PARKERSBURG – Members of the city’s Urban Renewal Authority accepted five offers for property and tabled three others during their most recent meeting.

The authority met for over an hour on May 26, following a more-than-90-minute council session.

The largest bid council accepted was $3,000 from Your Hut Inc. to purchase three URA-owned lots at Wood and Latrobe streets. According to the application from Your Hut Inc. President O.B. Epling, the plan is to consolidate and then subdivide the lots for construction of a 400-square-foot home on each site.

Councilwoman Wendy Tuck said there are already five tiny homes in District 4, which she represents and “they’re adding to the attractiveness of certain neighborhoods.”

URA Chairwoman Sharon Kuhl said she applauded Epling’s efforts to build affordable homes to rent to people who might not normally be able to afford them.

Documents included with the agenda show the city has invested approximately $8,770 in the properties, the first of which was acquired via eminent domain for $500 in 2001.

The authority approved the bid 8-0, with Councilman Mike Reynolds absent.

Unanimous approval was also given to a bid of $1,000 by Clarence A. Wires and Ruth E. Mitchell to buy 1122 Lynn St. and use the 25-by-125-foot parcel as a side yard extension. Kuhl noted the offer was for more than the $736.21 the city spent acquiring the property via tax deed.

“I think this is a first,” she said.

Also unanimously approved was a $750 offer from the 14th Avenue Gospel Mission Church to purchase an approximately 7,500-square-foot triangular lot at 1504 Edwin St.

Pastor Tim Burch said they wanted to clean it up, remove some trees and use it for vacation Bible school activities and the fall festival they put on for the community. They might eventually look to build a garage for church vehicles there.

“Whatever we would put on there, it would match the aesthetic of our building,” Burch said.

Parkersburg resident Cody Bennett questioned the price. Documents with the meeting agenda indicate the city acquired the parcel via tax deed in 2025 and invested a total of $6,810.94 in the property.

“You guys are spending so much money on these, but you’re selling them for so little,” he said.

Kuhl said the authority would not be able to get back what they’ve spent on demolishing properties.

“We’d rather see it go to something like this than continually paying somebody to mow it and take care of it,” Councilman Dave McCrady said.

The authority voted 7-1, with Councilman Roger Brown opposed, to approve the sale of 1711 Lawrence St. to neighbor Kimberly Matheny for $500, provided she builds a fence on the property within three months. Matheny proposed using the property as a yard extension for gardening and perhaps raising honeybees and chickens.

Another 7-1 vote, with Council President Andrew Borkowski opposed, approved a bid of $500 from neighbor Shawn Miller to purchase a roughly 6,000-square-foot parcel at 708 Fourth Ave.

Tuck noted a steep grade on the property and said she couldn’t see any use for it other than to expand Miller’s yard.

“I don’t see any reason for not accepting the bid,” she said.

Three other bids were tabled, two because authority members were hoping for higher offers at a future meeting.

A vote of 6-2, with Brown and Borkowski opposed, tabled Joshua Kerr’s bid of $500 to purchase a more than 2-acre parcel at 617 ½ Locust St. with no street frontage. Kerr owns a neighboring property and said in his application he wanted to clean up the site and put up a fence to keep homeless individuals out.

The city acquired the parcel via tax deed in 2025 for $1,287.59.

“I think for 2 acres of ground … I think we ought to at least be able to get our money back out of that,” McCrady said.

A 7-1 vote, with Borkowski opposed, tabled a bid of $500 from Carol Webb to acquire a roughly 6,348-square-foot parcel at 1509 Andrew St. as a yard extension. Her husband, Kenny, said they might eventually put a garage on it to serve a rental house they have.

“I would not vote for anything less than $1,500,” Kuhl said, adding the lot is “beautiful” and noting the city spent approximately $14,000 on the property, including acquiring it via eminent domain in 2010.

An offer of $500 from Steven M. Spiker to purchase 813 Dickel Ave. to use as a side yard extension was tabled 6-2, with Tuck and Borkowski opposed, someone speaking on behalf of another neighboring property owner said they had submitted a bid but not in time to get it on that meeting’s agenda.

Motions to table failed 3-5 on two other bids.

One was for $400 from Laura Eckert to purchase 1316 Oak St. and build a house on it using one of the city’s pre-approved building plans. The other was for $300 from Roger Jones II to purchase a 70-by70-foot parcel at 1309 Rayon Drive as a yard extension.

No other action was taken on either bid.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.