Pulaski County opens 90-day offering period for industrial-park tract; no bids at opening

Pulaski County officials on Monday began a statutorily required 90-day offering period for a parcel in the county industrial park, the meeting chair said, and no bids were submitted at the opening.

The chair told attendees the process means the county must hold the advertised price during the 90 days. “Now today starts a 90 day period,” the chair said. “And during this 90 day period, we can only continue to sell offer the land for lease or sale at the advertised cost. After the 90 day period, the county can lease or sell the land at any price that we and the any potential buyer negotiate.”

Why it matters: county officials said moving property out of county ownership would return land to the tax rolls and could spur local economic activity. The sale could also be used to fund industrial-park improvements or comprehensive-plan work.

Details provided at the meeting include advertised prices and parcel context. The chair said the 10-acre tract was listed at about $19.08 per acre and a larger roughly 26-acre tract at about $17.03 per acre; the chair contrasted those figures with a prior sale in the industrial park that he said was about $3,500 an acre to the town of Winamac. He also recounted a history of county acquisitions, saying donors Ralph Braun and Don Galbraith had helped the county acquire farmland decades ago and that a portion of the land had been intended as a future fairground that was never developed.

The chair said there were two potential prospects: one that had not yet zeroed in on a specific parcel and another that had been exploring sites in Pulaski and neighboring Stark County. At the meeting the chair said the prospect had experienced zoning-appeal difficulties in Stark County and had returned attention to Pulaski County.

County staff noted they were authorized by commissioners to survey and split certain southern parcels if needed, but the chair said he would wait to learn which exact acreage the prospect wanted before paying to divide the property. No formal offer was recorded at the meeting.

Formal actions recorded in the transcript included a voice-approval of the consent agenda and an approval of the financial report; motions were passed by voice vote and the transcript does not record specific tallies.

Next steps: the statutory 90-day period will run from the bid-opening date. If the initial prospect pursues a purchase after additional work, commissioners said they would convene to negotiate terms; after the 90 days the county may accept offers at other prices to encourage a sale and remove the parcel from county ownership.