Bidding reaches $250k for county site, as sixth round of ‘upset’ underway

Bidding for a county property has reached a quarter-million dollars — 10 times the initial bid for the site in April — as the County of Sampson is now poised to breeze by the date initially targeted by local leaders to convey the site of the county’s former emergency headquarters.

Bids submitted in the most recent round of the upset bid procedure were unsealed Tuesday. Of the four bids received, the highest qualified bid was in the amount of $251,000 from Lawrence Watts of Global Medical Outreach, according to Juanita Brewington, purchasing & contracting officer for Sampson County.

The next round of bidding is now underway for the county-owned site off U.S. 701 Business and Underwood Street.

A new notice of upset bid will be published, kicking off another 10-day period for submission of upset bids. If qualified upset bids are received, the process repeats until no additional qualifying upset bid are submitted. When a 10-day period has passed and no qualifying higher bid is received, the highest bid will be reported to the Sampson County Board of Commissioners, which can accept or deny the offer.

Bids will be unsealed again Tuesday, July 2. Bids must be received no later than 2 p.m. that day. The next highest qualified bid must be at least $263,600.

As part of the upset bid process, the offeror is required to deposit 5 percent of the bid amount with the board clerk, who then publishes an advertisement for eligible upset bids — which would have to equal 10 percent of the first $1,000 of the original offer and 5 percent of the remainder and be received within 10 days after the date of the advertisement, accompanied by a bid bond or deposit.

The initial bid in April was $25,000. There have been five rounds of bidding since that time, with the sixth now underway.

In January, commissioners directed staff to resume informally soliciting and negotiating offers on the Underwood Street property, to exclude the portion that includes the Sampson County Veterans Park, which county leaders have assured will stay where it is. The board previously expressed its interest in divesting itself of any ownership interest in and financial responsibility for the aging EMS building while maintaining Sampson County Veterans Park at its current location at the edge of the now-subdivided property.

To date, high bids in succession have included: $25,000, by Matthews Drug Store; $50,000, by Michele Hinson; $80,000, by Tara Jackson; $130,000, by Wilcare Facilities; $221,000, by Kemp Burdette; and $251,000, by Lawrence Watts, Global Medical Outreach.

The county initially set a July 1 target date to have the property transferred to a buyer, however the July 2 date for the next bids will ensure the county goes past that timeframe, and possibly even further.