CLARKSBURG, W. Va. — The Harrison County Commission held a special meeting on Tuesday to discuss the Charles Pointe Economic Opportunity TIF district located in Bridgeport.
“We have ratified to go out and do a fresh appraisal for some of the properties that had come in on that [original] appraisal,” Commission President Ron Watson said.
The reason for the action is due to the fact the individual who appraised the properties from a firm hired by the Charles Pointe Economic Opportunity Development District Board was under indictment in Pennsylvania for crimes committed in 2005 involving bank fraud and estimating properties higher than their worth.
James Lignelli was indicted in 2011, hired to appraise certain parcels in Charles Pointe in May and was convicted in June, all without anyone knowing of the events — Lignelli is still licensed to be an appraiser in the state. The information was brought to light after investigation conducted by a reporter from The Exponent Telegram.
Watson said it is important to get a second opinion to clear up any controversy over a project, he feels, has been very beneficial to the area.
“We can see the development and what’s going on is good for North Central West Virginia and we just want to make sure we’re doing the right thing every time.”
The vote from the commission allows them to directly solicit three national firms –Cushman and Wakefield, Navigant and CBRE-Valuation and Advisory Services– to request they submit proposals to appraise the three parcels Lignelli worked on.
Commissioner Mike Romano does not expect the property values to change drastically, as the numbers from Lignelli lined up in the range they had estimated before he returned his evaluation.
“The values of these parcels are very in line with other developments within the region that are used as comparables,” he said. “We had a very good idea of what the parcels were worth before we ever hired the appraisals. People have to remember that appraisals are opinions and they can always differ. We certainly expect this one to come back somewhat different than the first one but within the same range of reasonableness.”
Romano explained what action the commission would take, should the numbers differentiate greatly from the original appraisal.
“We have an obligation to not purchase for more than appraised value,” he said. “If the appraisals would go down, we would adjust the purchase price of those properties. If the appraisal would go up, we wouldn’t pay any more, but we would certainly pay to what we originally estimated their value at.”
The appraisal will come before the issuance of $7.5 million in bonds to assist in the development of the next project within the district, which largely consists of a new conference center.
The firms will have until September 19 to submit their proposals.