LISBON - A recent conviction in a drug case may have an impact on how much property is acquired for the Baard Energy project and in the process save the Columbiana County Port Authority more than $1 million.
At the center of the story is Peter S. Barta II, 37, who was sentenced recently to four-and-a-half years in prison after pleading guilty to several drug charges, including running a meth lab at his property on Sixteen School Road in Yellow Creek Township.
Barta's 146 acres are part of the 522 acres the port authority is seeking to acquire on behalf of Baard Energy, which wants to build a $6 billion coal-to-liquid fuel plant on the property located outside Wellsville. Baard Energy then would enter into a lease/purchase agreement with the port authority.
The port authority had an option to Barta's property for $1.45 million, but his 2009 indictment and eventual conviction changed all of that. First, the indictment obtained by the county prosecutor's office included a specification seeking forfeiture of his 146 acres since the land was used in committing the alleged drug offense.
In forfeiture cases the property is sold, with the proceeds divided among the prosecutor's office and the other law enforcement agencies involved in the defendant's arrest.
Before the case was resolved, however, Huntington National Bank filed a foreclosure action last September against Barta's property, with a foreclosure judgment obtained on Jan. 15 in the amount of $186,068, plus interest. A date for the sheriff's sale has yet to be scheduled.
Meanwhile, the forfeiture order was obtained eventually following Barta's guilty plea and sentencing, but Assistant County Prosecutor Ryan Weikart said the bank holds the first lien, which means the prosecutor's office and law enforcement agencies receive money only if the sheriff's sale generates a winning bid in excess of what is owed the bank.
Port authority attorney Tim Brookes said the option they had to purchase the Barta property expired Dec. 31, which means they now would have to acquire the land by being the successful bidder at the sheriff's sale.
Brookes said because of everything that has happened, Baard Energy may no longer be interested in Barta's property, which accounts for about 30 percent of the land being sought for the project by the port authority.
"We don't know if Baard wants it at this point. It's not essential to the plan," he said. Baard Energy has indicated it could get by with the remaining 376 acres because Barta's property was to serve primarily as a buffer.
Because of the change in circumstances, the port authority might be able to purchase the land for considerably less than the original $1.45 million sale price.
"If it weren't for the coming of Baard that property wouldn't be worth $750 an acre," Brookes said, adding they don't intend to pay that kind of money for the property now.
The state awarded the port authority a $4.5 million grant to purchase the property from Barta and the 16 other landowners. The port authority has spent close to $1 million to secure the original purchase options, which had to be extended twice because of Baard Energy's difficulty in lining up private financing for the project.
