Prairie South School Division has sold 87 unused rural parcels of land since its amalgamation in 2006, but a recent sale at a “low-ball” price has offended some board trustees.
During the June 7 board of education meeting, trustees voted 7-3 to sell five parcels of surplus land throughout the countryside. The sales included:
- $10 for one acre in the Rural Municipality of Craik
- $250 for two acres in the RM of Poplar Valley
- $200 for 2.06 acres in the RM of Hart Butte
- $200 for 1.01 acres in the RM of Hart Butte
- $200 for 3.97 acres in the RM of Wood River
“We haven’t had time to do this (sell excess land) in quite a few years,” business superintendent Ron Purdy said. “We (still) have roughly 30 pieces of land in the country that are one to two acres in size.”
The offer of $10 for one acre caught the eye of trustee Lew Young, who thought that proposal was “not acceptable” considering the lowest bids were $200. He wondered if division administration needed the board to create a motion saying offers less than $200 would not be accepted. He didn’t want the board to sell any land for less than $150.
“It’s a little bit offensive when you see something like that … ,” he added. “I know it’s a bid, I know it’s an offer, but we don’t have to accept that offer.”
The highest offer the division has ever received is $500, while the lowest is $50, although the $10 offer is now the lowest, Purdy said. This parcel is in the corner of a farmer’s field, while not many people are willing to purchase one acre in that location. The bidder told the division office that he has cleared rocks and bushes from that parcel for years.
“If people can show they are paying taxes on our land, we just give it to them,” he remarked, adding he was pleased with all the offers.
These sales are not public tenders since the division contacts the landowners on whose property these small parcels are located and asks if they want to buy the parcel, Purdy continued. This is an easier process since the parcels are usually in the corner of a quarter-section. Moreover, many landowners are likely using those pieces without knowing it.
Division staff took pictures years ago of the parcels and anything on them, including old school buildings or other structures, he added. Some pieces are less than an acre in size, while the recent one that is four acres is bigger than normal.
Selling the one parcel for $10 will set a precedent, which means the board should develop a standard price per acre so it can “avoid these low-ball $10 parcels” in the future, said board vice-chair Darcy Pryor. With 25 parcels left to sell, it would clean up the process.
“We need to be careful because this is land we do not want to have, so we don’t want to have a price tag so high that people say, ‘Forget it.’ I don’t want that … ,” said board chair Giselle Wilson.
“I’m a little torn on this because we could turn down the offer for $10, but then we’d still own it and it would still be our responsibility,” she added. “And if something happens, we are liable. For $10, we could do away with it.”
The next PSSD board meeting is Tuesday, Sept. 6.
