BY TRACY LEE TATE
Special to the Times
The Lake Butler City Commission reviewed the long-awaited appraisal of the old public works property at its March 18, 2025 regular meeting.
The property has been an issue for some time and was one of the “money-pits,” that was a source of much of the misspending by a previous city manager.
Referred to by Lake Butler Mayor Melissa Hendrix as the city’s “Taj Mahal,” the eventual sale of the property will be a major move in the city’s recouping a large portion of the misspent funds.
The property, located at 9422 Southwest SR-121, adjacent to the city wastewater spray field, was never truly appropriate for the use it was intended. One of several major obstacles to its use was that the height of the bay doors installed was not tall enough to allow some of the city vehicles to be parked inside.
The board had declared the property to be surplus at the Nov. 19, 2024 meeting, at which time City Manager Kim Hayes was authorized to have the property appraised and bring the results of the appraisal back to the commission.
The appraisal was done by Donald Lee Hardenbrook, of Starke. In the appraisal report it is stated that the property is a total of 27.6 acres with a partially completed large structure (originally intended to be a residence), an enclosed pole barn, two ponds, a driveway a well and a septic system. The property was purchased by the city in July 2022 for $390,000, with the majority of the modification of the pole barn being done thereafter.
The appraisal states the property is has an “as-is” market value of $675,000. After discussion, motion to accept the appraisal was made by Commissioner Joe Stephenson and the motion passed unanimously.
The discussion then turned to consideration of how the property should be sold. Options discussed included the city advertising and selling the property itself, listing with a commercial property real estate broker or simply auctioning the property through a professional auction service.
Hayes recommended that the city list the property and sell it as a commercial property. Stephenson said he would like to see is for the city to try selling it “in-house,” advertising it with a minimum bid and seeing if anyone would make an acceptable bid.
City Attorney John Maines said that if the city wished to outsource the sale, there would be a contract, and the board would have to meet to approve the sales method, agreeing to fees, costs, and the percentage and commissions the seller would charge.
All the board members agreed to set the minimum price at $700,000 and decided unanimously to attempt to sell the property in-house to avoid fees and commissions.
More Wawa delays
Another ongoing project that is of interest to many city and county residents is when the Wawa is going to begin construction.
According to Hayes, it seems the company has run into a problem with the land for the proposed location – the land is comprised of two lots and must be combined to be legally used for a business. Wawa requested that the commission grant a special exception (as provided for by the city’s land development regulations) allowing it to have the two parcels combined. According to state statutes a fuel station cannot be placed on the property without this special exception. The matter was discussed in a public hearing prior to the regular March meeting but no decision was reached. Commissioners agreed to table the issue until the April meeting to allow for more public comment on the matter.
