$200,000 stock donation

By BETH LAKEY

Staff Writer

Dec. 27, 2000 10 PM

The city of Troy is the recipient of a $200,000 anonymous donation of stock which city council members and the mayor are expecting to use to make a land purchase near Bicentennial Park.

Members of the Troy City Council met briefly Wednesday morning to take care of some items of business.

All three resolutions adopted dealt with common stock being donated to the city from an anonymous source.

The stock, which is worth an estimated $200,000, is being held in trust at the firm of Sterne, Agee and Leach Inc.

Troy City Clerk Alton Starling said the amount can only be estimated because he does not know the exact number of stock shares the transfer involves.

During the meeting, the council transferred the common stock to a local company and voted to sell it at market value. The city will then establish an investment account

and invest the proceeds from the sale in investments authorized by municipalities until it is needed for the purchase of real property.

With the money, the city is planning to purchase 2.61 acres between Park Street, Corman Avenue and the service road. Purchase of the property is not to exceed $200,000.

Mayor Jimmy Lunsford said the purchase has not been made, but that he hopes the money will allow the city to buy the property for development and beautification.

Lunsford said further details are pending the purchase and determination of how much money will be available to beautify the area as a city park, which he hopes will include a family picnic area.

"We have not made the deal yet and we don’t know for sure what we will be able to do with the funds," Lunsford said. "We certainly appreciate the generous and kind donation and feel that we can use it to enhance the city of Troy."

The Wednesday morning meeting was the continuation of the meeting scheduled for Tuesday. A quorum was not present Tuesday evening and the meeting was adjourned until Wednesday morning.