The Clatsop County Board of Commissioners approved the sale of the Carlyle Apartment Complex to a Seaside attorney Wednesday night.

The commissioners voted unanimously to accept a lease/purchase offer of $825,000 for the 25-unit Seaside complex from Donn Bauske. The deal will keep the facility operating as rental housing.

County Counsel Blair Henningsgaard told the commissioners he thinks they’re “seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for the Carlyle Apartments.”

“I just hope it’s not the train engine coming right at us,” he said.

In the history of county & Carlyle very few things have gone as planned, he said later, explaining his comment.

If everything does go as planned, under the deal, Bauske will lease the property for two years for a $25,000 down payment and $5,000 a month, plus pay all taxes, insurance and maintenance costs. At the end of the two years, he’ll have the option to purchase the site – with monthly payments of $5,000 a month for three years, rising to $10,000 a month for the next five years, at a yearly interest rate of 5.79 percent – or not.

Bauske is required to maintain the premises in habitable condition and cannot evict existing tenants except for cause.

Originally built as a nursing home in the 1960s, and converted to apartments in the 1990s, the Carlyle Apartment Complex came into county possession after the discovery of a reversionary clause in the original deed.

This clause stated that the land would revert to the county’s ownership if the property, which had been deeded to the city of Seaside in 1961, was not used for the development of local streets. Instead the city sold the land to a private party who built the nursing home.

In 1993, Jesse Autry Ehler purchased the property and converted it into apartments. After the county discovered the reversionary clause in 2004, it went to court to press its claim. In 2006, a judge awarded the county possession, provided that it pay Ehler $832,183 for the value of the structure.

Appeals by Ehler delayed the transfer until June 2009, when the county made the required payment and officially took ownership.

Then the county seemed stuck with the property.

In January 2007, the county signed a deal with the Clatsop County Housing Authority to purchase the facility, but the agency later withdrew from the deal.

The county held a public auction. The former owner, Ehler, was the only bidder. He offered an insufficient bid of $755,000 and the auction closed four minutes after it had opened.

Earlier this year, the board of commissioners gave the go-ahead to a plan to relocate the remaining tenants and have the facility torn down in an effort to make the property more marketable. Then Bauske submitted an offer.

Since taking ownership last year the county has kept the apartments in operation, hiring Income Property Management to handle day-to-day management and perform minor repairs.

The county’s agreement with Bauske is part of the Dec.15 meeting agenda packet and can be downloaded from the county website at www.co.clatsop.or.us/minutes.asp?deptid=6

Wednesday marked the last official meeting for three of the five county commissioners.

Chairman Jeff Hazen, Vice Chairman John Raichl and Commissioner Robert Mushen will be replaced by commissioners-elect Scott Lee, Peter Huhtala, and Debra Birkby, respectively, in January.

In the May 18 primary election, Lee beat Hazen in the District 1 race with 1,143 votes to Hazen’s 796. In District 3, Huhtala had 1,151 votes, Raichl 950. In District 5, Birkby had 1,048 votes and Mushen had 640.

“I enjoyed serving with you on this board,” said Raichl, who complimented the county staff on their hard work.

Mushen told the board he intends to continue to serve the community. He will be a member of the Health Services Advisory Committee and serve on the Clatsop Community Action board.

The departing commissioners were presented with plaques of appreciation by Commissioner Patricia Roberts. During this time, Hazen told the commissioners and county staff that it had been a pleasure to work with them.

He also gave a nod to former commissioners Richard Lee (who was present at the meeting) and Ann Samuelson. Lee and Samuelson were recalled in 2009. Hazen was targeted for recall, but retained his District 1 seat.

In her comments before giving Hazen the plaque, Roberts mentioned this.

“Yeah and you didn’t get recalled,” she said and laughed. “(We) have to have some fun because we put up with an awful lot,” she explained. She hoped the new commissioners were ready for it, she said.

In their last acts as commissioners, Hazen, Raichl and Mushen were part of unanimous votes to approve: the legalization of Simonsen Road; the formation of a Household Hazardous Waste Committee and the appointment of members to that committee.