The Clark Historic Farm is finally on the road to new ownership after the Friends of the Clark Farm agreed to a purchase agreement with Grantsville City on Aug. 14.
The terms of the deal remained mostly unchanged from the last proposal from the city, which offered 2.2 acres of land, including the barn and all buildings except the farmhouse, for $92,000.
The city extended the timetable for repayment until Dec. 11, after previously only offering 30 days for the non-profit to come up with the funds.
At the Grantsville City Council meeting Wednesday night, Mayor Brent Marshall updated the council on the status of the sale to the Friends of the Clark Farm. The non-profit signed the latest purchase agreement on Aug. 14 and resubmitted its $10,000 non-refundable deposit to the city.
The Friends of the Clark Farm originally balked at aspects of the city’s final offer, which was originally presented on June 18. Under the purchase agreement, the city would be the sole beneficiary of the property should the non-profit cease activity and the Friends of the Clark Farm would be unable to use the property as collateral to obtain funding of any kind.
Laurie Hurst, founder of the Friends of the Clark Farm, said the non-profit would not be able to deed the property to another non-profit or apply for low interest loans through the Utah Historical Society with those restrictions in a July interview. The Friends of the Clark Farm eventually agreed to the city’s terms as offered prior to signing the purchase agreement.
At its July 16 meeting, the city council voted to table a moratorium on the sale of burial plots at the Clark Historic Farm to allow more time to finalize the purchase agreement with the Friends of the Clark Farm. A vote to begin selling burial plots at the council’s May 6 meeting was defeated by a split council, with councilmen Neil Critchlow, Scott Stice and Mike Colson against.
The final offer from the city provided less useable acreage for the Friends of the Clark Farm when compared to the initial offers from the city and the non-profit.
At the March 4 city council meeting, the Friends of the Clark Farm proposed purchasing the farm buildings and 20 additional acres of land, for a total parcel of 23 acres. The city countered with an offer at its March 11 meeting, which would sell 12.5 acres to the group at $37,000 an acre, with $67,000 to recoup development costs and $225,000 for the farmhouse.
The total asking price of the March 11 offering was $754,000, with $75,000 due within 15 days and the remaining $679,500 due within 45 days, according to the city’s offer.
Councilman Tom Tripp said now that the purchase agreement for the farm buildings has been agreed upon, the city should consider the future of the remaining 37 acres of land the city owns behind the farm. The city has considered using the acreage for sports fields and park space in addition to an expansion of its cemetery.
“I’d like to propose that we … go out and get a professional designer, give them a list of things we want to see potentially blended into that property,” Tripp said.
Hurst said the Friends of the Clark Farm are working on a presentation for the county’s tourism advisory board to possibly seek funding to help with the purchase of the property. The Friends of the Clark Farm are expected to unveil a major fundraising campaign in the next few weeks toward the purchase of the property.