By LOU HATTER

By LOU HATTER

Rappahannock News Staff Writer

At a joint public hearing marked by near unanimity of opinion from the speakers, the Washington Town Council and the county's Board of Supervisors heard approval for their proposed swap of the present Town Hall for the building which is now occupied by the Rappahannock County Library.

The terms of the tentative deal reached between representatives of the Town Council and the Board of Supervisors were also discussed publicly for the first time. The negotiations were held during the past several months under an exemption in the Virginia Freedom of Information Act which allows executive sessions to discuss or negotiate the purchase or sale or public property. The clause is designed to prevent private speculators from entering the negotiations and perhaps artificially inflating the bids.

According to County Administrator John McCarthy, the agreement calls for the county to buy the present Town Hall building from the town for $100,000. while the town's purchase price for the library building is set at $150,000. The money gained from the Town Hall sale, presumably, would be used by the town to offset the higher price paid for the library.

After that transaction is completed. Mr. McCarthy said, the county would earmark the $150,000 it realized from the library building's sale for the construction of the new county library. That building is in the planning stages, and will be placed on a two-aCre site just outside the town limits on Route 211. which was donated by Dean Morehouse.

Mr. McCarthy also announced that a third-party bid for the present library building had been made to the Library Board, but never presented formally to the Board of Supervisors. Under state law the supervisors are charged with oversight of the library’s operation, and their approval is required on any decisions made by the Library Board relating to the purchase or sale of property.

Attorney David Dickey, who represents Patrick O’Connell and Reinhardt Lynch, the'owners of The Inn at Little Washington, confirmed that his clients had offered the Library Board $200,000 for the library property. He said they would be willing to pay the sum. in cash, within 90 days of the board’s acceptance of the offer.

In addition, Mr. Dickey said, Mr. Lynch and Mr. O’Connell are willing to rent the building back to the Library Board for two years at one dollar a year, provided its use as a library continues.

With the $200,000 in the bank in a long-term, high yield account, he suggested, "at current interest rates it would yield about $240,000" in two years for the library's building fund.

Why, Mr. Dickey asked, should The Inn's offer be considered? “It is more money, and it is more money sooner." He added that the county should accept The Inn’s offer because the taxpayers deserve to get the most money offered for the building. And, he added, selling it to a private party would put the property back on the tax rolls, taxed at or near the value established by the $200,000 sale price.

"I understand," he said, “that the Town Hall location is very advantageous to the county." But, he pointed out. its location also has liabilities, including the difficulty of fitting it for handicapped access. “There are other properties available with better slopes for ramps."

As for the town. Mr. Dickey continued. “They have the Town Hall. Do they need all the space in the library to run the town’s business?" He suggested that the town could use the money, “and they do get a great deal of money from my clients each year — to renovate the Town Hall building."

"The $200,000 offer is a good one." Mr. Dickey concluded, "probably more than the property is worth."

Later in the hearing, Hampton District Supervisor Mike Massie asked Mr. Dickey what use The Inn intended for the building.

"There are no particular plans at this time," he replied. But The Inn does have a need for a large space for

See HEARING, p. 18