By Chris OrletRecord Managing EditorA FOX2 report broadcast Thursday has irked some Warrenton officials.A “You Paid For It” segment by news anchor Elliot Davis targeted Warrenton officials for purchasing two pieces of land for $1.5 million without an appraisal or a contingency plan in case funding for the projects fell through. Bother pieces of property are still sitting vacant.Officials say that while Davis criticized the city for the land deals, he failed to mention that the state audit — brought on by a petition by local residents — gave the city an overall good rating.“That was the key element of the whole audit, the good rating,” said Mayor Jerry Dyer, who was interviewed in the piece. “But then he (Davis) is only looking to improve his ratings.”Dyer said the interview lasted 15 minutes, but the station ended up using only twenty seconds.Director of Operations Terri Thorn did not think the segment was fair either. “They failed to mention not only the good rating but the fact that two times the public was surveyed and on both occasions they overwhelmingly indicated they wanted the recreation center,” she said.Thorn said the report also failed to distinguish the Industrial Development Authority — which actually purchased the IDA property — from the city of Warrenton.“The IDA had already at that point very successfully developed the first IDA park in Truesdale so they had no reason to believe this one would be any different,” she said. “It seems this time as has happened before that only the negative part of the story gets told.”Meanwhile, the city is working to find uses for the two vacant pieces of property. Dyer said the city would like to sell the Industrial Development Authority's property in Truesdale or lure a company to the proposed industrial court, even if it meant constructing a spec building. Warrenton will end up paying $717,000 for that piece of property purchased in 2006. “But we've had zerio interest in the property, probably because there is a school next door to it and manufacturers don't want to build next to a school,” Dyer said.The second piece of property — 6.9 acres that cost $114,000 an acre — for a proposed recreation complex is also for sale. City officials have also discussed moving the municipal swimming pool there. The current pool is aging and in constant need of costly repairs, Dyer said.“One long range plan would be to move the pool out there and build a recreation complex next to it,” he said. That would require voter approval and so far voters have twice rejected the recreation complex, in 2008 and 2012. Dyer said that surveys have shown that the citizens of Warrenton want a recreation complex, but when they are asked to fund it with a sales tax increase they reject it.“We might give it a few years and run it back by the public,” he said.For more on this story read the Dec. 12 Record.Officials React to 'You Paid For It' Report