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County sets date for poor farm auction
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By ELISA SAND, Staff Reporter
| 03/05/2008 |
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A plat, outlining the official tracts of county poor farm land that will be for sale, was approved by Lake County Commissioners on Tuesday.
The plat includes two separate lots that will be sold at public auction on March 25 at 1 p.m. in the Lake County Commission meeting room.
The land sale is the result of a request from Sioux Falls developer Ted Thoms, who has taken over development of Sunset Harbor. He approached commissioners in November about purchasing a 200-foot-wide strip of property along the north edge of the county poor farm land.
The additional property, he said, would allow for the addition of a second road into the Sunset Harbor development and give the development additional property to add the amenities he has planned.
Since his original request, however, the section of land in question has been widened from 200 feet to 300 feet wide on the west end, with the lot narrowing to 200 feet wide on the east end.
Also included in the sale is a second triangle-shaped tract of land that abuts a private homeowner's property. The homeowner had approached commissioners in 2007 about purchasing additional property for their lot, but commissioners denied the request.
When Thoms asked commissioners about additional property for Sunset Harbor, he initially expressed an interest in acquiring property for the private homeowner as well. In the end, commissioners decided to sell two separate tracts of land.
The property in question is part of a 156-acre parcel of land that has been owned by the county since 1893. The property was initially used for the purpose of creating a place for the indigent in Lake County. Today, however, a portion of the property is rented and cultivated as farmland and another portion is used as the county gravel pit.
The property being sold is adjacent to the county gravel pit, but has already been mined.
In order to sell the property, commissioners had to first declare the property as surplus, which was done in January.
Commissioners had the choice of selling the property through a sealed bid process, by public auction or through a Realtor. Commissioners opted for a public auction.
Commission Chair Bert Verhey said the only unfinished aspect of the sale is to get an appraisal on the land that will be sold.
But, the need for an appraisal doesn't hold up the process. The sale of the property will now be advertised, thus making it available for purchase by Thoms or any other interested party.
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©Madison Daily Leader 2009
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