Sale of land on Butternut Point on the southern shore of Lower Whitefish Lake was given Crow Wing County Board approval Tuesday.

County staff requested putting the county fee owned land up for sale with a minimum bid of $92,000 with requests for sealed bids from adjoining property owners.

The board approved that request voting unanimously to offer the land to the adjacent property owners with the minimum bid of $92,000.

The county reported it has not managed or maintained the land as a public water access, although neighboring property owners reported using it for decades for a beach area and winter lake access.

Chairman Paul Thiede questioned why the county would limit the sale to adjoining land owners, noting that eliminates an ability of property owners without lake access to band together to purchase the lot. But it took awhile for Thiede to get the answer he was seeking.
Tim Houle, administrator, said doing that would create an outlet lot the county does not permit when it creates subdivisions. Houle noted the county has a policy of discouraging outlots.

Thiede said that was what he was looking for and so far that argument hadn’t been clearly made that the county would be going against its own zoning rules to open the lot up on the market.

According to county records, the property was deeded back to the county in 1930 by private individuals for “road purposes only.” Since 30 years have passed the county can sell the property without that restriction.

Houle said the road designation may have come from a time when ice roads were common to provide access to the lake to cut the large blocks of lake ice, which was used for refrigeration.

Commissioner Phil Trusty said his concerns stemmed from a need to eliminate the county’s liability with the land. Kirk Titus, land services supervisor, said a concrete stairway from a neighboring property is on the county land and is deteriorating. Thiede said if the sale to the adjacent property owner is not completed, the county definitely needs to remove the stairway.

Commissioner Rachel Reabe Nystrom said another issue comes from a lack of consensus from the neighboring property owners as the county received comments from 14 residents regarding the proposed sale with six in favor and eight opposed.

Nystrom did question the minimum bid used in this case and wondered why one wasn’t used when the county was selling the Deals and Steals site off Highway 210 in Baxter in November for less than the estimated market value. Responses noted a difference between Baxter and the Whitefish chain.