Options explored for cemetery land

What do you do when you want to acquire a piece of property that’s worth less than the cost of appraisal?
That’s what the Jay County Commissioners are trying to figure out.
“To go out and pay appraisers seems to me an unnecessary expense,” attorney Lon Racster told commissioners this morning.
The county is attempting to acquire an abandoned pioneer cemetery on a piece of property west of the former Sheller-Globe plant in Portland. The land is owned by Dean Poole.
But when the county buys land, two appraisals are required.
Racster noted that because the property is a cemetery it can’t be developed in any way and has no real market value.
One option, which grew out of discussions last week between commissioner Milo Miller Jr. and Wayne Township Trustee Jim Brewster, would be for the trustee to acquire the property under legal authority involving the stewardship of local cemeteries.
It’s possible that could be done without the cost of two appraisals.
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“It makes more sense to me,” Miller said this morning.
Racster is going to continue to investigate the legal aspects to see what rules apply.
Commissioners told a representative of LifeStream Services Inc. that the regional program would probably be receiving about $10,000 less from the county in 2011.
Though budget decisions have not yet been finalized by the county council, commissioners told LifeStream vice president of operations Jim Allbaugh to expect $40,000 in 2011, rather than the $50,000 provided this year.
The commissioners noted that Jay County has been a heavy user of LifeStream’s New Interurban rural transportation services.
“We have a lot of residents that use it,” said commissioner Faron Parr.
In other business, commissioners:
•Signed a contract with Robin Fisher-Meyers as regional public health coordinator.
•Noted Miller will attend the seventh annual Workforce and Economic Growth Summit for east central Indiana at Ball State University on Aug. 25.
•Authorized Christy Corle of Corle Insurance to have several firms review the county’s property and casualty insurance coverage.[[In-content Ad]]