The Kanawha County Parks and Recreation Commission plans to auction off 75 acres of land it didn't know it owns near Sandy Brae Golf Course. The parks board voted to sell the land at its regular meeting Wednesday.
The county sold the Clendenin-area golf course in 2006. An adjacent land owner recently notified the parks board that it owns additional land there. The land owner is interested in buying the property from the parks commission.
"It was included in the original parcels that we bought back in the '70s but we didn't realize we had it," Jeff Hutchinson, parks director, said after the commission's regular meeting Wednesday.
"From what I understand it's up there on the side of the hill, way up," Hutchinson said. "And there's really nothing we can do with it. One of the reasons that we sold the golf course is because the majority of it laid in Roane County."
Hutchinson said the board plans to hold a public auction for the property in the next two to three months. The property appraised at $38,000 and the board paid $5,500 in expenses for the surveyor and appraiser. The minimum bid for the land will be $43,500.
Also Wednesday, the parks board approved its insurance plan for the fiscal year.
"We've done business probably since 2008 or 2009 with Commercial Insurance," Hutchinson said. "Their rates for what we do are just about as good as I've ever been able to find."
This year the parks commission will spend about $174,000 total on insurance, including workers compensation, general, property and vehicle, he said.
Reach Lori Kersey at lori.kersey@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1240 or follow @LoriKerseyWV on Twitter.