Walmart jail plan thwarted

Flathead County’s tentative deal to buy the former Walmart building and property has fallen through because the owner has received a higher offer for the former box store and 14-acre site in Evergreen.

The county offered to buy the Walmart facility and acreage for $2.8 million for possible use as a future expansion of the county jail.

County Administrator Mike Pence sent a memo to the commissioners and other county officials on Wednesday saying David Girardo, the county’s real estate agent for the Walmart property negotiations, contacted him Friday to say the property owner “received another offer on the property that’s being considered.

“So at this point, our offer is not being considered and negotiations on the buy/sell agreement we were working on have ceased,” Pence said. “We feel this property had real merit for consideration to address the needs of the Sheriff’s Office and Detention Center.”

Pence told the Daily Inter Lake the other offer is for a higher dollar amount.

“How much I don’t know,” he said. “If that deal didn’t work I’d assume we’d still [be interested in negotiating.] We had a signed letter of intent, which included the price agreement, and we were working on the buy-sell.”

The owner of the building, RIC Kalispell Trust of Brooklyn, New York, confirmed the county’s tentative agreement and price in July. Since then the county has been working out the legal steps and contingencies. One of the main contingencies of the county going through with the purchase was the feasibility of using the property for county purposes.

Other than spraying the weeds on the store property, the county has not spent any money on the potential purchase, Pence said.

Applied Water Consulting in Kalispell had been retained to conduct an environmental study for an estimated cost of $17,000, and Integrus Architecture of Spokane was retained to conduct a $20,000 architectural study of the Walmart building. An updated appraisal also was planned, but that hadn’t been done yet.

The Walmart building was constructed in 1995 and Walmart is paying a lease on the facility through the end of this year.

Overcrowding at the county jail has been an ongoing concern. Last year the commissioners created a funding mechanism to begin setting aside money for a jail expansion.

The county is reclaiming mills not levied from past years and earmarking the new tax revenue for a jail expansion. The additional tax money, to be levied over seven years, is expected to generate close to $10 million.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.