The Town of Urbanna’s quest to close on the purchase of the new town hall drags on.
“Closing on purchase of 390 Virginia St. or move to an alternative,” was listed as the top priority by town council members and the mayor during a meeting on Jan. 23, 2025.
The town has leased the building at 390 Virginia St. since January 2022.
On Nov. 18, 2021, council voted to approve a lease for office space at Waverly Commons for “up to 24 months” at a monthly rent of $3,336. The rent was about $40,000 per year. The agreement with current owner Thurston Properties LLC was for the lease payments to be credited towards the purchase price of $1.1 million.
On April 25, 2024, the town council approved a resolution to purchase the building for $1.1 million.
Thurston Properties had agreed to finance $541,000 for 15 years at 5% interest.
“Urgency”
At last week’s meeting, Town Administrator Ted Costin told council nothing has happened in the last two months.
The hold up appears to be the fact that the town council’s attorney Andrea Erard and an attorney who will represent the town for the purchase instead of Erard have not been able to get together.
“I understand there are connection issues” between the attorneys, Costin told council. “So we’re probably no further along than we were two months ago.”
Town Councilor Marjorie Austin said the closing is “urgent.”
By consensus and without a vote, council directed the Mayor Bill Goldsmith and Costin to contact the attorneys this week to convey a sense of “urgency,” and to get their responses.
Later in the meeting, council set another priority to get timely responses from Erard, “on time sensitive, high-priority needs.”
Background
The original lease called for the town to purchase the new town hall and its 1.3 acres by December 2023, said former town councilor Sandy Sturgill in August 2024, when closing issues surfaced.
Sturgill said the rent paid since Jan.1, 2024 is “thrown out the window.”
Sturgill’s term on town council ended on Dec. 31, 2024.
Council sold the former town hall that was on Cross Street, after spending more than $100,000 on repairs.
The new town hall is 7,800 square feet.
