Land bank reverses special meeting award, approves sale of 710 S. Lomond to original bidder

The Fort Scott City Land Bank voted Monday to negate a special-meeting decision and reaffirm its original May 19 award of 710 South Lomond to the board's earlier applicant, Max Fanning.

Board member Matthew Wells moved to rescind the later award and keep the initial decision. "My motion will be that we negate that special meeting vote and stick with our original vote on the nineteenth," Wells said. The motion passed with board members voting in favor; the board said it would not finalize the sale or release funds until the buyer obtains a required variance and the city completes a 30-day newspaper publication as part of the sale process.

The vote ends a multi-month dispute among two applicants over the right to buy the nonconforming lot. The board discussed multiple offers during a May series of meetings: an early applicant submitted a $2,100 offer (the bidder identified in meeting remarks as Max Fanning), a separate earlier application noted in packet materials listed a $1,000 offer, and a later applicant — identified in its application materials as Redken Homes and represented on the call by Joel and Marty Rankin — submitted a revised offer of $3,107.24 but did so after the board's previously announced deadline.

Joel Rankin, one of the Rankin representatives on the call, told the board the firm wanted to "build and help Fort Scott build beautiful homes to get people back into the community," and described plans for multiple houses and neighborhood rehabilitation. Max Fanning said he owns the house next door and plans to build on the lot, telling the board he "could do both at the same time." Board members repeatedly said the land bank's primary mission is creating housing rather than maximizing sale price.

Board members also aired concern about the handling of the later application and the fairness of reopening the sale after an apparent late submission. Several members said the board had not handled the sequence of offers cleanly and that any decision would leave one party upset. To reduce future disputes, the board adopted a hard deadline going forward: bids must be submitted by 5 p.m. on the Thursday before a scheduled Monday meeting.

Terms discussed at the meeting require that the land bank will not publish the 30-day public notice or exchange funds until the buyer obtains the necessary zoning variance for the nonconforming lot. Staff estimated that process and publication make it likely to be about two months before money changes hands. The board said it still expects the buyer to pursue variance approval promptly and that the sale contract will include those contingencies.

The board also approved routine minutes corrections earlier in the meeting, amending the prior meeting date in the minutes.

The land bank indicated staff will follow up with the successful bidder to draft the contract language that places sale proceeds in escrow and conditions the closing on variance approval and the statutory publication period.

Votes at a glance: the board voted to: (1) amend and approve prior meeting minutes; (2) set a firm application deadline of 5 p.m. on the Thursday before Monday meetings; and (3) negate the later special-meeting award and confirm the May 19 award of 710 South Lomond to the original bidder, with sale contingencies including variance approval and a 30-day newspaper notice.