Local

Sale of county-owned house has bidders, Osceola commissioners divided

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — A fight is brewing in Kissimmee over a house near Lake Toho.

Osceola County bought the house in an eminent domain case several years ago for $400,000, even though, at the time, it was only worth about $250,000.

The house is located in the 800 block of Neptune Road, not far from downtown Kissimmee.

Channel 9's Ryan Hughes learned the county wants to sell the house for $53,000.

The prospective sale of the house is causing controversy in the community.

"(In) my opinion it is a waste," said Osceola County resident Amy O'Rourke.

"To spend that much money to buy a home and then sell it, it kind of doesn't make sense to me," said Osceola County resident Gabriel Gonzalez.

The house was put up for sale through a bidding process.

Some Osceola County commissioners weren't satisfied with the $53,000 bid.

Commissioner Frank Attkisson suggested that the county should toss out the bids and seek new ones.

"I do think that a different bidding process has a potential to bring in more dollars for this," said Attkisson.

The property was purchased from the Matkinson family, which has expressed a desire to buy the house back from the county. Its bid for the property was not the highest.

Those who place the highest bid aren't happy with what they perceive as politics at play.

"Everybody had a chance to submit their highest and best bid. Not after the fact analyze some things and say, "Oh yeah, I would've bid $3,000 or $4,000 more," said potential buyer Amy Leech.

Osceola County Commissioner Brandon Arrington also expressed his disdain at a meeting Monday.

"If I was in their spot, I would be pretty miffed. It just wouldn't sit well with me personally," said Arrington.

Commissioners were divided on the issue of how to deal with the house and the bidding process. They plan to discuss it further at a meeting on Monday.