Marion County Council approves sale of 5.79 acres off Lipscomb Road to Robert K. Grama

Marion County Council approved third reading of Ordinance 2025-01 on the conveyance of a 5.79-acre tract off Lipscomb Road to Robert K. Grama after a public hearing and discussion.

The ordinance authorizes conveyance of a portion of Marion County tax parcel numbers 0550000008000 and 0560000193000 and empowers the county administrator or the county council chairman to execute any documents necessary to effect the transfer. The council held a public hearing before considering third reading; no members of the public addressed the hearing record. The council then took up third reading of the ordinance and voted to approve it.

Council discussion included confirmation that required testing of the property — described by staff as including drilling and well sampling — is complete. At least one council member stated opposition to proceeding with a negotiated sale rather than using a competitive bidding process, saying land sales should generally be bid out unless tied to a defined economic development agreement. That member said, “We sell land, we need to bid it out so this will get the highest bidder.” The council nonetheless approved third reading; the transcript records a stated opposition but does not provide a named roll-call tally in the hearing record.

The ordinance text and a referenced purchase-and-sale agreement were available to council members since first reading and were modified at second reading; the version considered at third reading reflected those amendments, according to staff. The ordinance further delegates authority to the county administrator or council chairman to sign closing documents and to take other actions necessary to complete the conveyance.

No additional conditions or funding details for the sale were discussed on the record at third reading.

The council returned to other business after approving the ordinance.