MAYVILLE – Chautauqua County Lawmakers will be meeting later this month with members of a marketing firm hired to find prospective buyers for the County Home. During the County Legislature’s May voting session, County Executive Greg Edwards announced that he and a group of legislators will be meeting with the Marcus and Millichap firm to go over request for proposals that have come in for the county home.
The Chicago-based firm was hired late last year to market the home for prospective buyers, although any sale of the home would have to meet certain conditions established by the county – including keeping the County Home operating as a skilled nursing facility for at least 10 years and also giving current employees an opportunity to retain their employment. Any sale would also require at least 17 of 25 votes from the legislature.
The news came the same day county lawmakers approved a $1.36 million fund balance appropriation to match a federal Intergovernmental Transfer (IGT) grant toward the home. The IGT payment would bring in a total of $3.6 million for the home in 2013, helping to keep the facility afloat throughout the year.
This month’s meeting with Marcus and Millichap will include Republican legislators Larry Barmore (R-Gerry), Jay Gould (R-Ashville) and Fred Crosscut (R-Sherman) and along with Democrat Chuck Nazzaro (D-Jamestown). All four men have come out and said they would support selling the home if the right conditions were met. Legislature Minority Leader Lori Cornell (D-Jamestown) has also requested that another legislator would be allowed to sit in on the meeting who has reservations about selling the home.
No specific date on when the lawmakers would meet with Marcus and Millichap has yet been established.
Once offers and recommendations are reviewed by Edwards and county lawmakers, a report will be given to the County Legislature. The county executive said he is unsure if that report will be ready in time for June’s full-body meeting.
A report from the Center for Governmental Research, which was commissioned by an ad-hoc committee to study the financial stability of the home, should also be finalized later this month.
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