FREWSBURG — A proposal to construct two apartment buildings in Frewsburg was discussed during a public hearing this week by the Carroll Town Board.

The proposal is for John Diethrick of Diamond Builders to purchase the town property located at 233 N. Pearl St., Frewsburg, for the construction of the two, eight-unit apartment buildings.

Prior to public comment, Russell Payne, town supervisor, read a letter from the town attorney, Paul Webb, about the sale of the property, which is in the closing process.

Webb states in his letter that a legal notice was published in the newspaper announcing the sale of the property to Diethrick and because no resident petitioned for a permissive referendum within 30 days, the town is allowed to sell the land.

“There is no requirement that the town conduct an auction and/or utilize open/closed bids on the sale of real property,” he states.

Webb states the sale to Diethrick was pursuant to a board resolution and adopted subject to the permissive referendum.

“Any complaints regarding the sale of the property in question to Mr. Diethrick were improper and do not do not appear to have any merit,” he states.

However, during the public hearing, several town residents shared their displeasure that a for sale sign was never placed at the property. Also, that even though the town didn’t have to go out to bid, one person attending the hearing questioned why the board wouldn’t in order to get the highest bid. Another resident questioned why the town is only selling the property for $5,000 when the Chautauqua County GIS system shows that the assessed value of the property is $9,000.

Payne told The Post-Journal on Thursday the town didn’t go out to bid because it wasn’t required.

“We don’t have to do that. The town decided on the figure advertised and someone met the parameters,” he said. “There was some misunderstanding about how we don’t have to go out to bid. We tried to do our best to explain that.”

Payne said the site plan for the proposed apartments still needs to be approved by the board. He said once everything is finalized, Diethrick would like to break ground on the construction in the spring.

“There is a need for it in the town of Carroll,” Payne said.

Diethrick said the ideal tenant for the new apartments would be “empty nesters” and semi-retired people. He also said the housing will not be government subsidized. He added that the development, once it is completed, will add $500,000 to the town’s tax roll.

“I believe this project is going to have a real positive influence on the neighborhood,” he said.

In other business, the town board accepted the resignation of Patty Ekstrom from the town board. The board approved Timothy Burkett to finish the rest of the year left on the original term. Payne said Burkett plans to run for the position in the fall.