Steamboat Pilot & Today

Hayden — The town of Hayden may partner with Routt County to swap a small piece of land owned by a Hayden resident.

An agreement between Routt County and the Hayden Town Board sets forth the rules and regulation for a joint purchase of Dal Leck's property near the fairgrounds.

The agreement was approved by Town Board members at their most recent meeting.

"The town can save money by partnering with the county in this way. Purchasing the Leck property according to this agreement is the first step in this partnership steps to come will involve sharing costs of roads, sewer, water, parking, etcetera," Hayden Town Manager Rob Straebel said.

Leck would like to swap his lot, which has been appraised at $45,000, for the county's old shop building, which has been appraised at $57,000.

Purchase costs for the town would include half of the land's appraised value, or $22,500; the town will also be responsible for half the sale's closing costs, Straebel said.

According to the agreement, the town of Hayden and Routt County believe that the Leck lot would provide better access to 23 acres that the town is purchasing from Wes Signs.

That land has been earmarked for a possible future recreation center by the West Routt Recreation District committee, a group that is putting several ballot issues related to constructing a recreation center on the November ballot.

The town and the county will each receive an undivided one-half interest in the lot according to the agreement. This means the entire lot will belong to both the county and the town. They will be "tenants in common," and share the access to county land and Hayden property.

Because Leck's lot would be a convenient, secondary access to the proposed recreation center site, resident Don Johnson wondered why the recreation district, if it is approved by voters, would not be responsible for appropriating necessary funds for the purchase and use of the lot.

"We can't be assigning duties to bodies that don't yet exist," Town Board member Jim Haskins explained.

"I have no problem with this agreement itself, I think we need the land and it's a great idea. My concern is that we have not appropriated funds from this year's budget to cover that $22,500," Trustee Chencho Salazar said. "I just don't feel comfortable getting out of the budget by that much right now."

Residents at the meeting and fellow board members generally agreed with Salazar. Straebel proposed that the agreement be approved on the condition that the purchase price can be paid on Jan. 1, 2001 a new fiscal year.

Straebel's motion was approved unanimously by the board.

The town would still receive immediate rights to the property as an entrance way to Wes Sign's land, board members confirmed.

To reach Bonnie Nadzam call 871-4205 or e-mail bnadzam@amigo.net