County enters into land purchase agreement

During the July 18 Hot Springs County Commissioners board meeting, the commissioners entered into an executive session. Afterward, they reconvened the public meeting where Commissioner Phil Scheel made a motion for Hot Springs County Government to enter into an agreement to purchase land from the Julia L. Ingle Revocable Living Trust and the Charles R. Ingle Revocable Living Trust.

 The property is located at Township 43 North, Range 95 West of the Sixth Principal Meridian, Section 25: that portion of Lot 7 lying west of the deeded right-of-way of US Highway 20. Essentially, the land is located north of T-Hill and would provide access to the old airport to US Highway 20. The offer is for $200,000 and closing costs. Commissioner Paul Galovich seconded the motion.

 Chairman Tom Ryan said, “That agreement would also stipulate that Ingles would pay the title insurance and that they would split the closing costs.” During the discussion, Chairman Ryan added, “This is the property that we have been working on to get access off of Highway 20 into the old airport. And we’ve been doing this for, I don’t know, four or five years. We’ve been talking about it and the Ingle’s have agreed to sell it.” Chairman Ryan also explained that some of the Covid money was able to be used to aid in the purchase.

 Chairman Ryan continued and said, “I think it adds to the value of our property up there greatly, whether it turns out that it becomes private property or becomes public property. I think there’s a lot of benefit to having better access…on the north side of the hill.”

 Commissioner Paul Galovich said that the Ingels wanted the property to become Hot Springs County property and that there were other parties who previously expressed an interest in the property.

 Commissioner Phil Scheel said, “I just want to add that we have been talking about this for quite a long time. We had a public hearing when this was brought up. We had the money for this budgeted in this year’s budget. There was plenty of notice, and our intentions are this is a great deal. One of the biggest things that I’ve been working on since I was elected commissioner is - what are we doing with the old airport?”

 Commissioner Scheel added, “This is a major step forward in helping all of the things that we’ve done to develop at the old airport with a Business Council grant that we’re ready to write. The TAP grants that we’re engaged in working on to actually have some of the highest and best use for the old airport.”

 Commissioner Galovich also said, “The nature of the contract, the purchase from a buyer-seller contract, is sensitive in time by nature. So when you have two agreeing parties, the seller and the buyer, at a specified price, it’s important to make motion on that contract rather than delay on that. We’ve had some discussion. It would be simple for somebody to come along and delay that decision for somebody to come along and offer substantially more money. So the decision being made today is in that nature that we’re going to move forward with this contract through signatures from the seller and the buyer as the county.”

 The commissioners voted and passed the approval for Chairman Ryan’s signature to be made on the agreement to purchase the property.

  According to Wyoming State Statute § 16-4-405, “Executive sessions. [Effective July 1, 2023]

(a) A governing body of an agency may hold executive sessions not open to the public:;...(vii) To consider the selection of a site or the purchase of real estate when the publicity regarding the consideration would cause a likelihood of an increase in price.”