County sells six tracts of land; receives $14,750

By STEPH TAHTINEN

Mt. Pleasant News

The Henry County Board of Supervisors meeting turned into a small auction Thursday morning, as the county auctioned off six tracts of former railroad property for a total of $14,750.

These properties were all abandoned Burlington Northern Railroad right-of-ways in sections eight, nine and 22 of Scott Township, many of them landlocked. The county began discussing selling the properties in May when an offer was placed on the 1.9 acre tract of land behind the Countreesstore LLC in Winfield. Many adjacent landowners submitted bids on June 13, which made them eligible to take part in Thursday?s auction-setting, with the auction starting at the previous high bid.

The properties along with the price and new landowner are described below:

- The northeast one quarter of the northeast one quarter of Section 8 Township 73 Range 5, west of the 5th P.M., approximately .32 acres: Starting bid $50, winning bid $550 to Joe and Ruth Klopfenstein

- The northwest one quarter of the southeast one quarter of Section 9 Township 73 range 5 west of the 5th P.M., approximately 2.3 acres: Starting bid $50, winning bid $3,550 to the Klopfensteins

- The southwest one quarter of the southeast one quarter of Section 9 Township 73 range 5 west of the 5th P.M., approximately 1.9 acres: Starting bid $2,500, winning bid $10,350 to Keith Loyd

- The south one half of the northwest one quarter of Section 22 Township 73 range 5 west of the 5th P.M., approximately 2.29 acres: Starting bid $100, winning bid $100 to Steve Settles

- The northeast one quarter of the southwest one quarter of Section 22 Township 73 range 5 west of the 5th P.M. approximately 2.12 acres: starting bid $100, winning bid $100 to Settles

- The southeast one quarter of the southwest one quarter of Section 22 Township 73 range 5 west of the 5th P.M., approximately 2.05 acres: starting bid $100, winning bid $100 to Settles

In other business, the supervisors heard from Angie Goodpaster, who is president of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness). She met with the supervisors to voice her concern that the changes and cutbacks in mental health care would cause a setback in mental health care, negatively impacting those who need the care.

County Auditor Shelly Barber explained that the changes are not necessarily cuts in funding, but rather ?a change in who?s paying for what,? as the state will now be paying for portions of care previously paid for by the county.

Supervisor Chairman Kent White commented that those involved are working to keep moving forward, not backward.

?There are a lot of people working on your side,? White told Goodpaster. ?Everyone involved is working to maintain the services, or even increase them in some cases.?

In other business, the supervisors

- Gave approval for the sheriff?s department to apply for a grant. The amount of the grant is unknown at this time, but the department applies for this same grant every year, said Barber.

- Passed two resolutions approving the transfer of funds that were already appropriated and budgeted for to a new area in the county budget. The first resolution transfers from one section in a service area that has an excess of funds to another section that did not have enough funds. This is done every year, explained Barber. In another action done every year, the supervisors also approved a resolution for an inter-fund transfer of $1,081,504 in property tax money from the rural service fund to the secondary road department.

- Discussed the county care facility property. The county plans to have the property appraised, as the property is currently on the market and the supervisors wish to know what a fair price would be for the property.