At a meeting of the Adams County Highway Committee, members voted to direct staff to approach a property owner with an offered price of $6,600 for roughly 1.1 acres of excess County Trunk Highway J right-of-way at the County J and 11th Avenue intersection. The motion passed by voice vote after committee discussion; individual vote tallies were not recorded.

Highway staff (Speaker 3 / Pat/Patrick) reopened a carryover item about a fence encroaching into a small triangular piece of right-of-way, explaining the parcel was acquired with county (not state) highway funds and therefore may be disposed of without Department of Transportation approval under the state statute the staff referenced. Staff said the county would retain a minimal strip (the top of slope/back slope) to preserve maintenance access if the parcel is transferred.

Committee members raised concerns about drainage and a neighboring clay pit that pumps water; staff said the visible ditch largely lies on private property and that the county has not historically cleaned that segment unless the committee directs it to do so. The committee also discussed appraisal costs (staff cited an approximate appraisal fee of $2,500) and historical valuation references: a county sales study valuing large parcels at about $5,000 per acre and staff’s rough calculation that, in this case, the parcel might value near $6,600 per acre.

Committee member (Speaker 4) moved that staff approach the interested owner with an offered price of $6,600 for the 1.1-acre area; a second was recorded on the audio and the chair called for a voice vote, which passed with all in favor and no recorded opposing votes. The committee did not adopt any sale instrument at the meeting; staff said they would return with paperwork (a CSM and more exact acreage and legal descriptions) if directed to proceed.

The next procedural steps, as stated in the meeting, were for staff to draft the property documents and return to the committee with precise acreage and proposed terms; the committee did not vote to accept a sale or transfer at this meeting.