CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Finding a $20 bill in your pocket is enough to make anyone’s day, the Kanawha County Parks and Recreation Commission just found at least $43,500 in their pockets in the form of 75 acres of land they didn’t know they owned 18 months ago.
Everyone thought the land that was part of the Sandy Brae Golf Course was auctioned off in 2006, but Kanawha County Parks Director Jeff Hutchinson said that there is property that was attached to the sold land they didn’t know they owned the rights to.
“We were unaware of the property, so it wasn’t included in the sale.” Hutchinson said. “The board voted last week to sell it at a public auction.”
The board was made aware of the property when a landowner adjacent to it inquired about buying the land.
Hutchinson said he expects the auction to take place sometime in the next two or three months. The land is mostly undeveloped hillside, which Hutchinson cites as one of the reasons it was overlooked by the commission.
The Sandy Brae property has now been turned into a farm by a private owner. Hutchinson said the course wasn’t making a profit so it was sold.
“The property the golf course was on was outside of Kanawha County,” Hutchinson said. “The park commission decided we were losing quite a bit of money on it, so they decided to divest themselves of it and that’s when the property was sold.”
The property was recently appraised at $38,000 and the board paid $5,500 in expenses for the surveyor and appraiser. The minimum bid for the land will be $43,500.