Two bids fail to meet requirements, third deemed too low

By Kyle Troutman ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com

The Barry County Commission has 90 days to consider a path forward with the former Barry County jail property, as three submitted bids were rejected on Thursday.

Presiding Commissioner Steve Blankenship, Northern Commissioner Gary Schad and Southern Commissioner Gene Robbins opened bids at 10 a.m. Thursday. They included:

1. A $1,000 bid from Debbie Kensinger — Kensinger and her husband, Mike Kensinger, plan to open a domestic violence shelter for local women in the jail after renovations.

2. A $100,000 bid from Cody Stehlik — Stehlik aimed to use the office and storage areas for his private business, and he was unsure about the use of the jail.

3. A $75,000 bid from Donnie Stumpff — Stumpff aimed to clean up the property and possibly use the offices for his private business, also unsure of what to do with the jail property.

The bid notice required bidders to include with the sealed bid a cashier’s check or money order for at least 5% of the total bid amount or $1,000, whichever is greater, in “earnest money.” It also says the County “reserves the right to reject any or all bids and unless otherwise specified by the bidder, to accept any item in the bid.

Kensinger’s bid was the only one that met the earnest money qualification, but because the amount was $1,000, the commission deemed the bid too low and rejected it. Stehlik’s and Stumpff’s bids were also rejected, as they had not met the qualifications. 

The bid notice says in the background information that the county has established a minimum asking price for the property, and Schad said none of the three bids met the commission’s agreed minimum.

Following the bid rejections, the Kensingers pressed the commission on why their bid, which followed requirements, was denied.

“I advise you all to take the 90 days you have to go over this,” Mike Kensinger said. “When we met in October or November, you said you’d love to be able to give us the building, and something’s changed. The reason you don’t have a $100,000 bid on your desk right now is the other $99,000 we would spend to repair the building.”

“Personally, I think what you want to do is a good idea,” Robbins said. “We’re not taking $1,000 for it. We have to take care of all the county’s money. I don’t feel confident we’d be taking care of the whole county, knowing that property is worth more.”

A county-funded appraisal of the property valued it at just over $109,000, with that figure valuing the former Sheriff’s Office administration building and property. The jail property itself, the commission said, was not included in the appraisal because there is nothing with which to compare it.

“My bid was $1,000 to make a point,” Debbie Kensinger said. “We want to spend every dollar we can on the women.”

“We can’t just give the building away,” Blankenship said. “It’s the taxpayers’ money.”

Schad said even if the Kensingers’ bid was the only one, it still would have been rejected because the amount was too low for the $109,000 property.

Debbie Kensinger, who moved to Eagle Rock five years ago by way of New York and Texas, said her journey to Barry County has been fraught with abuse.

“I was molested by my sister’s drug dealer at age 10 and raped at age 14, and my mother was killed by my father with a ziptie,” she said. “Women in Barry County have been blowing up my phone, many of them anonymously, and they’re terrified. One woman wanted to be here with me for the bid opening, but she was terrified her husband would find out.

“My ex tried to kill me twice, and if not for a centrally located DV shelter giving me food and helping me to do things like get a job and even do my lashes for job interviews, I wouldn’t be here.”

Kensinger said she had a Plan A and Plan B for the jail if she had won the bid. Plan A was to use teams of volunteer contractors she already has committed to renovate the facility and form two wings, one for women with children and one for women without.

“I know it will take seven figures to renovate it,” she said. “We’d redo the electric and plumbing, and make it aesthetically pleasing.”

Plan B, she said, was to demolish the jail and build and domestic violence shelter from scratch. 

Funding for either plan, she said, is coming from private donors ready and willing to write checks. The shelter itself would be largely volunteer-staffed, with a social worker, nurse and behavioral health professional all committed to providing pro bono services.

Now, however, with her bid rejected, Kensinger said she intends to pursue other properties in Cassville to house the shelter.

Stehlik and Stumpff each said they did not see the “earnest money” requirement in the bid notice. Stehlik offered to go get a cashier’s check immediately, but because it was not included with the bid originally, the commission could not accept it.

Stehlik, who runs Cassville Sealing and Striping from his residence, said he intended to move operations to the old Sheriff’s Office administration building and utilize the shop area behind the facility.

“I had not made up my mind on the jail side,” he said. “It would depend on how costly it would be to tear the interior walls down. The plumbing and mold is not an issue. It could be warehouse space.

“My main goal was to get my business out of my house and in town.”

Stumpff said he intended to clean up the property like he did with the American Legion grounds on Highway 112, and possibly use the old administration building for offices for Stumpff’s Realty & Auction Service.

“For the jail, I was unsure,” he said. “Maybe we could do some climate-controlled storage, but it sounds like we won’t be doing anything.”

Stumpff said he will not likely bid again, and Stehlik said he still has interest in the property going forward.

The Commission is also uncertain of the path forward following the sealed bid opening and results. They agreed to consult the County attorney before moving forward. Restarting the bid process was the initial course of action the Commission expects to take, but legal advice is the priority.

Another option posed was to put the property up for auction, splitting the administrative office and shop into one sale and the jail as a separate sale.

Stumpff, no longer having an interest in the property, said he would be interested in serving as an auctioneer for such an event. An auction, he said, would not cost the County anything, as the buyer pays a 10% fee to the auctioneer.

The Commission said that option has been taken under advisement.

Stehlik also said that, should the property end up in his hands, he would be open to working with the Kensingers to realize the domestic violence shelter goal.