 customers are paying, which is a 27-percent collection rate, Hardy said.
The full agenda for Monday’s meeting is available on the county’s website.
