Mount Airy approves purchase of GreenTree parcel and adopts municipal bond for police station

Mount Airy’s town council voted on April 7 to buy a portion of the GreenTree development and to adopt a municipal bond ordinance to fund a new police station.

The council approved a purchase-and-sale agreement for the parcel at a purchase price of $975,000 and subsequently adopted Ordinance 2025-2, a municipal bond issuance that will underwrite the land acquisition and the station’s design, engineering and construction. The purchase price is below a cited appraisal of about $1.3 million.

Council President Waseca moved to approve the purchase-and-sale agreement and the motion carried after public comment and discussion. The agreement calls for a staged payment schedule: a deposit of $97,500, a closing payment (listed in the agreement materials as $252,500) at closing, and a post-closing balloon payment of $625,000 after the developer completes grading and delivers a prepared pad site with a utility stub. Closing was noted in the agreement documents as scheduled for Jan. 15, 2026; the developer’s post‑closing work, including final pad completion, was expected roughly a year later, approximately January 2027.

Mayor Hoshower and other council members said the site selection and the staged payment schedule reduced immediate capital needs and delivered a graded pad site as part of the purchase, which the town will receive at no additional cost when the developer completes their work. Supporters said the GreenTree location provides multiple access routes to other parts of town and allows the town to proceed without further delay.

Several residents spoke during the public input portion. Lee Hagood (18xx South Main Street) said the GreenTree location felt like a surprise because he had expected a more central site, and asked the council to consider response-time implications. Frank Potipin, the Greentree property owner, told the council the station would be an administrative facility rather than a detention center and noted the developer still needed approvals from the town and the county to proceed with the overall GreenTree project. A resident identified only as Mr. Swanson said he had discussed logistics with the police chief and was reassured that patrol deployment — not station location — drives response times.

After public input the council voted to approve the purchase-and-sale agreement and later adopted Ordinance 2025-2 authorizing the municipal bond issuance to fund the project. Both votes passed by voice vote; no roll-call tallies were recorded in the minutes for those items.

The council directed staff to prepare more detailed project planning milestones, including a schedule for design and construction phases, so the public will have a timeline for the station’s delivery.

What’s next: the purchase agreement was executed following council approval; the bond ordinance was adopted. The council and staff plan to develop a project plan that lays out design procurement, estimated construction start, and milestones for public updates.