Authority committee approves $20,000 recommendation for excess parcel and advances Horace rail-corridor sales

FARGO — The Land Management Diversion Authority Committee on May 21 recommended selling a 10-acre excess parcel known as OAN 858 for $20,000 and moved to advance disposition of a rail corridor in Horace after receiving widespread interest from adjacent landowners.

The committee voted unanimously on a recommendation that the full authority approve the $20,000 sale price for OAN 858. Committee members later voted, also unanimously, to proceed under the authority’s excess-land procedures for multiple parcels in the Horace rail corridor, beginning surveying, environmental remediation and the process of issuing purchase agreements for interested adjacent landowners.

The actions matter because they begin transferring publicly held, formerly rural properties into private ownership and set in motion surveying and cleanup steps that committee staff said will take several months. The rail corridor decision directly affects multiple Horace property owners who told the committee they want to buy portions of the corridor; the City of Horace has not yet committed to buying one parcel identified as D14.

In presenting OAN 858, Mr. Dodds, a staff member who briefed the committee, said the parcel had been offered back to the former owner and to adjacent owners and put up for public sale. "We did receive a proposal in the public sale process," Dodds said, adding, "the proposed purchase price of $20,000 — this is about a 10 acre parcel." He told the committee the $20,000 offer was consistent with comparable sales of similar properties.

Committee discussion noted that the committee’s vote at the meeting would be a recommendation to the full authority rather than the final sale approval. A roll-call vote recorded affirmative responses from committee members including Mr. Flacco, Mr. Samnis, (Miss) Derrick, Mr. Campbell, Ms. White, Mr. Gust, Mr. Breitling, Ms. Marshall, Ms. Turnberg and Mr. Zimmerman; the chair ruled the motion carried.

On the rail corridor, Dodds told members the item followed direction given in March to follow excess-land policy. He said staff had mailed letters to adjacent landowners and set a May 12 deadline for expressions of interest. "We have acceptance and written confirmation from all of the private landowners along this corridor. The only exception is the City of Horace," Dodds said, noting several owners signed notices of intent as recently as the day before the meeting.

Dodds outlined next steps if the committee approves proceeding: survey and planning work, removal of ballast material, and environmental cleanup before purchase agreements could be finalized. He advised that the landowners had been told those tasks "will likely take several months to complete."

Committee member Mr. Gust asked about the possibility of the joint authority being left owning a parcel with no access if a particular lot (D14) goes unsold. Dodds said one option would be to dedicate that portion as right of way to the City of Horace, and that dedications "would be done via the plat," a process handled during surveying and platting.

During a public-comment period the committee added at the chair’s direction, TJ Krenzel of 501 Main Street, Horace, thanked the committee for working with neighbors and organizing the community’s response. "We're hoping that everything moves forward, smoothly," Krenzel said. Krenzel told the committee he had worked closely with neighbors to coordinate interest in the corridor parcels.

The committee also discussed a specific adjacent buyer (identified in the briefing as Zarin) who has expressed interest in purchasing parcel D2 and possibly D14 if the City of Horace declines. Committee members confirmed the intent of the motion would allow staff to offer D14 to that adjacent purchaser if the city passes.

Dodds and committee members emphasized that the next steps — surveying, platting, ballast removal and environmental cleanup — are prerequisites to closing sales and that timing depends on the cleanup and survey work. The committee noted that Cass County had elected to purchase a small sliver of one parcel for future road right-of-way needs and that the OAN 858 recommendation had originally been valued at about $58,000 before the $20,000 proposal was received.

The committee adjourned after the votes and tentatively set availability for a June 25 meeting to consider additional excess-land items.