GLENWOOD SPRINGS —A downtown Glenwood Springs land purchase approved by the Garfield County commissioners earlier this year is coming under scrutiny.
And, while two incumbent commissioners who voted to approve the deal, John Martin and Mike Samson, are defending the purchase, their respective challengers in the Nov. 6 election, Sonja Linman and Aleks Briedis, aren’t so sure it was in the best interests of taxpayers.
The county, in a deal that closed in early June, paid $2.5 million for a string of three parcels, including the Worrell and Durrett law office building at the corner of Eighth and Colorado, and two adjoining parcels immediately to the north in the 700 block of Colorado Avenue.
That purchase price, according to public records, was more than double what an appraisal paid for by the county in September 2011 indicated the parcels were worth based on market conditions at that time.
According to an assessment by High Country Appraisal Associates, compared to recent comparable commercial property sales in Glenwood Springs and Carbondale, the combined properties were appraised at $1,095,000.
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