The St. Joseph County Council Tuesday night gave county commissioners permission to start the process for selling Portage Manor. But the council will have the final say over who gets to buy the land.
The commissioners sought council approval of a resolution authorizing them to dispose of the 100-plus-acre former county home site, three years after they abruptly closed it despite heavy community opposition. The council obliged Tuesday night, but only after voting 9-0 to add language from council President Bryan Tanner requiring commissioners to bring any potential sales back to them for final approval.
Tanner noted Indiana statute requires council approval to sell any county property worth more than $50,000. Here was the exchange between Tanner and commissioners President Carl Baxmeyer.
Tanner: “Just clarifying that the council retains its authority to have that final say through such a public process. Again it’s not to contradict the spirit of it, but to clarify our separation of powers and our role in that final decision. Any comments on that or concerns?"
Baxmeyer: "I’m not sure that’s really necessary but I’m not going to argue with Indiana Code. If the resolution passes, you will then have an ordinance which will then come back to the commissioners. So ultimately the commissioners are still going to have the last word on that.
"I do say, again, collaboration and not having the commissioners dictate, but work collaboratively on what is that (Request for Proposals)? How does it look? What are the criteria and look at the decision matrix? But again it is ultimately the commissioners' responsibility to move ahead with this."
Baxmeyer said commissioners will next formally issue requests for proposals from groups interested in the land. Members of St. Thomas More Academy, a classical Catholic school in South Bend, on Tuesday again voiced their interest in converting the building into a school.
