Supervisors approve lease agreement changes; add automatic yearly renewal with 90-day written notice

The Kossuth County Board of Supervisors approved revisions to a lease agreement involving emergency services entities and directed staff to clarify termination language and add an annual renewal mechanism with 90 days' written notice.

Staff member Tammy told the board the draft lease lacked clear termination language and recommended adding standard termination provisions. "It does talk about possession and that it should be yielded at the termination of this lease," Tammy said, adding that the document also allowed month-to-month holding over if rent continued to be accepted. Tammy and other supervisors discussed changing that language so renewal and termination would be clearer.

Supervisors agreed to specify the initial lease term as July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2027, then to have the lease renew year to year automatically unless written notice is provided at least 90 days before the lease year ends. Supervisors discussed practical matters, such as how tenant cost-percentage allocations might be adjusted on a yearly basis and whether the auditing firm would accept automatic renewals; staff said routine farm-lease style renewals are used elsewhere in county practice.

A motion by Supervisor Stecker to approve the lease with the discussed changes was seconded and carried by voice vote. The board instructed staff to forward the revised draft to the county attorney (Todd) for final language and to send the final draft to the VMA/E911 commission where applicable for signature.