Questions remain on auctioned property

WATAUGA COUNTY, N.C.,None — An intrigued crowd gathered Wednesday at Heavenly Mountain, curious about the fate of the stunning 381-acre tract best known for its prior association with transcendental meditation.

That afternoon, Marvin Sault, the winning bidder at $10.5 million, hinted at his intentions.

Sault, who said he was purchasing the land on behalf of One in Christ Church, the Ohio International Alliance Missions Trust and Norwalk Bible College, said the organization planned to start a college campus there by the end of the year, with students to attend next fall.

As Sault has begun to further explain his plans in the four days since, the questions have multiplied instead of diminished.

Now, the community is still wondering: Who exactly is this buyer, and what will this sale mean for the community?

THE BUYER

By all accounts, Sault has been a busy man for the last several years, registering several nonprofits and trusts in Ohio.

"One in Christ Church, an Ohio Corporation" registered as a nonprofit with the Ohio Secretary of State on Jan. 3, 2007, indicating that it was a Christian church intent to "Reclaim the faith once delivered" and provide a spiritual home for evangelical churches and pastors.

Sault and Michael Norman Laperche were listed as agents of the organization, which listed an address in Alliance, Ohio, and is still considered active by the state. Laperche could not be reached by press time Saturday.

Two days later, the same two trustees reported the Ohio International Alliance Missions Trust as active in Alliance, Ohio, noting that it began engaging in business Dec. 11, 2006.

Norwalk Bible College also filed in Ohio as a nonprofit corporation in April 2004, with Sault, Madge Mark and Raymond Joseph Mark as directors.

The college's articles of incorporation were cancelled in 2009 for failure to submit a statement of continued existence but were reinstated in March of this year.

Sault is also listed as a trustee of the E. S. Spiritual Trust, which began operating in Ohio in July 2007, according to Ohio Secretary of State documents.

The organization is still listed as active in Wintersville, Ohio, and also lists as trustees Madge Helena Mark, Raymond Joseph Mark, Raymond Joseph Mark II and Janet Fowler Mark.

A fifth Ohio corporation called River Ridge Gravel Company, Inc., filed for incorporation as a nonprofit March 3, 2011. The purpose of the organization, located in Doylestown, was "to globally educate energy environmental research resources thru geology, eduphilos and theology."

The listed directors include "Doctor Marvin Sault, M.D.," "Doctor Richard Leseman, M.D." and "Doctor Raymond Joseph Mark, W.F."

THE COMMUNITY

For Boone area residents, what those organizations might do in the future is as important as what they've done in the past.

While a large portion of the Heavenly Mountain parcel is unoccupied buildings, it also includes 17 apartment buildings with 418 total units.

Holton Mountain Rentals manages the active apartments, and Rob Holton said Wednesday that the purchaser is required by law to honor the leases, most of which expire at the end of July 2012.

After that, the owner can decide whether to continue managing the properties through Holton Mountain Rentals or to go another route, Holton said. Sault said Thursday he did not plan to tear down existing structures on the property.

Holton said his office sent information to tenants before the auction and received some questions."They just want to know who's going to be taking care of them," he said.

It is also unclear how Sault and the new organization would be received by the group of transcendental meditation practitioners who still live in the area.

Transcendental meditation, founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, is based on ancient Indian traditions that practitioners believe allow them to transcend thought and improve mind and body.

Heavenly Mountain developers David and Earl Kaplan originally intended the development to be the Spiritual Center of America, a hub for TM practitioners. Although the Kaplans later disavowed TM, some practitioners remained in the community.

Websites describing transcendental meditation emphasize that it is not a religion, philosophy or a lifestyle.

Sault said Thursday that he walked around the auction tent praying before the sale and continued to pray as he sat down.

"What I felt was that, in fact, our prayer teams had claimed the campus back for Jesus," Sault said.He said that his family had been heavily involved in the Salvation Army and had seen facilities such as bars be "reclaimed for God" and used for religious purposes.

Even county residents who don't live near Heavenly Mountain are affected by its sale.

The 36 parcels have a tax value of more than $18.2 million, and the 2011 taxes would amount to $65,700, according to calculations by Chartwell Group Commercial Real Estate, which auctioned the land.

Federal and state law allows certain types of registered nonprofit organizations, such as those with religious, educational or charitable purposes, to qualify as tax-exempt.

"Trusts can qualify, but they have to overcome a few more steps," tax administrator Kelvin Byrd said.Byrd said it's too early to tell whether the buyer could qualify as tax-exempt, as the appropriate paperwork has not yet been filed with the Watauga County Register of Deeds.

In 2003, Watauga County was allowed to keep more than $1 million in property taxes paid by the organizers of the Spiritual Center of America after a case in the N.C. Supreme Court denied the center tax-exempt status as an educational institution.

THE PROCESS

None of the lingering questions will matter if the sale does not become final in October, although representatives of the auction company have repeatedly expressed confidence in the buyer and the impending sale.

Jason Dolph, senior vice president of Chartwell Group Commercial Real Estate Brokers, said their auctions are rarely unsuccessful.

If the transfer does fall through, they would talk with other bidders who attended the auction and possibly reach a contract on a negotiated basis, he said. A second auction could occur.

"In the unlikely event that this does fall through, at that point, it will be up to the sellers to determine how they would like to offer the property," Dolph said.

WSOC