County Approaching Sale of Land Worth $1.3 Million

County leaders discussed the sale of the Mt. Susan property, a 978 acre tract of land, in a closed executive session in Commissioners' Court this week. The commissioners addressed the offers that buyers have begun to make on the land, which is valued at $1.3 million dollars.

Mt. Susan is ranch property originally purchased by the county as part of Pugh Park. County Judge Steve Floyd explained Mt. Susan “was not property that we were ever going to use for anything,” so the commissioners decided to sell the land to a private party. Floyd stated that the money earned from the sale will be used to support the parks and other county projects.

“The Commissioners’ Court will decide how to allocate that money, or if we just hold it in reserve for future support of the parks,” Floyd said. “It’s unrestricted funds for all practical purposes; it can be used for anything that’s a county purpose.”

After the county put Mt. Susan on the market for $1.3 million, the county has received offers on the property. However, the commissioners are not disclosing who the offers are from or the value of the proposals.

“There are actually two offers, and we are responding to the best offer that we think at this point in time,” Floyd said.

Although Floyd was tight-lipped on the details of the proposals, he did say the parties involved are locally based.

“There’s some consideration in there of what their plans will be for the property because obviously, right now, the county controls it,” Floyd said. “But once it’s sold, we obviously effectively lose control of that property, so that’s taken into consideration for what we think [is] the best interest of that community. Fortunately, both offers for what we have now are local people, [so] that’s not really a concern for us. We think either one of them would have the best interest for the community at heart.”

When the closed session ended, the commissioners opened the court to the public again. Commissioner Rick Bacon then moved to allow Floyd to execute a counterproposal for one of the offers within a 10-day window.

“Once that contract is scheduled to be executed, it will come back and it will be disclosed what the contract is,” Floyd said.

The property, however, is still on the market and the other offer is still on the table; the 10 day window allows Floyd to execute the counteroffer and for the individual to inspect the property.

One reporter present asked Floyd if the buyer’s reasons for purchasing the land are the county’s concern.

“Our concern is getting the best sale price and returning the value of that property to the taxpayer,” Floyd said.

For more about county parks, check out San Angelo LIVE!’s previous articles on the subject.