In a split vote during its regular meeting on Sept. 17, the Archuleta County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) approved a motion to reject all bids received for 11 pieces of property being auctioned off by the county, with commissioners Warren Brown and Ronnie Maez in favor of the motion and commissioner Veronica Medina opposed.
During a work session held earlier that day, County Attorney Todd Weaver explained to the board that the county has 11 pieces of property, all located along Bonita Drive in the Trails subdivision.
Weaver indicated the properties were listed on June 1 and closed on Sept. 1.
“Basically, none of them made the reserve that was set by the county,” he stated, noting the county set a reserve price for each lot of $18,350.
Weaver mentioned that the highest bid received for one property was just over $8,000, or 45 percent of the listed reserve.
Weaver also indicated that the average sales price per acre in the area over the past few years is $127,232.
According to agenda documentation, the size of the lots located along Bonita Drive range from .1 to .17 of an acre.
Weaver explained the BoCC needed to make a decision on whether to accept any of the bids or not, noting the county could have the properties go out to auction again.
Weaver also mentioned the possibility of working with local nonprofit groups to donate the lots to be used for more workforce housing projects.
He also explained that Bonita Drive is a “road that is sort of there,” and that it was platted but never really built out.
Weaver indicated that utilities for the parcels are nearby, but not at the parcels themselves, noting the utilities are “not hard to run in this area.”
Brown questioned if the condition of the road and access to utilities adjusted the reserve price put forward by the county.
“That was all taken into consideration,” Weaver responded.
Medina suggested the BoCC deny the bids received and put the lots back out to bid for a couple of months while it engages with local nonprofits such as Habitat for Humanity, the Pagosa Springs Community Development Corporation (PSCDC) and Aspen House.
Brown indicated that the PSCDC may already be at capacity currently for what it can take on in terms of land for workforce housing projects.
He noted that donating the land would pass along fees to the nonprofits just to be able to hold the land.
Medina also mentioned that the real estate market is adjusting with prices and interest rates as there were many “unknowns” over the summer.
Brown also mentioned how people may be “holding their breath pending the presidential election,” and that the market might be more active come next spring.
Brown suggested the BoCC deny the current bids and wait until after the election to put the properties back out for bid.
“It sounds like everybody wants to put everything off until after the election to make a decision, so I already feel the gist of the room, so you guys do what you want,” Maez said.
Medina clarified that her suggestion was to put the properties back out for bid now and engage with nonprofits to see if they have any interest in acquiring the properties.
“I figure we got these, nobody met the minimum bid — that was already put there, even after the reductions and everything — let’s get people in homes,” Maez responded.
Weaver noted the BoCC still needs to accept or reject the current bids, then can decide what it wants to do moving forward.
Medina also mentioned the Trails neighborhood has received improvements with the work that the PSCDC has done to bring in more infrastructure to the area for its workforce housing projects.
“This is an area that has been developed,” she said. “I feel like these properties have more value now.”
During the meeting, representatives from Habitat for Humanity, the PSCDC and Aspen House were in attendance and provided some feedback to the BoCC about their interest in receiving the properties, if the county were to donate the parcels.
PSCDC Executive Director Emily Lashbrooke mentioned that the PSCDC “would like nothing more than to take on the properties,” but that it would need time to strategize on how it would fit into current plans and financing mechanisms.
She noted that the PSCDC does not want to “oversaturate” the market if the need is not there.
Lashbrooke also noted that the community is currently performing a housing needs assessment that will determine the community’s needs.
The assessment will be completed by January 2025, she indicated.
Habitat for Humanity of Archuleta County Executive Director Leah Ballard mentioned her organization currently has 24 lots, after nine lots were donated by the county last year.
She explained that Habitat has to pay $27,000 annually just to hold vacant parcels, along with almost $9,000 in fees for homeowner associations and the Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD).
“At the moment, we aren’t super eager to take on more,” Ballard said, noting that it would be a difficult thing to pass, considering there are many Habitat organizations with the opposite problem of not being able to obtain any land to build on.
Aspen House Executive Director Pattie Copenhaver also spoke, explaining that Aspen House has had issues with PAWSD as its plan was to build an apartment-style building for adults with disabilities.
She noted that Aspen House would potentially have to pay nine sets of equity buy-in and capital investment fees, totaling about $235,000, “and that’s before we break ground.”
Copenhaver noted that she was excited to be included in the discussion and believes there are opportunities for community collaboration to meet the needs of Aspen House and other nonprofits.
“I don’t know if acquiring a lot or two is really going to solve our problem,” she added.
During the meeting, Medina also brought up the possibility of having workforce homes being built for rent, because not everyone in the targeted income category for workforce housing is ready to actually purchase a home.
“I feel like that is a need,” she said.
Lashbrooke noted that the Trails neighborhood is zoned as single-family residential, which does not allow for high-density housing.
“I like the idea of waiting until we get the housing study done,” Maez said.
Brown agreed with Maez in regard to waiting for the housing study to be completed, noting that the market might become more active after the presidential election.
Brown also explained that some of the bids received were just over $2,000 and that the county treasurer’s processing fees come out to $1,859, which would result in the taxpayers only receiving a little more than $300 for a parcel.
“I don’t know if that’s the value or the best that we can do for our community,” he said.
Maez responded that it is “capitalism at its finest — I’d offer the lowest bid on them too.”
He explained that he believes the community needs to continue to focus on providing workforce housing and that he is still hearing of young people struggling to afford a place to live by themselves.
“One of my main things is getting good, hardworking people into affordable homes,” he said.
Maez initially motioned to table the decision on the bids until the housing study is complete, with Weaver explaining the motion needed to be amended and that the BoCC needed to make a decision to either approve or deny the current bids.
Maez amended his motion to deny the current bids, which was seconded by Brown and approved by a split vote of 2-1, with Medina opposing the motion.
Other news
On Sept. 25, the BoCC will hold a joint meeting with the Mineral County Board of County Commissioners at 10 a.m. at the Bruce Spruce Lodge.
At a Sept. 10 work session, County Manager Jack Harper explained that Mineral County’s administrator reached out to Medina earlier this year in regard to holding a joint meeting.
Mineral County has proposed one item of discussion, with that being presentations from both counties sheriff’s departments and emergency management coordinators.
Commissioner Warren Brown requested an update on the Rio Grande cutthroat recovery effort that the county agreed to support last year.
“We were asked to support that effort and we very graciously agreed to do so … I’d just like an update,” Brown said.
clayton@pagosasun.com
