COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – The Coldwater City Council Monday night approved five lease agreements for City owned farm ground with three of the leases going to the highest bidders from the original process that was brought forward at the September 14, meeting those properties are located on North Willowbrook Road, Angola Road and Butters Ave.
The process became muddied at that September 14 meeting when Brian Sexton of Sexton Farms who has two of the current lease agreement spoke before council and challenged the bidding process causing council to to choose different path for the two largest tracts on Newton Road and West Chicago Street, deciding to pause the standard five-year award process despite receiving higher bids from Matthew Avery and Mark Barone.
Sexton claimed in the past, the current land operators of the farm ground were given the option to match a higher bid, saying his farm had invested thousands of dollars in the Newton Road and West Chicago street properties to make the land farmable. Council then entertained a proposal to extend the Sexton Farm leases for a year to allow city staff time to re-word and update the lease agreement contracts.
That process did not sit well with Mark Barone of Barone farms who had the highest bid for leasing the 72 plus acers on West Chicago Street
Barone also challenged the claims made by Sexton Farms at the previous meeting
In the end Council voted 6-3 to extend the leases by Sexton Farms for a year with the no votes coming from council members Rissman, Johnson and Knaack.
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