NEW LEXINGTON — Though development plans by Hocking College for a piece of land it got free from Perry County triggered a legal battle between the county and the college, the land apparently generated little interest as a potential business development site when the college put out a call for proposals.
The college announced in 2022 that it was seeking proposals from the private sector to buy, lease or collaborate in developing 15 acres of land, which it had received as a part of a land donation from the county in 1993. When the Perry County commissioners learned of these plans, they sued to take back ownership of the property, located adjacent to the college’s Perry County campus on state Route 37.
The county, which claimed that the terms of the original land donation did not allow the college to use it for a profit-making venture, ended up losing the lawsuit it filed against the college. The litigation cost the county over $71,000 in legal fees, while the college’s attorney bill for the matter was a little under $20,000.
Last November, following resolution of the lawsuit, the Perry County Tribune submitted a public records request to Hocking College, seeking “any communications sent or received by the college to date in connection with its March 2022 request for proposals to develop 15 acres adjacent to the college’s Perry County campus.”
The college finally fulfilled that request this month, sharing a handful of documents and email communications. Within those records, the only indication of any interest from the private sector in the 15 acres is a few emails from an Augusta, Georgia-based developer, Southeastern Development, which inquired about buying the land for commercial use.
The college’s request for proposals (RFP), included among the documents shared by Hocking College, indicated that the college was looking for proposals to buy or lease the property, or to set up a partnership with the college to develop it. The RFP said the college would be accepting proposals during the month of April 2022.
In a Dec. 8, 2021 email to Hocking College President Betty Young, Tommy Saul, senior vice president and associate broker at Southeastern Development, had written: “I wanted to follow up to see if Hocking College would consider selling some of its residual land in New Lexington for the development of a retail shopping center as discussed on our last conference call.”
The following day, Hocking College Executive Vice President, Chief of Staff and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Daubenmire responded, telling Saul, “The college would be interested in knowing what you think the value of the property would be.” The answer to this question is not to be found in any of the documents provided to the Tribune by Hocking College, though at some point Southeastern Development apparently did submit an offer.
On March 16, 2022 Saul checked in via email with Daubenmire, asking whether there were any updates on the RFP.
Then in an email dated March 17, 2022 to Mark Fuller, Hocking College executive finance director/treasurer, Saul thanked Fuller for sending him the college’s RFP, and added, “We previously submitted an offer to purchase. Do you need any additional information from us or is our submitted offer sufficient for the RFP?”
Fuller responded the same day: “What you had submitted appears to be sufficient to consider.”
In a letter dated April 27, 2022, an attorney for the Perry County Board of Commissioners put the college on notice that the county considered its development plans to violate the terms of the land donation. “That property rightfully belongs to the board and this correspondence demands that you Cease and Desist all efforts to develop or sell that parcel of land,” the letter states.
A week later Kyle Fuller, executive assistant to President Young, emailed Mark Fuller to tell him that Young “is wanting to review the RFPs that have come in for Perry. Can you assemble and bring it to me by tomorrow?”
Mark Fuller replied: “The only thing I’ve received is the attached letter (also sent to Dr. Young). Jeff Daubenmire (I believe) received a purchase agreement from Tommy Saul, though I have not been in possession of it. No actual proposals have been received yet.”
The records provided to the Tribune by Hocking College do not include the referenced purchase agreement.
Email at jphillips@logandaily.com
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