SNOW HILL, Md. -- Town leaders have been told they will need to restart the selling process for the Black Eyed Susan riverboat. It means the boat will remain in Snow Hill for at least the next two or three months.
Town officials were hoping to sell the boat and have it out of town by the end of July and with an offer on the table, it seemed like a real possibility. But, it is nearing the end of August and the boat still sits idle on the Pocomoke River.
Snow Hills Town Manager Rick Pollitt said that won't be changing soon.
"We found that so many of the things we've been doing over the last several years have been pretty 'lax' as far as adhering to proper processes and proper procedures," said Pollitt. "The acquisition and now the disposition of the Black Eyed Susan being one of the prime examples."
It means to sell the boat, the town first needs to put out a request for proposal, or RFP.
"Then, we take it to the mayor and council, there's a public hearing involved, there's an ordinance with a first reading and a second reading, that whole procedure for ordinance adoption that needs to be followed," said Pollitt.
Pollitt said there are three offers on the table. He could not share who those offers were made by or for how much. The town also has to keep in mind the $400,000 loaned to them by the county to purchase the boat.
Weston Young, Worcester County's Chief Administrative Officer, said $100,000 of that could be excused because it was a grant from the state. The county is just waiting on confirmation from the state, but does have a draft written up that would account for Snow Hill needing to pay either $300,000 or $400,000 back.
The town will pay their debt back annually at just under $30,000 a year, according to Young.
"They've inherited a bit of a mess and we're here to help them work through it, but we will get paid back," said Young.
Pollitt said with all of the necessary steps, it would be nearly impossible to fast track this sale. So, the new target date for town officials is sometime in October or November.