Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Cache County Mulls Buying Land Purchased with American West Heritage Center

Cache County may have its sights set on about 40 acres of land north of the American West Heritage Center — a possible site for future county fairgrounds.

In 2007, the county helped the nonprofit acquire about 90 total acres nearby — 50 of which are now in a conservation easement. The county has made several annual payments on the loan since.

The Cache County Council on Tuesday scheduled an executive session for its Dec. 4 meeting to explore the issue of land acquisition further.

Initially, the county contributed $100,000 and the Heritage Center put in about $250,000 to purchase the property for $1.1 million in 2007, according to Lemon. He said from 2008 through 2011, the county has also given about $70,000 in each of those years toward the loan.

The Heritage Center was interested in “land they thought was under threat of development,” while the county was “looking at that as additional recreation land,” said Lemon.

Bill Varga, executive director of the American West Heritage Center, said a possible decision on the transfer of title of the land would be made by the nonprofit’s board.

He added, “But I think at this time, if there is a management agreement reached, if it’s mutually beneficial to the county and the community and to the Heritage Center —all parties involved — I believe that the American West Heritage Center would be amenable to that.” Herald Journal