Watch how the money is spent on greenspace and park and rec bond expenditures

Forsyth County voters passed a $100,000,000 park, recreation and green space bond referendum a short while ago. The BOC has already committed about $64,000,000 leaving $36,000,000 yet to be allocated. The BOC is considering a number of potential purchases. There is no question that the county needs to expand its parks and green space but at what price. Rumor has it that they are considering paying as much as $160,000 per acre. That's commercial pricing. Does the county need to pay that amount per acre in today's depression state real estate market. There are a lot of banks and hurting landowners that might be real happy to dispose of their land at much less per acre.

Has the BOC really searched the market for properties at the best price? Have they contacted banks and other lenders to see what foreclosed lands they might want to get off their books? Have they told the real estate brokerage community what they are looking for and at what prices? The brokers would be happy to search the market at no cost for good buys. There are large land owners that might like to have a county paid for park in the middle of their future development. There are steep properties with great views that would be ideal for parks but not for development. They might be available at a good price. There are lands with streams that would be great for green space but not development that might be purchased dirt cheap.

The point is that there are lots of opportunities in today's market that should be investigated by the BOC rather than paying $160,000 per acre for green space. What's the rush? There are not many competing buyers out there, especially cash buyers like the county looking for lands that are less than desirable for development.

To go a step further the BOC usually negotiates land purchases without public input. They believe that is best to negotiate in private. That may be the case but what safeguards are in places to prevent political misconduct. We've seen the county pay more than double for a parcel than it sold for the year before (the jail site). That deal still stinks and what's there to stop that kind of purchase again.

The BOC relies on appraisals to justify the price but the appraisal profession is like most others. There are good appraisers and bad. Some are qualified, some aren't. Some are disinterested third parties, some might have undisclosed conflicts of interest. Due to the significant amount of money involved here appraisers from outside the county might be best. There should be at least two appraisals on each parcel and those reports should be reviewed by a third appraiser. The potential purchase price should be consistent with the market value of the county assessor. Any seller or related entity should be required to disclose any and all political contributions as well as any past, present or contemplated business relationships with potential appraisers, county employees or elected officials.

While the sunshine laws allow property purchase negotiation behind closed doors, the law does not prohibit public input. In order to promote public involvement, which should be encouraged, potential purchases should identified to the public and at least the asking price should be made available to the public for comment and discussion.

All negotiations should be postponed until after the new year. A rejected and vindictive lame duck commissioner may not have the best interest of the public at heart.

Write and/or call the commissioners and the county attorney and let them know what you think. We don't need to be spending $160,000 an acre on green space!!!!!!!