Stephens County’s Mize Road sale moves ahead, but closing and contract details remain unclear

Stephens County commissioners unanimously accepted Rupa Desai’s $306,000 bid for the surplus 36 Mize Road property in Toccoa on Aug. 11, according to WNEG Radio. The station reported that the former Casey’s Pro Tire site drew three bids and that staff recommended Desai’s high bid, with cash said to be available for a closing within three weeks. That account is reported context, however, not official minutes or an official item-result record, and it does not establish that the sale closed or that title has changed hands.

The proposed disposition matters because the county bought the 1.09-acre, building-equipped property for $450,000 in 2022 with federal American Rescue Plan Act funding and an announced plan to move crowded fleet-maintenance operations there. A completed private sale could return the site to the tax digest, as Commissioner Chuck Wright told WNEG Radio, but it would also cap a reversal in the county’s intended use of a public asset. The sale price, terms and final transfer therefore carry consequences beyond the real-estate transaction itself.

WNEG Radio reported in May 2022 that commissioners approved the $450,000 purchase from Jimmy and Kathy Keesee, including equipment, after county officials described the site as a larger, safer home for fleet work. The planned closing was conditioned on environmental and building inspections. By 2023, WNEG Radio reported that county officials had indicated the fleet-relocation plan had been abandoned. Commissioners then unanimously began the disposal process in February 2025, according to the station, and a July sale notice set a $250,000 minimum cash bid and required the successful bidder to close within 30 days unless the county agreed otherwise. The reported August acceptance followed that sequence.

County leaders’ stated positions have changed with the property’s role. In 2022, then-County Administrator Phyllis Ayers said the purchase would relieve crowding by separating fleet work from other county vehicles, while then-Chairman James Addison cited additional space and equipment. In the later sale process, County Administrator Christian Hamilton told WNEG Radio that staff recommended Desai’s high bid and had been told cash was available to close. Wright said he was pleased that the bid exceeded appraisals and could put another property back on the tax digest. Desai is identified in the report as the bidder; no public account here states her intended use.

One county action is documented directly: Jan. 13 minutes show commissioners unanimously accepted a bid for real-estate services connected to 36 Mize Road and authorized the chairman to sign associated documents. Those minutes do not identify the provider, price, service scope or signed agreement, and they do not show that services began. Separately, WNEG Radio reported the later acceptance of Desai’s purchase bid. The two actions concern the same address, but the record does not spell out whether the January services authorization was related to the reported sale or what work it covered. Neither the reported 2022 acquisition and disposal steps nor the reported August acceptance independently proves a completed deed transfer.

The next meaningful public confirmation would be a signed real-estate-services agreement, a later board action or property records showing whether Stephens County conveyed 36 Mize Road to Desai. Those documents could establish the January provider and fee, the services authorized, the closing date, the deed used and whether any conditions altered the reported $306,000 bid. Until then, residents can distinguish the documented Jan. 13 authorization from the later sale acceptance reported by WNEG Radio; implementation and the property’s final disposition remain undecided in public documentation.