Products Mart should pay earnest money

It’s a shame that Morgan County commissioners have to pay the Products Mart Authority to abandon a property deal that should never have taken place.

District 1 Commissioner Jeff Clark and District 4 Commissioner Stacy George agreed to pay $11,110 to Products Mart toward $30,000 of earnest money it gave a real estate company for 159 acres adjacent to Priceville. The county fair was to take up a portion of the land each year, but because residents there opposed the fairgrounds, the county commission majority took action to help.

Commissioners Clark and George agreed to pay the money to Products Mart for loss of earnest money the board’s attorney said it would lose to Baker Properties. Also, the commissioners pledged in-kind services for preparation of another site the board might choose.

For years, the authority has held on to money that mostly came from a land sale to Home Depot. The board acts as if it’s painful to tell exactly how much money it has in the bank. But, one thing for sure is members were going to pay $2.38 million for the Priceville land.

Although the board says it sends media notices about infrequent meetings that take place, members are notorious for being secretive about it and how much money it has accumulated.

Products Mart has more than enough money to cover the earnest money it paid, but readily accepted a bargain to get some of the county’s money. That’s not right. Perhaps county officials need to reconsider Products Mart’s existence.