Crow Wing County considers buying land in Cuyuna area

Crow Wing County wants to consolidate and improve access to its tax-forfeited properties surrounded by privately owned land in the Cuyuna area by purchasing the private property.

Land Services Director Gary Griffin said at the Tuesday, Dec. 18, committee of the whole meeting the purchases would increase outdoor recreation opportunities in some cases.

"We had very successful land auction of divesting ourselves of parcels that are not really in our timber-management plan, so we use that money to buy," Commissioner Paul Koering explained.

Griffin added, "Last year, we apportioned $1.5 million, and about $90,000 went into this recreation development fund."

The land asset management policy of the county states: "The private property tax base in the county can be increased by selling high value public property that is currently being served with existing infrastructure adjacent to private property."

The county sold a 22-acre parcel along the Mississippi River in Baxter for $75,900 on Dec. 7 that was landlocked by private property, which provides the county the funds to purchase county-surrounded private land, such as the 120-acre parcel owned by Peter Heno of Cuyuna.

"There currently is a snowmobile trail that cuts through there, and this is also going to be kind of important, potentially, to the Cuyuna Hills development in the future ... so we would be looking to acquire this," Griffin said.

Land Services received a $52,400 grant from the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council to help purchase the Heno property. Heno does not want to be paid, however, more than $50,000 in any given year for tax purposes, according to Griffin.

"We have a lot of snowmobile clubs, so when you start talking about that and they see that there's this big chunk of a snowmobile trail-by all means, not our highest and most important focus-but that also helps in the recreation area," Griffin said.

Griffin would like the board of commissioners' approval to purchase Heno's property for $221,000, which was based on a third-party appraisal. The purchase would be in the form of annual payments to Heno of $44,200 a year for five years, Griffin told the board Tuesday.

"By purchasing Mr. Heno's property, we will ensure continued use of a segment of the snowmobile trail," Griffin said.

The Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Crew will also develop a trail in the area next year, so the Heno property would provide another option for public access to the trail and associated county land in the area in addition to access off Iron Hub Road, according to Griffin.

"I think this is a package deal, here, where there's a lot of good, public benefit on this one," Griffin said.

Land Services also made the request at Tuesday's meeting to purchase from Jerry Bowman of Cuyuna the remaining 8.3 percent interest in a 40-acre parcel that abuts Agate Lake, so the county would have 100 percent ownership of that property, instead of having just 91.7 percent.

"Anytime you have this undivided interest issue-like if we wanted to go manage the timber-the other owner, all they'd have to say is, 'Nope. Don't cut a tree,' and then we have an issue, you know?" Griffin said.

"So how do you rectify that? We definitely could do a partition action. In this case, it's around $17,000 that Mr. Bowman would sell us his interest and then we would have 100 percent, which allows us better access up into some of that other tax-forfeited land."

The main idea with the county's acquisition and divestment strategies outlined in the land asset management policy is to sell isolated or landlocked parcels owned by the county and purchase privately owned land surrounded by county-managed lands, according to Griffin.

"These, we think, are very strategic acquisitions that would consolidate and improve our access to tax-forfeited land in this case, and so it's not every day that we're out just buying land, but we thought this would be a good one to acquire," Griffin said of the Heno and the Bowman parcels.

"Would that then grant people access to Agate Lake through this property if they want to drag a canoe ... because today it's a private lake?" Commissioner Doug Houge asked Griffin.

Griffin replied, "I don't think we would develop an access unless you guys chose to, but I would think, yes, you could walk down there for ice fishing, you can drag a canoe."