Auctioned off; School district land sold for $285,000, will become orthodontics office

Posted 9/11/14

The highest bidder was Kevin Button, representing Moss Leasing, LLC of Cody. Dr. Mathew Moss said he plans to build a new orthodontics facility at the North Evarts Street property located directly across from Powell Middle School, which “is a …

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Auctioned off; School district land sold for $285,000, will become orthodontics office

Posted

The Powell school district’s old pool/auditorium property was worth more than a quarter million dollars, an auction determined Tuesday night.

It took just five minutes for the value to rise to $285,000. Four bidders quickly drove the price up nearly $150,000 from the opening bid of $136,000.

The highest bidder was Kevin Button, representing Moss Leasing, LLC of Cody. Dr. Mathew Moss said he plans to build a new orthodontics facility at the North Evarts Street property located directly across from Powell Middle School, which “is a pretty good location for an orthodontic office,” Moss said Wednesday.

Moss had been interested in the property in the center of Powell for a while, he said.

“Anytime a property becomes available across the street from a middle school, in my profession, it’s pretty coveted,” Moss said.

An hour after the auction, the Park County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees met and unanimously approved the land sale to Moss Leasing for $285,000.

“There was a lot of interest in the property,” said Rob McCray, school board chairman. “The sale is good for the district and good for the community.”

The 1.29-acre lot at the 200 block of North Evarts Street housed the old Powell High School pool/auditorium for decades until the facility was demolished in 2010. The school board decided to sell the vacant property this summer.

Other bidders on the property were John Bennion, Donnie and Dana Gillett and Shane Shoopman. Erik Petersen and Kelly Brandt also were registered buyers, but neither bid during the auction.

About 20 people gathered on the windy, rainy evening for the public auction. School officials favored the live auction instead of a sealed bid process because they felt an auction would get more competition and a higher bid.

“We are very pleased with the purchase price of the property,” Superintendent Kevin Mitchell said Wednesday. “We also hope the new owner will be a good neighbor to the entire neighborhood.”

To his knowledge, it’s the first time Park County School District No. 1 has auctioned off land in the district, Mitchell said.

“I’m ecstatic that the money goes to a good cause — it’s going to Park County school district,” Moss said. “Powell has been really good to me, and we intend to be here for a number of years to come ... I’m excited. I didn’t want to spend that much, but that’s what happened.”

Money from the sale will go into a building fund for future improvement and building projects in the school district. While the state provides most money for school facilities, the district has to cover some costs from its own budget.

Selling excess property is a way the local district can add to its building fund.

“It’s either that or taxes,” McCray said.

Last month, a group of residents had asked the school board to give the land to Park County for a new Powell Branch Library instead of putting it on the market. However, the Park County Commission never requested the property for that use.

Commissioner Tim French said the commission isn’t opposed to building a new Powell library in the future, but a lot of details must be worked out. He added that the commission is focused on finishing the new multi-use building at the Park County Fairgrounds before taking on another major building project.

The school board voted last month to auction off the property, and Swenson’s Auctions & Appraisals and Metzler & Moore Realty was later hired for the sale.

The buyer will pay Swenson’s Auctions/Metzler & Moore a 5-percent fee, bringing the total to $299,250, Mitchell said. There will be nominal fees to close out the paperwork, he said.

The sale is slated to close by Sept. 25. Construction crews currently have equipment on the site for the school building projects going on nearby, but everything will be moved from the lot by Oct. 1, Mitchell said.

Moss said it hasn’t been determined when building will begin.

Moss Orthodontics has offices in Powell, Cody, Worland, Riverton and Thermopolis. Moss sees Powell patients on Wednesdays, a day when kids are released early from school. He said the office tries to make sure kids don’t miss too much school.

Many of Moss’s patients are middle school students, and while kids only have to walk a few blocks from the middle school to the current Moss Orthodontics location on Bent Street, Moss said he has plans for that building. He already rents space in the downtown office to Summit Oral Surgery.

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