Two women have offered to buy old City Hall for $25,000.

The offer by Laura Darre and Kathryn Pisciotta, doing business as Snug Harbor Team, was presented to the Washington City Council during its meeting Monday night.

Upon receiving the offer, the council adopted a resolution authorizing the advertisement of the offer. The advertisement is part of the upset-bid process the city is using to sell the property at 126 N. Market St.

Under that process, once a bid from a prospective buyer is accepted and advertised, another prospective buyer has 10 days to offer a higher bid for the property. If a higher bid is not received in that 10-day period, the property will be sold to the entity making the initial bid. If a higher bid is received from another bidder, a new 10-day clock begins. The entity making the highest bid that is not upset within 10 days gets the property.

Trent Tetterton, working with the Washington Harbor District Alliance, announced the offer. At its June 13 meeting, the council authorized WHDA to solicit offers to purchase old City Hall. Tetterton is overseeing the effort.

“I will say, Trent, for the record – I have told you this privately – we really appreciate you and the (Washington) Harbor District Alliance taking a role in this. I feel like we’ve realized an outstanding outcome. We appreciate that,” Mayor Archie Jennings said to Tetterton.

There are some provisions regarding the sale.

In June during a council meeting, Tetterton and City Attorney Franz Holscher discussed those conditions.

When the city took sole possession of old City Hall from Beaufort County several years ago, there were some provisions in that takeover agreement concerning any future sale of the building. Tetterton said it’s his understanding that if the building sells for more than $60,000, that anything in excess of $60,000 would be equally divided between the city and county.

Holscher said if an offer to buy the building is less than $60,000, the county must give its permission before it can be sold for less than $60,000. He also said if the building sells for more than $60,000, the city gets credit for “any expenses that we have spent on old City Hall that were not funded by grant dollars.”

For additional coverage of the council’s meeting, see future editions of the Washington Daily News.