Town will stick to original payments for BRT building

The Sparta Town Council last week agreed by consensus to leave its payment schedule for helping purchase the former Bassett-Walker building unchanged, despite a request from the county to speed up the payment plan.

Alleghany County became the owner of the building last month, closing an agreement with Sparta Leasing Company, the former owner. The building is to be used as the site of the Blue Ridge Telecenter (BRT). The town had previously agreed to contribute half of the $250,000 purchase price by making four annual installments of $31,250 each.

The purchase arrangement was re-negotiated after an oil leak was found on the property. Officials expect a state trust fund to pay for the majority of the cleanup. County Manager Don Adams asked Sara Brown, president of Sparta Leasing, to hold $40,000 in escrow to cover the property owner's deductible portion of the cleanup. Brown in turn asked for a change in the payment schedule. Accordingly, the county will now make the payments in three years instead of four.

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