Court moves to accept $45,000 bid for old county jail, discusses historic-exterior condition

The court moved to accept a $45,000 bid from Albert Beloit for the county's old jail, with members discussing a stipulation that the buyer preserve the building's exterior and work with the historical commission on a historic-site application.

Speaker 2 moved to accept the $45,000 offer from Albert Beloit, saying Beloit "has done a lot of good things here" for the county. Speaker 3 acknowledged the motion and called for a vote. Speaker 3 earlier read the bid paperwork aloud and noted an apparent discrepancy in the written bid that listed $5,200 in one place while the high bid was the $45,000 figure.

In separate remarks, Speaker 3 said they contacted the historical commission, which told them an application process exists and that the commission evaluates the exterior when considering listing a property as historic. Speaker 3 proposed that, if the county awards the bid, the buyer should agree to maintain the building's exterior and that county representatives or the speaker would assist with the application process so the structure could be preserved.

The court discussed whether to rebid with a historic-preservation stipulation; Speaker 3 said the historical commission supported the idea and no rebid would be necessary if the purchaser agreed to the condition. The motion to accept the $45,000 bid was made by Speaker 2 and seconded (see actions). The transcript records the court's voice vote read as "3 2." The recorded motion text and the court's recorded vote appear in the official actions section below.

The court then moved on to other agenda items. No formal ordinance or final deed transfer appears in the transcript; this item reflects the motion and the discussion recorded at the meeting.