Months-long saga over ownership of two downtown properties appears to be near a close in Greensboro
Greensboro City Council met Tuesday night, Jan. 14 for their first regular meeting of 2025. The council approved the payment of bills totaling $44,943.06. That motion was made by Councilmember Mary Bragg and seconded by Councilmember KaTerriaeial Lewis. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote.
The council heard reports from the city’s various department heads. Streets and Sanitation Superintendent Aaron Evans reported that his department had suffered a few equipment breakdowns, but after repairs “we’re back up to full speed.”
The council passed a resolution declaring January to be Human Trafficking Prevention and Awareness month following a presentation by Hale County schoolteacher Andrea Thomas.
City Clerk Lorrie Cook reported that the city’s attorney Carolyn Steverson had been working on the issue of two buildings currently owned by beleaguered local nonprofit H.E.R.O., which had been hoping to secure clear title to the buildings and sell them to pay down debt and improve other properties it owned, according to representatives of the organization in presentations to the council last year. The two buildings are the former Timberlake clinic and the “bunkhouse,” both located on Market Street downtown.
The council and its attorney have maintained that the agreements granting H.E.R.O. the use of the properties stipulated that the properties would revert to the ownership of the city should they cease being used for the benefit of the public.
Cook said Steverson had been working on the matter, and had recently gotten the properties appraised. Cook said the city would now need to pass either an ordinance or a resolution to reclaim control of the property. When Steverson has completed her research, Cook said, she would provide the council with the appropriate language and next steps.
Councilmembers voted to set a workshop for Monday, Jan. 27 at City Hall at 6:00 p.m. to work on several upcoming issues.
