GREENBRIER — Mayor Sammy Joe Hartwick said the city of Greenbrier has “run into a little snag” following the recent decision to spend $750,000 on property in town.
The Greenbrier City Council voted July 6 to buy 55.75 acres at 42 S. Broadview.
“The people didn’t quite have their paperwork up to snuff,” Hartwick said. “They don’t have a good description of the property; there’s a question about the acreage. That could be a deal breaker.”
He said the property is co-owned by Martha Garrett of Texas, whose father, the late Percy Matthews, was a former Greenbrier mayor. He also taught school in Greenbrier in the 1950s, Hartwick said, and Matthews owned the property then.
Also listed as an owner is Garrett’s sister-in-law, Wadette Matthews of Texas, the mayor said.
When the paperwork was being arranged, “Faulkner County Title said, ‘This is not right,’” Hartwick said.
He said the property has had a “For sale” sign on it for years.
“One day I just drove by it and thought, ‘I’m going to call and talk to the people,’” Hartwick said. The real estate agent quoted the owners’ price to Hartwick, and Hartwick said he told the man the price was too high. “I said, ‘I’ll tell you a number — let me know,’” and the owners approved Hartwick’s offer.
The owners also agreed to let the city pay half of the cost of the property up-front and pay out the balance, he said. “The capital-gains [tax] was going to kill [Garrett],” he said.
Hartwick said the property has not been appraised, but “probably will when it’s settled.”
The land joins Same Ole Joe’s Pizza on U.S. 65 “all the way to Glenn Lane where Eastside Elementary is,” Hartwick said.
“We’d like to make a nice business park out of some of it, … and then a city park with some walking trails. We really don’t have a nice city park anywhere,” he said. The current city park is on U.S. 65. “We’d like to get it off there.”
Alderman Ty Kelso said a bigger city park “would be one great deal for [the property].”
Although the council hasn’t discussed specifics for the property, because of its large size, the property could be used for a ballpark, a business park and “several different categories,” Kelso said.
“I think down the road, it’s got good potential for the city,” he said.
He said the holdup with the survey doesn’t worry him. “I don’t think it’s anything that can’t be worked out,” Kelso said.
Although Hartwick said the holdup is a small setback, he wants the transaction to be done right.
“This is too big a purchase to take for granted,” Hartwick said. “We’re going to get a survey — that way we’ll know exactly what it is, and we’ll have to start renegotiating. It could take several months. We told them we’re not in any hurry; we’ve done without it this long.”
“I feel confident we’re going to get this all worked out and buy the property.”
Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.