Senate Bill No. 94
(By Senators Helmick and Ross)
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[Introduced January 24, 1994; referred to the Committee
on Transportation.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section nineteen, article two-a,
chapter seventeen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the sale,
exchange or lease of real property by the commissioner of
highways.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section nineteen, article two-a, chapter seventeen of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2A. WEST VIRGINIA COMMISSIONER OF HIGHWAYS.
§17-2A-19. Sale, exchange, or lease of real property.
The department of highways, subject to the conditions
herein, may sell, exchange, or lease real property, or any
interest or right therein, held by the department of highways.
When the real property, or any interest or right therein, is
being held for future road purposes, it may be leased. When the
real property, or any part thereof, or any interest or righttherein, is deemed by the commissioner not necessary, or
desirable for present or presently foreseeable future state road
purposes, it may be exchanged for other real property, or any
interest or right therein, deemed by the commissioner to be
necessary or desirable for present or presently foreseeable
future state road purposes, or it may be sold. In addition the
department may exchange real property, or any part thereof, or
any interest or right therein, even though it may be necessary or
desirable for present or presently foreseeable future state road
purposes, if the exchange is made for other real property, or any
interest or right therein, in close proximity thereto which the
commissioner deems of equal or superior useful value for present
or presently foreseeable future state road purposes. In making
exchanges the department may make allowances for differences in
the value of the properties being exchanged and may move or pay
the cost of moving buildings, structures, or appurtenances in
connection with the exchange.
Every such sale of real property, or any interest or right
therein or structure thereon, shall be at public auction in the
county in which the real property, or the greater part thereof in
value, is located, and the department shall advertise, by
publication or otherwise, the time, place, and terms of such the
sale at least twenty days prior thereto. The property shall be
sold in the manner which will bring the highest and best price
therefor. The department may reject any or all bids received at
the sale. The commissioner shall keep a record, open to publicinspection, indicating the manner in which such real property, or
any interest or right therein or structure thereon, was publicly
advertised for sale, the highest bid received therefor and from
whom, the person to whom sold, and payment received therefor.
Such The record shall be kept for a period of five years and may
thereafter be destroyed.
The commissioner may transfer, sell, or otherwise dispose of
those portions of former railroad any right-of-way properties or
any interest or right therein, owned by or to be acquired by the
department of highways and those properties formerly used for
turnpike roads which the commissioner in his or her sole
discretion shall determine are not necessary or desirable for
present or presently foreseeable future state road purposes by
first offering the same to the principal abutting landowners
without following the procedure for public auction hereinbefore
set forth in this section.
The commissioner shall adopt and promulgate rules in
accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-
nine-a of this code governing and controlling the making of any
leases or sales pursuant to the provisions of this section, which
rules may provide for the giving of preferential treatment in
making leases to the persons from whom the properties or rights
or interests therein were acquired, or their heirs or assigns and
shall also provide for granting a right of first refusal to
abutting landowners at fair market value in the sale or lease of
former railroad right-of-way properties and former turnpike roadsof any real estate or any interest or right therein owned by the
department of highways.
The commissioner may insert in any deed or conveyance,
whether it involves an exchange, lease, or sale, such the
conditions as are in the public interest and have been approved
in advance by the governor.
All moneys received from the exchange, sale, or lease of
real property, or any right or interest therein, shall be paid
into the state treasury and credited to the state road fund.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, no such
property shall not be transferred, sold or otherwise disposed of
unless the commissioner finds that such the right-of-way or other
property has no significant value to the state as a hiking trail
and does not serve as a link between two or more state owned
properties, except that any such property that lies within six
hundred feet of any dwelling house may be transferred, sold or
otherwise disposed of without such a finding pursuant to the
provisions of this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to permit the
commissioner of highways to sell real estate owned by the
department of highways to adjacent property owners for a fair
market value by giving the adjacent landowner the right of first
refusal to purchase, before selling the property at public
auction.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.