Priest Lake cabin sites auctioned

COEUR d'ALENE - There was a lot of celebrating - some kissing and hugging and a few tears of joy - during the Priest Lake cabin site auction on Thursday at The Coeur d'Alene Resort. There was even more relief, however.

Nearly all of the people who were leasing 60 state endowment-owned lakefront cabin sites won in the bidding. For the most part they paid the starting bid price and faced little in the way of other competition. One current lessee opted not to bid.

Approximately 500 people came to the auction, with the sites auctioned off during four sessions throughout the day.

Only two of the sites had more than one bidder pursuing them. One went unsold after receiving no bids.

The state Board of Land Commissioners voted in 2010 to divest the state's ownership in the lots, and reinvest the proceeds into assets that produce higher returns for public schools. More than $26 million was raised Thursday for the public school endowment.

Lessees have been renting the properties while owning the cabins and improvements on the land.

"I'm obviously pleased that it's finally over," said Tom Wielgos, who has been leasing a place on Woody's Point Road for years. "I'm willing to pay for that pleasure, to put the state in the rear-view mirror."

The land at his cabin site was appraised at $470,000 and the house and personal property he already owns was valued at $1.67 million, according to the Idaho Department of Lands.

Wielgos and his wife, Vicki, have been leasing the property since 1989 and moved there full-time in 2001.

"We've been full-timers for quite a few years," Vicki Wielgos said.

The bidding at the auction was for the land only.

If someone other than the individual who currently leases the land was the successful high bidder, that person would have had to pay the lessee for the value of their cabin and other property improvements.

The state paid for private, third-party appraisals to value the lands. Corbett Bottles Real Estate Auctions did the auctioning for the state.

Judy Nail and Nancy Bettesworth, sisters, are two other lessees who ended up winning and now will own the land their cabin sits on along Rocky Point Road. Their land is valued at $465,000, with $145,000 in personal property.

"We've had this cabin for 55 years," Nail said. "Our dad built it all. He did everything."

She said the whole process has been stressful.

"It was originally a 99-year lease, and then all of the sudden that was changed" multiple times to shorter terms, Bettesworth said.

And then in order to continue leasing the land they had to have a "conflict auction so somebody gets to bid against you for the lease," Bettesworth said.

Then there was to be a land exchange, she said. In 2013, the Land Board didn't approve multiple land exchange proposals that would have traded cabin site lots for property in other parts of Idaho.

"And then the week before - no land exchange," Bettesworth said.

Ultimately, it led to Thursday's land auction.

"None of us have slept," Bettesworth said.

Scott Naccarato, after securing the land his cabin sits on, said he was determined to keep the place in the family for the younger generation.

"This has been a tough process, dealing with the state and all of the things they've done to make it more difficult to get this thing done," Naccarato said. "It's really been trying for everybody."

He has been leasing a lot on Clambake Road for five years. The appraisal valued the lot at $315,000. His cabin and personal property are valued at $410,000.

Nobody bid for his property.

"It only takes one guy to come in and really make your life miserable," Naccarato said.

The state has said the move to private ownership will expand the tax base for Bonner County.

It said privatization of the lots also would incentivize owners to make more investments, such as upgrades to cabins and roads, and improve management of common areas.

The Department of Lands is expected to recommend at least one auction cycle for Priest Lake lots in 2015, with the Land Board's approval.

Patrick Hodges, the department's deputy director of lands and waterways, congratulated those who won their auctions and wished them the best in the future.

"As far as the frustration with the process, I think in the end we got to a good place," Hodges said.