DANVILLE, IL. (ECWd) –
This is no joke. The Vermilion County Board is giving away free land west of Tilton, Illinois. Here’s the May 21, 2014 Commercial News Article which was mis-titled “Buyers found for farmland” and should have said, “Takers find free land“.
HERE: Buyers found for county farmland
In the above linked article, Vermilion County Board Chairman stated that “an additional three to four acres of land adjacent to the northside tract may be given to that buyer“. That let me wondering which statute gives the County the authority to give away public real estate – I think they will be hard-pressed to find any such statute.
The Vermilion County Board property committee declared that real estate as surplus property, but it still must have a county board approval to dispose of this particular piece of real estate.
Mr. Weinard claims the property is overgrown with brush and has junk and old buildings on it, and that the buyer would be responsible for any clean up..
A citizen, Ted Hartke, one of the two Vermilion County Surveyors, said: “Free land in Vermilion County? I have never heard of such a thing unless it has coal ash pits or some other environmental hazard. I would like to be given that piece of land! Where do we sign up for the free land give-a-way here in Vermilion County? I don’t think anyone deserves this land unless their house has been ruined by wind turbines and they can’t sleep there anymore because of the low frequency noise they make. Living next to wind turbines is horrible, and I would rather take my chances living next to the sanitary sewer treatment plant which might be on this property.”
We believe it is illegal to give away county property for free. Surely it is worth something more than ZERO at a public auction.
To submit your interest in this free land, attend the Vermilion County Board Meeting, 6 PM June 10th. You will have 5 minutes to request ownership of this free land.
Please contact Bill Donahue, Assistant State’s Attorney, to find out the exact location of the property. Be sure to ask him if this parcel includes the sanitary sewer treatment plant. Also tell him you are concerned about getting into trouble and make sure it is perfectly legal to be given this free land owned by the citizens of Vermilion County.
