GARRARD COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Last month, the city of Lancaster gave a public alley to a Lancaster Baptist Church for $1, and in exchange, the church sold a less than half-acre lot to the city for $190,000.
Some in town are questioning whether that was a fair trade, but the city said that the transaction will end up saving taxpayers money.
The lot in question is directly beside the city of Lancaster’s only fire station and includes a parking lot and a metal structure. The alley, Balls Alley, runs from East Maple Avenue to Richmond Road between two pieces of property owned by the church.
David Wilson has lived in Garrard County most of his life and has long kept a close eye on the goings on in local government. Earlier this month, he wrote a letter to the editor that was published by the Garrard Central Record, questioning whether the property transaction was a good use of public money.
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“What would amount to 380k an acre, I don't think there's anything in Garrard County is worth that,” Wilson told LEX 18 this week. “It's an extraordinary amount of money for a piece of land.”
According to Garrard County PVA records, the taxable value of the lot purchased by the city is $140,000 – about $50,000 less than the city paid for it.
The city purchased the land so they could expand the fire station.
“As far as I know, I haven't heard about fires not being put out because there's not enough land behind the fire department,” Wilson said. “So I haven't seen there is a problem. I think there are probably more urgent problems where money could be spent.”
But Lancaster Mayor Michael Gaffney says the purchase was made with money from a grant that had to be used to either expand or build a new fire department. And he said that the property transaction with the church will help that money go further.
“At the end of the day, paying a little more than the appraised value actually in the long run is going to end up saving money,” Gaffney said. “Because what we're going to do, we're going to expand out and not have to start from scratch.”
Gaffney said that an appraiser they had looked at the lot valued it at up to $180,000.
That’s still $10,000 less than what the city paid without the consideration of the trade of Balls Alley. But Gaffney said that’s partially because the land wasn’t for sale, and that it was ultimately a good deal for the city.
“I think at the end of the day, the taxpayers, the residents of Garrard County and Lancaster, they're definitely going to get the benefit because of what it's going to bring to our community,” Gaffney said.
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Lexington Baptist Church’s senior pastor, Matthew Cooke, told LEX 18 that the church is happy to help their fire department out.
With the purchase of the lot, Gaffney said that the expansion of the fire station could be well underway by the end of the year. He said that the expansion could include three additional bays, and a couple of drive-through bays so firetrucks wouldn’t have to back into the building.
Gaffney also said that the metal structure on the newly purchased lot will be moved to the city’s fire training center to be used to store trailers.
Wilson isn’t convinced the closure of a public alley and the payment of $190,000 was a good trade.
“Lancaster is not a wealthy community,” Wilson said. “A lot of poor people, old people, a lot of old poor people. And $190,000 is a lot of money. I think it could be better used.”
