The house at 302 West Main Street in Washington may be purchased by the county. The board of supervisors approved an offer on the property Tuesday. Photo by Sally Y. Hart

A house across from the Washington County Courthouse may become a parking lot. At Tuesday’s meeting the board of supervisors voted 4-1 to purchase the two-story white house at 302 West Main Street for $50,000. The board directed staff to move forward with the purchase. Auditor Dan Widmer explained the offer came from the Goff family who owns the building and they offered to sell the property to the county for $50,000. The assessed value was just under $80,000.

Supervisor Abe Miller explained his lone vote against the motion, “We’ve also talked about tearing down the old jail and making a parking lot out of that. There’s actually more room there, than there is at the other real estate we’re looking at. That was my only concern, is if we’re going to tear that down then we ought to see what we have for parking.” He says his concerns are the board’s planning.

Supervisor Jack Seward added that if they decide to tear down the current communications and former jail building, that the lot would be a good place to construct a new building, rather than turn it into a parking lot. Chairman Richard Young added they’re waiting to hear back from consultants regarding regulations for communications towers, as there are regulations in regards to the proximity to the airport.