From Staff Reports

FARMVILLE — The Town of Farmville is seeking to sell Mottley Lake for $1.25 million.

The town council will hold a public hearing on the proposed sale on Monday, Jan. 25, at noon in the council chambers on the second floor of the town hall, located at 116 N. Main Street.

The Prospect lake was purchased about  seven years ago as an emergency backup water supply for times of severe drought, and includes 147 acres of land.

In May, the town council voted to advertise for sealed bids for the lake and property with intentions to retain rights to the water in the lake.

“The seller reserves exclusive water rights to release water during extreme periods of drought,” the ad read.

The town purchased the property and lake for $1.67 million.

In May, Town Manager Gerald Spates told The Herald that the land’s value had decreased since the town took ownership because rental trailers had been removed and Luck Stone was planning to operate a quarry on adjacent property.

In addition to the lake, the property’s acreage includes one house, one cabin and seventeen mobile home hook-ups, with water, sewer and electricity for each, along with various out buildings and a maintenance shop.

In making the recommendation last May, J.J. “Jamie” Davis, the council’s finance committee chair, said, “We feel like we can actually sell this property and still maintain the rights to the water, which is very important.”

“We feel like there’s quite a few people who would understand the importance of that, that the town needs to retain the authority and ability to release that water into the Appomattox River in a drought scenario,” he said.