Exact details haven't been finalized yet, but the auctioning off of the county-owned Blaine Manor nursing home could happen as early as Aug. 31.
"But that's real soft," said Blaine County Commission Chairman Tom Bowman. "We're not ready to pull that trigger yet."
He said one issue that may potentially delay the auction is the contention by one of the existing tenants of the nursing home that they have long-term lease for a portion of the facility.
"We need to work through that," Bowman said.
State law requires the County Commission to pass a resolution authorizing the terms and date for the sale before the auction can take place, he said.
"It will be an auction for the highest bidder," Bowman said.
On May 22, Blaine County voters gave an enthusiastic thumbs up to the county's plan to sell the Blaine Manor nursing home in Hailey and transfer the proceeds to the nonprofit Croy Canyon Ranch Foundation.
With all of the votes tallied, those in support of the plan held the day with roughly 91 percent of the vote, or a total of 1,224 affirmative votes, while those against the plan pulled in just 9 percent of the vote, or 120 votes against.
The vote, which required a simple majority to pass, was to confirm the county's decision to sell the 25-bed facility in Hailey and transfer responsibility for running a county nursing home to the private, nonprofit foundation. The sale of Blaine Manor is expected to generate somewhere in the neighborhood of $6 million.
On Thursday, Croy Canyon Ranch Foundation Executive Director Mary Jo Helmeke said the organization is in the process of completing a fundraising feasibility study for the remaining cost of building a new facility on private land the organization owns in Croy Canyon, west of Hailey. That study will likely be wrapped up by August, Helmeke said.
As far as the design of the new privately run facility goes, that hasn't been finalized yet, she said.
Once the design is formalized, which should happen this fall, the foundation will begin putting together a development application to submit to the county, she said.
"We won't be ready to do that until the end of the year," Helmeke said.
