Another major step was taken by the nonprofit Friends of the Clark Farm toward the purchase of the historic farmstead during the Tooele County Commission meeting Tuesday night.
Funds for a $56,000 matching grant from the Tooele County Tourism Tax Advisory Board was unanimously approved by the commission after it was a late addition to its agenda.
The grant, which was a two-to-one match, combined with $28,000 in private donations collected by the Friends of the Clark Farm, would cover the remaining $82,000 cost to purchase a 2.2-acre parcel that includes the farm’s barn, sheds and outbuildings.
Grantsville City and the Friends of the Clark Farm came to terms on a $92,000 purchase price for the farm buildings on Aug. 14, with a closing date of Dec. 11. Of that total, the Friends of the Clark Farm were required to make a $10,000 nonrefundable deposit to the city.
At last Thursday’s Grantsville City Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, the commission recommended approval of a subdivision that would split a 3.2-acre parcel to create the agreed-upon purchase area.
While everything appears to be coming together on the Clark Farm purchase, the road to that resolution was fraught with delays.
The Friends of the Clark Farm first approached the city council about purchasing the farm on March 4, with a proposal to purchase the buildings at the farm and 20 acres of farmland.
The city countered that offer at its March 11 meeting — it would sell 12.5 acres of land at $37,000 an acre with $65,000 to recoup cemetery development costs and $225,000 for the purchase of the farmhouse. The total asking price would have been $754,000 with $75,000 due within 15 days and the remaining $679,500 due within 45 days.
After a July vote to delay the sale of burial plots until after the city and Friends of the Clark Farm came to a purchase agreement, the city presented its final, $92,000 offer for the 2.2 acres at its June 18 meeting with a July 30 deadline for closing.
The Friends of the Clark Farm were unhappy with aspects of the city’s offer, which would make the city the sole beneficiary of the property in the event the non-profit ceased activity. It also prevented the nonprofit from using the property as collateral to obtain funding, such as low-interest loans.
Eventually the Friends of the Clark Farm agreed to the purchase arrangement as proposed by the city council on Aug. 11. In just under three months, the group raised the necessary funds with help from the county’s grant.
Friends of the Clark Farm member Susan Johnsen said the grant will help ensure the events and programming at the farm continues, which she said benefits the community and county.
Now the nonprofit will need to sit down with the city to finalize the closing on the property once the county’s check is in hand, Johnsen said.
“We have done what we were asked to do,” she said. “We’re looking forward to it.”
