Three Rivers trustees debate Drury donation

A Three Rivers Community College trustee questioned the recent Drury Southwest donation of the Pear Tree Inn and adjacent restaurant building, but found himself in the minority, apart from the college foundation which initially turned down the large gift.

Board member Steve Cookson voted against adopting the resolution of the property, but the action passed 4-1 during the board meeting Thursday, with trustee Randy Grassham abstaining, the Daily American Republic reported.

"I feel like we're going a little bit fast," said Cookson.

He said he did not know what the junior college planned to do with the property, what the cost would be and whether an attorney had looked over the stipulations.

Negotiations have been made with the donor's corporate counsel, said Three Rivers president Dr. Devin Stephenson, adding that Poplar Bluff attorney Danny Moore examined the restrictions in detail.

Limitations include using the estate for establishments that may diminish the value of the neighboring Drury Inn, also owned by the Cape Girardeau-based corporation, such as a hotel, dormitory, "head shop," gambling parlor, or a place that sells obscene materials, or exhibits partially nude persons.

Stephenson said the property could be used as instructional rooms, federal program offices, a TV/radio studio, or a center for tech support, conferences, workforce solutions and small business development. Its use will be determined within two years, he said.

Stephenson said the college was also approached by two developers, one of which allegedly agreed to pay for the demolition of the structures, estimated at $75,000.

Board treasurer Randy Winston asked board vice chair Marion Tibbs, also the Butler County assessor, how much the value of the property would be if the building were razed. He estimated the worth of the approximate 77,000 square feet of land to be more than $1 million at the high end, and a minimum of about $500,000.

Winston compared the potential profit to the $1,062 in annual taxes that the college is losing on the newly acquired property.

"And the downside to that is?" he asked Cookson.

Before Winston made the motion confirming the donation, Cookson passed around a list of 23 questions he had written regarding the declaration.

One of his notes pointed out the language of the term, which states the easements will continue perpetually until "21 years less 91 days after the death of the last survivor of all the descendants of George Herbert Walker Bush living on the date hereof."

Tibbs made light of exchange by sharing the origin of the proverb, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth."

"If, and a big if, we had not had to work so diligently to pursue the Pear Tree, perhaps we could have gotten a better value," he said.

Stephenson drove in from Alabama back in March, a few months prior to filling his post as president, to meet with Drury officials and make a proposal for the property to go directly to the college.

John Stanard, chairman for the Three Rivers Foundation was at the meeting. He requested an opportunity to "dispel what has turned into sort of a rumor mill," regarding the hotel and restaurant acquisition.

Stanard said the foundation was contacted by Drury officials months ago. He said the restrictions were unavailable at the time. Considering that the building "did not lend itself to very many uses," the foundation members decided they were not interested.

"Gentlemen, that is the complete extent of our involvement," Stanard said. "I continue to hear rumors that come from some of these board members sitting here today that the foundation was trying to take the Pear Tree Inn away from the college, and I just would like to say

publicly that nothing could be further from the truth."

Winston seized the opportunity to ask if a Three Rivers trustee, or preferably a member of the college's executive cabinet, "could be a player at the table with the foundation." The trustee reminded Stanard that Joe Scott, foundation vice chair, vowed during the June board

meeting to work to have a more open dialogue with the college.

Stanard said he recently met with Stephenson on two occasions, inviting him to the next foundation meeting to "hear his visions."

"I hope we can work together because that's the best way to end all this," Winston said. "I hear rumors, you hear rumors, and you don't know what I've said because this is the first time I've ever spoken to you, as far as I know, other than just to say, 'Hi.'"

Stanard said: "I think you're fabricating a lot of what you're saying.

"We've raised upward to $6 million in the last 20 years and there (is) a lot of evidence here on this campus of how we've helped the college," Stanard said. "So that's where we are, and that's it."