Councillor Foote Warns Against Undervaluing Land Sale
Jackson council tables sale of 100-acre Pearl River parcel
The Jackson City Council recently tabled a proposal to sell an option on roughly 100 acres of city-owned land near the Pearl River on Highway 55 amid concerns the city was undervaluing the site.
At the regular session the other week, council members reviewed a draft contract that would let a private purchaser buy a two-year option on the land for $1,000, with the option to later buy the property outright for about $111,000.
Councilman Foote raised concerns about the pricing, telling colleagues, "If we just okayed this and sold the option for a thousand dollars, and then two months from now it became worth 20 million dollars, we would look pretty foolish if we just agreed to it." The council voted to table the item pending further negotiation and legal review rather than approve or reject the sale outright.
The parcel's value could be affected by a planned casino-gaming special session and the separate One Lake flood-control project, both of which could change the land's worth. The council's decision to pause rather than approve the sale came as members weighed those possibilities against the proposed price.