LYMAN — Lyman won’t be required to purchase the Minkler mansion this year after all.
The Skagit County commissioners agreed to extend the town’s deadline and accept payment for the historic home in 2010.
The mansion’s previous owner, a descendant of logging pioneer Birdsey Minkler, gave the town until the end of July 2008 to close on the 1891 Victorian house. But Lyman could not come up with the full purchase price of $393,000 quickly enough. The county stepped in to purchase the mansion so Lyman could use it as its town hall.
The town was supposed to pay the county $407,737 by the end of July to take ownership of the mansion. The county commissioners voted Monday to extend Lyman’s deadline to July 29, 2010.
The county is asking Lyman to pay the full purchase price plus a fee.
“We really want them to succeed, and we don’t want to own a mansion,” County Commissioner Sharon Dillon said Thursday. “Giving them the extra time, even though (the money) would have been a good thing for our budget, seemed the prudent thing to do.”
Lyman is hoping for a $500,000 earmark in the next federal appropriations bill to cover the mansion and some renovation costs. The money was requested by U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash.
“No assurances, of course, but we’re kind of hoping that will happen,” Dillon said.
