First, they bought a computer system that Barbara Cook told them that there were too many questions. But they convinced themselves after reconsidering that it was OK, so they bought it. But, here is the good one. They took a piece of land of Asheville Highway that was once appraised for $80,000 but everybody agrees that ain’t right. So, the second appraisal comes in at $120,000 OK, but Phillip Ballard, the county property assessor says the property is actually worth $142,000 so our county commissioner actually spent $225,000 to purchase the property.
Sam McKenzie started with a motion for $216,000 and changed it to $225,000. He pushed it so hard that you gotta wonder. In the end he made the argument that “our library is an old Walgreen’s” and that the renovation was an inferior add on to John T. Oconnor Center. Well, Sam it is a library something the Bluegrass community doesn’t have.
It was so rare that I found myself agreeing with Commissioner Amy Broyles when she said, we are spending $225,000 for property valued at $142,000 when we have people that need a new school (Carter) that we can’t afford. We need a safety center that we can’t afford. But the rarest of all occasions is that I actually agreed with Robert Lawrence Smith cause he was the 1 in the 18-1 vote to buy the dang piece of property on Asheville Highway near Burlington.
But the greatest travesty is that McKenzie called on someone named Sharon Davis to speak for the community and a simple google search reveals this, talk about a conflict of interest! Yep, these commissioners are going out in fine fashion.
