Tryon to purchase property to expand town cemetery
Published 8:00 am Tuesday, March 6, 2018
TRYON — The Town of Tryon plans to purchase three small lots in order to expand its cemetery.
The town council approved purchasing the parcels during its February meeting.
Town Manager Zach Ollis said Jerry Soderquist, with the cemetery committee — who has helped a lot with the cemetery — has suggested the town purchase the property.
The property will be filed with the Kania Law Firm for foreclosure and the town would bid for the sale to acquire the properties, Ollis said. The cost would be an estimated $3,400 each for attorney fees and county taxes.
Tryon owns the cemetery, located off Markham Road, and upkeeps the cemetery with money from the sale of plots.
The parcels the town is interesting in purchasing include T4-A35, located at 37 Livingston St. The parcel is 0.17 acres with a land value of $1,500. Taxes owed on the property include $577.39 in county taxes and $504.08 in town taxes. The estimated attorney fees are $2,900, according to town figures.
Another parcel is 3 acres, located on Spruce Street (TA-A25). The land value is $45,000, with an unknown amount of county taxes owed and $341.25 owed in town taxes. The estimated attorney fees are $2,900.
Another parcel on Spruce Street is 2.24 acres (TA-A45). The land value is $15,120, with an unknown amount of county taxes and $87.33 owed in town taxes. The estimated attorney fees are $2,900.
Council also approved last month an agreement to purchase two other properties that adjoin town property. The properties will be purchased by the town if no third-party bids are made at the sale. The properties are T5-J11, which adjoins T5-J12, owned by the town, and T7-A43, which is across the street from T7-A29 that the town owns. The prices of the parcels would include attorney fees and county back taxes totaling around $3,800 for each property.
One of the parcels is on Howard Street, which Ollis said could be used for future parks or green space and the other is on Pine Street, which could be good growth for the cemetery.
Council also during the February meeting tabled a decision to declare seven properties as surplus to sell in an electronic bid. The town is considering declaring the properties surplus to sell by auction on govdeals.com.