Mt. Vernon to sell 115 acres of city land on north side for $523,250

The city of Mt. Vernon will sell 115 acres of city land located on Highway 39, just north of Highway 174, to Wilmoth Oil Company at a price of $4,550 per acre, or $523,250 total. The Mt. Vernon Board of Aldermen approved the bid by Wilmoth during their meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 13. The only other bid for the land came from Sklyer Moore, who bid $4,250 per acre for 62 acres on the west side of Highway 39.
The city purchased the land in 2009 with the intention of making it into an industrial park. Max Springer, Mt. Vernon city administrator, said there were two factors which kept the city from following through with those plans.
The first was the heavy expense which would have been required to get utilities there, mainly sewer. The other was the increase of traffic with schools being in that area, as well as the distance to I-44.
The city will officially sell the land after the current lease on it expires on Dec. 31 of this year. The land is currently leased to Kelsey Rutledge, who uses it for farming. Springer said Wilmoth will also farm the land.
The city will retain ownership of six adjoining acres of land.
The city also approved a bid from Base Construction to renovate the new city hall building, located at 109 Hickory. Base Construction had the lowest responsible base bid of $434,000. The city also agreed to pay Base an additional $1,000 to provide and install a bullet resistant glazing package on the side.
The other responsible base bids on the project came from: Bales Construction, $468,000; Branco Enterprises, $457,500; R.E. Smith Construction, $458,000 and Wilson Group, $513,051.
In other business, the council passed an ordinance calling for a general election in Mt. Vernon for the purpose of electing one alderman from each of the four wards for a term of two years and one alderman from Ward One for a term of one year.