OPD finds gas station owner

The new owner of the abandoned gas station on Main Street told the City’s code enforcement officer last week that she plans to clean up the property, rehab the dilapidated building and sell it after the former owners’ option to buy it back expires in August, Police Chief Dan Birbeck said on Friday.

The owner, Jocelyn Shelton of GFF Texas Holdings LLC, contacted Olney code enforcement officer, Cpl. Joe Logan, last week to discuss the property at 301 E. Main St., Chief Birbeck said.

“It is a management company and she was very upfront with Joe that their plan is to clean it up and put it back on the market and sell it,” Chief Birbeck said.

The City has been trying for months to contact the new owners to discuss their plans to abate huge piles of illegally dumped tires and two underground tanks after GFF Holdings surprised the Olney City Council by purchasing the derelict property at the Young County Sheriff ’s sale last December. The purchase agreement included a requirement that the seller would clean up the tires and tanks within six months of taking possession of the property.

The City has been trying to clean up the property for four years, an effort that has been stymied by state and federal environmental agencies. The City was preparing to take possession of the gas station - which had failed to sell at multiple sales – when GFF Holdings bought it for $17,000 plus $23,000 in back taxes.

The former owners, Mark and Rosa Corwin of Graham, have six months to redeem the property by repaying the sale price and paying the back taxes and a 20 percent fee, City Administrator Arpegea Pagsuberon said. The sixmonth clock began ticking in February, when the property sale was enrolled with the Young County Clerk, she said.

“She doesn’t want to sink any money into it until the title is free and clear … because she is afraid she will lose that investment,” Chief Birbeck said. “She assured (Cpl.) Logan that she had bought other properties in similar condition and had cleaned them and resold them that she knew that she was going to abate the tanks and the tires and it was just a matter of holding until she made a substantial investment.”

After speaking with the new owner, Cpl. Logan and Sgt. Dustin Hudson, who also handles code enforcement, sent GFF Holdings a certified letter giving them 30 days to respond with an abatement plan. The City Council can then decide whether to allow the buyer to wait until the sixmonth redemption window expires to start working on the abatement, Sgt. Hudson said.