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Commissioners approve one-acre land swap, require survey and companion resolution
Summary
Starke County commissioners voted to swap an acre of county-owned land with a nonprofit to create marketable access, contingent on the requester completing a survey and providing a legal description; commissioners also agreed to pair the transfer with Resolution No. 5 of 2026.
A majority of the Starke County Board of Commissioners voted to approve a one-acre land swap with a local nonprofit after a public hearing and discussion on access and legal descriptions.
At the public hearing the nonprofit’s representative, Mikey, told the board the property the nonprofit owns is landlocked by county property in the Hamlet Industrial Park and that ‘‘the intent is just to be able to market this land’’ by exchanging an acre of nonprofit land for an acre the county owns. Commissioners and members of the public asked whether the parcel the nonprofit would receive was usable; Mikey said the swap would ‘‘give me a full square’’ and agreed to pay for a survey to create a legal description.
Commissioner Donnie moved to approve the swap contingent on the nonprofit obtaining a survey; the board seconded the motion and voted in favor. The board discussed pairing the agreement with a formal resolution and identified the companion document as Resolution No. 5 of 2026. Commissioners and staff agreed the closing date should allow time for surveying and suggested scheduling the closing as late as December to ensure the survey and legal descriptions could be completed.
Legal and procedural questions were raised: commissioners noted they will need an accurate legal description and a signed resolution before finalizing the transfer. County counsel (Justin) and staff discussed the statute cited during the meeting (noted as ‘‘36-1’’ in the record) that supports transferring land involving nonprofits. The requester said she would return with the completed survey and legal description and the county will place the final signatures on the documents at a later meeting.
The action was recorded as a motion to proceed with the swap subject to the survey and a resolution; no fees or compensation other than the acre-for-acre exchange were reported at the meeting. The board closed the public comment period after hearing questions from residents about access and marketability of the exchanged parcel.
Next steps: the nonprofit will pay for and complete the survey, deliver the legal description to county staff, and the board will finalize signatures and the resolution in a subsequent meeting once the required documentation is provided.
