The deal that the City of Knox has with Beverly and Carl Wells for a building that they own across from Knox City Hall might be on again. Wells had offered the building to the City at the February 8th City Council meeting, and on a 3-2 vote the Council members agreed to purchase it for $120,000 with $20,000 down and 5 year annual payments of $20,000 a year.
Because they needed two appraisals to purchase the property, the deal could not be consummated in the time line given by Wells. He told Mayor Rick Chambers that he was going to start remodeling the building for offices if the City didn’t take agreement that week. That seemed to end the negotiations.
But at the February 22nd meeting, Mr. Wells, through correspondence, offered the building and adjoining parking lot on a 10 year lease for $1,000 a month. At the end of the lease, the entire building and lot would be donated to the city.
Conditions included that a portion of the building could be leased by Mr. Wells for the time period and that insurance and remodeling would be up to the City.
The Council members voted unanimously to secure one appraisal to see if the offered price is in line with the value of the building and parking lot. The Council planned to use the building for storage, and possibly move the Police Department and cars to the building.
