Morril board votes no, denies sale of Brownsfield Park to school district

What had looked like a done deal for Brownsfield Park in Morrill got upended quickly at the Village Board meeting Tuesday night.

The Village of Morrill Board had sent a purchase agreement for Brownsfield Park to Morrill Public Schools after agreeing at the November meeting to writing one up.

“We made a verbal agreement that the documents were satisfactory,” Village Board chairperson Tony Schuler told the Star-Herald Tuesday night.

The agreement stated that Morrill Public Schools would purchase Brownsfield Park from the Village of Morrill for $5,000. According to Village Board November meeting minutes, the school said they would pay for the real estate with a donation received from the Morrill Public School’s Foundation.

The Board of Education accepted the agreement, board president David Sherrod signed off on it and the agreement was returned to the village office on Dec. 3. All that was left was for the Village Board to approve it at its Dec. 8 meeting.

It was voted down 2-3.

Schuler and Paul Adams were the lone two board members to vote in favor of the resolution and purchase agreement. William Schmidt and Denise Sinner were joined by new board member Neal Hart in voting against the agreement. Hart had been sworn-in Tuesday night.

The vote followed discussion from Hart about some of the wording in the agreement. He disagreed that the village and the school should equally pay closing costs, which is what the agreement stated.

He also discussed that the village was not getting enough out of the deal, citing concrete picnic tables and a portable toilet that would be included in the school’s purchase of the property, and said he thought the village needed to do more to make sure a baseball field would still be available elsewhere before going through with the agreement.

“You get a new member to the board who brings different opinions,” Schuler said. “It’s been a back and forth issue already.”

At its November meeting, the village discussed making improvements at FoMo Park to have a more competitive youth baseball/softball field to compensate the loss at Brownsfield Park but no action has been taken yet.

Village clerk and treasurer Janine Schmidt told the Star-Herald the Village Board will hold a meeting the morning of Tuesday, Dec. 15 to discuss the details of the documents and the purchase agreement will most likely be put back on the agenda for January’s meeting.

Morrill Public Schools was contacted but a response was not received by press time Wednesday.

*Originally published in Star-Herald on Dec. 9, 2020.