Big bidders stay quiet at auction of Lincoln land

Monday, Oct. 15, 2001 | 8:56 a.m.

Lincoln County commissioners were bitterly disappointed by a lack of bids for nearly all of the 6,500 acres of county land up for auction Friday, but they promised that the process isn't over -- and the land will eventually sell.

Commissioner Paul Donohue and Commission Chairman Dan Frehner waited in vain as a federal auctioneer tried to provoke a bid for the Bureau of Land Management property. The sale was held Friday in the Mesquite City Hall.

While developers attended the auction, they mostly attended to see who would bid -- not to put in their own.

The minimum bid for the largest parcel of 4,357 acres was $2.8 million. The minimum price for 2,009 acres was $755,000.

Earlier in the day, developer Ence of Santa Clara, Utah, bid $110,000 for 112 acres, the only land sold. The minimum bid was $95,000 for that parcel.

Developers at the auction said too many unresolved questions and requirements that the builder supply schools, police stations and other infrastructure made the larger pieces an untenable buy.

Alan Green, chief executive officer at WSR Inc., the company that is developing the 3,000-acre Mesquite Vistas project of homes and resorts, said the investment required by a successful bidder -- above and beyond the cost of the land -- would be "tremendous."

But other issues also presented stumbling blocks. The unresolved questions included a trio of formal appeals from environmental groups that sought to stop the auction. The groups had argued that the BLM failed to conduct adequate environmental reviews, a point the BLM disputed.

The administrative review process for the appeals could last a year or more and nullify any sale -- including the one successful bid.

BLM officials at the auction said they are unlikely to go forward with another auction attempt until the appeals are ruled on by the Interior Board of Land Use Appeals, the federal agency that must make an administrative decision.

The groups and individuals could then take the appeal to federal court, further lengthening the process.

Frehner and Donohue, from Lincoln County, said the environmentalists' appeals derailed the sale.

"The process of free government is being curtailed by a minority," a clearly frustrated Frehner said. "The enviros."

Frehner and other elected leaders in Lincoln County had lobbied for the federal law that made the land sale possible -- the Lincoln County Land Act of 2000. The sale would have sparked development and generated property taxes that the county, which has fewer than 5,000 people, desperately needs, they argued.

Advocates said development of the land could boost the county's population well over 50,000.

But some locals and environmentalists had publicly worried about the lack of specifics on where and how water would be supplied to the new residents who advocates hoped would move to the land.

Locals, including ranchers, feared the water would cut into the springs and wells that they need for their livelihoods. Some had signed onto the appeals, and about 80 county residents signed a petition opposing the sale.

The commissioners at the auction said those opposed to the sale represented a small minority of the county's population. Most people support it, they said.

But outsiders also opposed the sale. Some in Mesquite wanted to know more about how the new development would pay for services such as public safety, libraries and other needs. The development would be just north of the Clark County city.

And environmentalists worry that water drawn from Lincoln County could have a negative impact on surface water that species, including some rare ones, need.

Donohue said the process isn't over. He said the county will look again at environmental issues, if necessary, but also do a better job of explaining the benefits to the citizens of Lincoln County.

"We need to focus on the positives, the benefit to business that have an opportunity to grow, to the schools, to everybody in the county," he said. "We didn't say, 'Look at this wonderful opportunity.' "

The benefit to growth in the land set aside -- a chunk in the far southeastern corner of the county, miles from any existing Lincoln County town or city -- is that it would not negatively affect the lifestyles of the people already living in the county, Donohue said.

"You can have all this growth and not bother people in the north of the county," he said.

The delays caused by the appeal give the county leadership time to sell the idea of the land sale, Donohue said.

"We're going to roll up our sleeves and go to work."

Frehner and Donohue said turning over the federal land to private owners is critically important for Lincoln County, which is 98 percent owned by the government. The county recently has had to turn to the state to help fund school construction and other infrastructure needs.

Donohue said that is galling for the people of the county.

"We are a fiercely independent group," he said. "We're going to take care of our own."