By Leah Justice

leah.justice@tryondailybulletin.com

The Town of Tryon agreed to accept ownership of now vacant building located at 289 S. Trade St. after owner Sonny Mevers agreed to donate it to the town.

Tryon Town Council met Tuesday, May 19 and unanimously approved acceptance of the gift.

The last use of the building was when the Tryon Riding and Hunt Club owned the building to house its office a few years ago.

Tryon Town Manager Joey Davis said the property has been an ongoing discussion and it is council’s decision whether to accept the property.

Commissioner Roy Miller asked if there are any legal concerns with the town accepting the property.

Town attorney Bailey Nager said there were initial concerns with rumors of issues of mold. Davis said council has received a report from Foothills Crawlspace where tests resulted in finding no major issues.

Commissioner George Baker said there were no restrictions on the donation and the town could turn around and sell it if it chose.

Tryon officials had previously discussed an offer to purchase the current building where its ABC store is housed, almost directly across the street from the building donated.

The ABC building, consisting of three buildings, was being offered to the town for $250,000 with owner financing and no down payment. The town had discussed making its mortgage payment from the rental of the other one or two units.

Council did not discuss on Tuesday whether or not it is still considering purchasing the ABC store building, but mayor Jim Wright sent an email last month indicating the town is now considering moving the ABC store into the donated building once the ABC store lease has expired.

Wright sent an email to area residents on April 30 asking opinions on whether the town should now move the ABC store into two of the four units of the donated building once the ABC lease runs out in about a year.

Wright said the town has obtained an estimate of approximately $80,000 for needed repairs if parking lot repairs are included.

If the town chose to move the ABC store next year across the street, there would be two additional units the town could rent.

Wright also said the town currently receives approximately $3,000 per year in taxes on the building, which would be removed with town ownership. Wright said in his email that the town would also lose the tax revenue on the building if the owner chose to donate the building to a non-profit, tax-exempt organization instead of the town.