When Bill Hofstetter learned about available properties in the immediate proximity of Ledges Park in Thompson Township, the trustee of the Frances Spatz Leighton Trust…
When Bill Hofstetter learned about available properties in the immediate proximity of Ledges Park in Thompson Township, the trustee of the Frances Spatz Leighton Trust questioned whether the beneficiaries might be willing to combine their money to allow something resembling Leighton’s original objectives to be accomplished.
The dilemma Hofstetter, a Chardon attorney, faces is how to spend the nearly $288,000 left in the former Ledgemont Schools trust account, now that the school district no longer exists.
Leighton was a Thompson High School graduate who passed away in 2007 in Arlington, Va., at the age of 87. In her will, she named Thompson Township and the school district as beneficiaries of her estate, which included cash and property in several states.
The township ultimately assigned its interest to the Thompson Township Park Commission, which, after certain expenditures, has $424,830 remaining in its account.
Last week, Thompson Township Trustees and members of the Thompson Township Park Commission met in executive session to discuss a possible land purchase.
Prior to adjourning into a closed work session, however, park commission member Fred Green said he had prepared a purchase agreement to have the park commission buy the Crandall property, including 20 acres of vacant land as well as the buildings that once comprised the Crandall Ford dealership, at 16600 Thompson Road.
Green explained the park commission and the owners of the Crandall property are currently negotiating terms of a deal.
“We do not have a signed contract between the parties,” Green said. “The park is primarily interested in the vacant land, I suppose partly because there was some concern that now that the old school has been sold, we would lose our prior access to property that we own further to the north.”
He added, “Part of the property is not particularly interesting environmentally until you go back further to the north and then we do have some land that is interesting ecologically, so that would lend itself to nature trails or whatever. So, there are a variety of interests to the park for this real estate, so that’s where we’re at now.”
Trustee Al Safick interrupted Green and moved that further discussion be held in closed session.
“I’m sorry, I don’t want this out and about to the public in any way,” said Safick.
In response to questioning from the Geauga County Maple Leaf, Safick said the township — which is a separate legal entity from the park commission — could “possibly be part of this purchase,” so that was why trustees went into executive session with park commissioner members.
“There are many variables in this interested parcel and both boards want to go into executive session to discuss the variables that would take place to make this purchase happen,” he added. “We are doing a work session for that, to see if it’s viable to do something.”
Trustees then voted 2-0 to enter into closed session, with Safick and Trustee Frank Sirna voting yes, and Trustee Erwin “Kok” Leffel abstaining.
Prior to exiting the room, the Maple Leaf told trustees and commission members it did not believe discussion regarding possible uses of Ledgemont Schools’ trust money in any potential land purchase could take place in closed session, as neither entity is the beneficiary of those funds.
On June 10, Hofstetter met in a work session with township trustees, former Ledgemont Schools board members and park commission members to discuss potential solutions and uses for the school district’s money
He said the beneficiaries had an opportunity to combine their funds — totaling more than $700,000 — to purchase property that would provide access to effectively land-locked property the park commission owns behind the old high school.
“It could benefit the same people, there could be educational opportunities for nature things, that could be operated by either the school, which will soon be Berkshire, or the park commission, or the trustees,” Hofstetter said at the June 10 meeting.
“That’s not something that we, as the board of trustees, are looking at at this time,” Safick told the Maple Leaf.
“And they can’t touch that money,” added Green.
However, two independent sources familiar with the discussions that took place in the closed work session told the Maple Leaf potential uses of the Ledgemont trust money in the land purchase was discussed.
Any uses of the Ledgemont Schools trust money would need to be approved by the Geauga County Probate Court, Hofstetter previously said.
