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Commission agrees to exclude deteriorating theater screen parcel from county purchase, keep full purchase price
Summary
When discussing the Ellis property acquisition, the commission directed legal staff to negotiate that the seller retain the residence and adjacent parcel containing a failing movie screen while the county pay the full agreed purchase price for the rest of the property.
County legal staff presented structural findings for the theater/screen on the Ellis property and the commission on May 7 directed counsel to negotiate an exclusion of the fenced parcel around the residence and screen from the county purchase.
A structural report showed significant deterioration of the movie-screen support structure, with tension cracks and upper-section failures that could make repair expensive. County staff presented conservative repair estimates: roughly $425,000 to repair the screen, $230,000 to partially reduce size, and $180,000 to fully remove the structure and associated costs. Commissioners said the county does not wish to inherit an imminent structural liability and instructed legal counsel to negotiate that the seller retain the parcel containing the screen (the fenced area around the residence), while the county would proceed with paying the full purchase price for the remainder of the property.
The commission asked counsel and staff to define the exclusion area (the fence line was suggested rather than an arbitrary radius) and said the county would still offer the full agreed price for the property excluding that parcel. Commissioners and staff discussed the possibility of seeking separate grant funding later for demolition or remediation of the excluded parcel, and noted that if the seller wished to keep the parcel the county could coordinate future remediation efforts with state or grant funds.
Discussion vs. decision: the commission made a directive to legal staff (formal direction) to negotiate the exclusion rather than unilaterally altering the purchase price; the commission also approved instructing counsel to proceed with the purchase on those terms and to return with a negotiated deed and defined exclusion area.
Ending: Legal staff and county administration will define the excluded acreage (using the existing fenced area as the working boundary) and prepare deed language so the county can proceed with the transaction without inheriting the failing screen structure.
