Tracy Warner has a follow up to his Sunday Charis House/Fairmount Place article in today’s paper.
Some excerpts:
[…] City officials were unable to find records of the city’s sale of the land. I asked City Council veteran Don Schmidt whether he remembered anything about it. He didn’t, but said he would see what he could find out.
Little did I know that Schmidt would spend the next day digging into the matter, with the help of the council’s research office. Schmidt worked with Wayne Township Assessor Bev Zuber’s staff to locate paperwork documenting the sale of the properties from the city to Dyle Hughes. Amanda Miller and Jesse Hawk from Zuber’s staff patiently searched through records to find the pertinent documents.
Those records provided a key link: the sales price of $8,800 for nearly 20 city lots.
Schmidt also reviewed city code to verify what he already had known: City Council must approve land purchases but not land sales.
Schmidt, like me, remembered the city purchasing those Fairmount Place properties and razing the homes there in 1984 for flood control. Though he was defeated in the 2007 elections, Schmidt obviously still cares about city government and recognized the importance of this decision to sell. He also remains a member of the city Plan Commission, which could still become involved in whether Charis House meets the legal requirements for industrial-zoned property.
And this about the recent gambling press release issued by Mayor Tom Henry:
[…]
A news release about Henry’s thoughts on a casino contained this quote: “(W)e must be as discerning in our decision making as we are courageous in our quest, always keeping the door open for opportunity to enter.”“Courageous in our quest?” Sounds more like the search for the Holy Grail than a report about casinos.
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