The Greensboro City Council voted last night to buy the the Canada Dry and Coliseum Inn properties, with council members Mike Barber, Trudy Wade and Mary Rakestraw voting against, with Mayor Yvonne Johnson absent.

A couple of things: Only one Greensboro resident — the old guy who (bless his heart) speaks out against every incentives deal at public hearings —- spoke out against the purchase.

Exactly how the city was going to pay for the property became an issue. Wade said she’d never seen anything in writing about financing the purchase, while proponents — most vocally Dianne Bellamy-Small — noted that city staff had studied purchase of the property carefully and had presented the council with several options.

That said, City Manager Mitchell Johnson floated two ideas: Economic development bonds and a financing deal where the city would pay interest only for four years until the Bryan Foundation pays the city for the former downtown library that now houses the Elon University law school.

Wade asked an interesting question: How could the city be sure the Bryan Foundation would pay up? Johnson said he was confident in the foundation’s financial security, but she’d really have to ask Jim Melvin that question.