From the 12/7 edition of the Beloit Daily News:
County takes hard line on swap
According to the story, the response to the counter-offer had to be received by noon the day after it had been made.If Mulder Dairy Farms can take a hard line, apparently, so can the county.
Rock County has made a counter offer to the land swap proposed by Mulder. In addition to getting more money for less acreage from Mulder Dairy Farms, the Rock County Board Staff Committee has recommended a prohibition on potential mining operations and a $45 million line of credit from Mulder Dairy Farms.
“We are looking out for the good old taxpayers of Rock County,” said Rock County Board Chairman Richard Ott, who also chairs the Staff Committee.
From the 12/8 edition of the Janesville Gazette:
Mulder refuses counteroffer; land swap vote looms
The controversial proposal to swap land between Rock County and Mulder Dairy Farms will come down to next week's county board meeting.
Mulder will not respond to a counteroffer sent by the county Wednesday. Instead, it wants the board to vote on its most recent proposal, Mulder announced in a written statement passed out at Thursday's special county board meeting.
"We are sorry if the land and money MDF (Mulder Dairy Farms) has made available does not meet the expectations of the Rock County staff and supervisors," the statement from Mulder President Bill Watson reads. "Our offer is the best we can do."
That county board meeting is on Thursday of this week.
One final story from 12/10 in the Janesville Gazette:
Get the drop on the swap
Confused about the proposed land swap between Mulder Dairy Farms and Rock County?
Join the club.
New details are revealed about the deal every day, and the number of players, parcels and caveats involved in the plan are enough to make anyone's head spin.
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions:
Q: Why does the proposal include such a tight deadline?
A: The written offer from Mulder states that the county board must make a decision by Friday in order to meet a closing deadline of Friday, Dec. 29.
Mulder President Bill Watson said the Dec. 29 deadline is for tax and health purposes and is inflexible.
Health purposes?
Watson and company founder Gerry Mulder Sr., who also is Watson's father-in-law, want to conclude the deal as quickly as possible because they both have had health problems in the past year, Watson added.
Gerry is almost 90, and Watson had a heart attack in the spring.The two don't want to burden their family with the deal if their health takes a turn for the worse, Watson said.
Another question? Yes, you in the back.
Q: Who would pay for a new baseball stadium and fairgrounds?
A: The swap has been pitched to the county as a way to move the crowded and outdated 4-H Fairgrounds in downtown Janesville to a better location at no cost to taxpayers. County officials estimate the cost of moving the fairgrounds between $37 million and $44 million, while a feasibility study from the Beloit Snappers estimated costs of a new stadium to range from $18 million to $20 million.
One more excerpt? Yes, the one at the end that kind of mentions the Rattlers.
Q: Who would own the Snappers baseball team and a new stadium?
A: Like the Green Bay Packers, the Beloit Snappers are not owned by an individual or a group of stockholders. Instead, the team is owned by a private not-for-profit organization, the Beloit Professional Baseball Association, which is dedicated solely to operating the team.
That wouldn't change if the Snappers moved, said Dennis Conerton, chairman of the organization's board.The question of who would own the stadium is more complicated, Conerton said.
Perhaps the best option would be to create an independent sports authority to run the stadium, he said. Baseball stadiums in Appleton and Milwaukee are operated that way.
More questions and answers at the link. Including something about the mining thing up in the first story at the top of the post.
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