City commissioners rescind vote to sell 40 acres

The City of Madison commissioners voted to rescind their 3-2 vote to accept the $51,000 offer from Jimmie Ragans for 40 acres of wooded land, located at 687 SW Industrial Extension at the Tuesday, March 10 meeting. They approved the sale of property at their meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 10. Before the discussion began the commissioners approved an agreement with Attorney Mike Smith of Smith, Smith & Curtis, P.A., in Perry to represent them regarding the property transaction between the City of Madison and Ragans. City Attorney Clay Schnitker could not be a part of this conversation due to conflict of interest as he represents Ragans. There were concerns about the February vote after the commissioners became aware that the Madison County Property Appraiser office has the property appraised for $60,000 but the independent appraisal that the commissioners based the vote on showed it appraised at $51,000. Attorney Smith advised the commissioners on how they could rescind their vote to accept the offer that they approved at the February meeting. To rescind the vote, one of the three commissioners that voted for the sale had to make a motion to rescind the offer. Commissioner Marcus Hawkins made a motion to rescind the offer and Commissioner Rayne Cooks seconded the motion. The commissioners voted 4-1 to rescind the offer. Commissioner Jim Catron was the opposing vote.