It will cost the city of McMinnville $10,000 to acquire 1 acre of land from Warren County and resolve a property issue between the two governments.
The information was presented to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen by city administrator Bill Brock.
“This is the property swap between Warren County and the city of McMinnville and its Parks and Recreation Department,” said Brock. “It’s not an equal swap. We are getting more square footage than they are. They are asking we pay the difference to them. It’s in the paperwork.”
Alderman Mike Neal asked if the evaluation was an appraisal.
“This is not an appraisal,” said Brock. “When they do an appraisal, they try to look at property equal to that which has sold in the area. Well, there’s no government property of school systems that have sold in this area so he could not do an official appraisal. He did an evaluation of the value of the land.”
The property swap came under consideration when the city performed a survey prior to upgrading its outdoor tennis courts and discovered it had built onto school property, which was property the city deeded to the county back in 1969 when the school system was consolidated. Likewise, the school has been utilizing a portion of the city’s property.
Consideration for a land swap began between city officials and Warren County School Board members and that led to another revelation: the school’s land was never deeded from the county to the school system and therefore, the land swap would have to include Warren County government.
By the evaluation, the city is giving up approximately .5 acre of its land in the swap and receiving approximately 1.5 acres. The difference in value, per the evaluation, is $10,000.
On that 1.5 acres, the city has constructed a portion of its outdoor tennis courts and the end of its paved parking lot.
City attorney Tim Pirtle urged officials to resolve the issue.
“I reviewed the survey plat and the deeds with the county attorney and this absolutely, positively, needs to be resolved and the lines established,” said Pirtle. “I think you are contemplating spending some serious money on those tennis courts next year and this property line issue needs to be resolved.”
The measure will be under consideration by the city Building and Grounds Committee during its next meeting.