Oktibbeha County school board officials handled three 16th Section land issues in Sturgis, trying to correct some mistakes that had been overlooked in the past.
The first involved a lease in Sturgis at the intersection of Highway 12 West and Montgomery Street. The lease was originally made to Leland Jones, but he transferred management of the land to a woman through a deed of trust. When use of the land changed hands, the school district was not informed that Jones was no longer responsible for annual lease payments.
Notices mailed to remind the lease holder of annual rent did not make it to the person responsible for paying the rent.
The district”s 16th Section land manager Mike Ainsworth said the problem was discovered when a third party asked for land available in Sturgis. Ainsworth found the lease had not been paid on this piece of land for two years and offered it to the third party.
The deed of trust was then discovered, and the issue was untangled. Board members were told that since the district had not been given word of the deed of trust, they were not sending their annual lease reminders to the right address. The woman who holds the deed of trust came to the meeting to explain the confusion and offer to pay the back rent.
On Cynthia Ward”s motion and Herman Bush”s second, the board voted to allow the deed of trust holder to retain claim to the land and cleared up the address question.
The other two 16th Section plots were both in the area Sturgis uses as a park. Sturgis Mayor Walter Turner said three administrations ago, the man who held several 16th Section leases in this area said he”d give them to the town if the city would make it a park named in honor of his wife.
Turner said the town agreed, and most of the leases were transferred to the Town of Sturgis. Two were not. The town enclosed one of the lots within a fence and has used it for years, thinking they held this lease.
The problem was discovered when the same third party from the last case requested the lease upon learning it was available.
Turner asked the school board to let the town have the lease. He said aldermen are willing to pay back rent on the property for the time they used it without holding the lease.
“You have the right to lease it to whoever you choose,” Ainsworth told the board.
When the board expressed their desire to lease it to the town, Ainsworth asked Turner to bring back an offer from the aldermen spelling out the back rent they offer to pay.
“We”ve been using it, and we feel responsible,” Turner said.
The board voted to table this matter until they got the letter from the Sturgis aldermen.
They also voted to table the third lease issue in Sturgis. This was for a second piece of land within the park that Sturgis officials thought they held a lease to but did not. Board president Curtis Snell asked district officials to see if the city has been using the land before deciding what lease or payment offer they will accept from Sturgis.
No date was set for resolving these issues, but 16th Section land matters are routinely handled at every business meeting.
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