Glitch will not impact sale of Downtown Centre

A technical glitch should not delay the county’s sale of the Downtown Centre to the Johnson City Development Authority, according to Mayor Dan Eldridge.
“The attorney is preparing closing documents as we speak,” Eldridge told members of the Budget Committee during their Nov. 16 meeting.
Washington County Commissioner David Tomita, also a JCDA board member, mentioned the glitch during the monthly meeting of the county’s General Health and Welfare Committee.
“The JCDA was created 20 years ago through a public act. At that time, JCDA was supposed to register with the state,” Tomita said. “It either wasn’t done, or the state has lost it.”
Tomita said Eastman Credit Union would not issue the financing check to buy the Downtown Centre until the issue was cleared up.
“The JCDA lawyers say since it was created through a public act, the registration wasn’t necessary,” he said. “We should know more after (the JCDA’s next) meeting.”
Following the Nov. 11 meeting of the JCDA, Tomita said it looked like the issue was being taken care of.
“Eastman (Credit Union) needs a legal opinion that it’s okay to close,” he said. “We’re not waiting on anything from the state. It will likely still be sold by the end of the year.”