Cape County Commission takes up deed issue Monday

Cape Girardeau County commissioners are scheduled to decide the future of two deeds at Monday night's county commission meeting.

The deeds are to two properties housing the Cape Girardeau County Sheltered Workshop, more commonly known as VIP Industries. The properties are in Fruitland and Cape Girardeau.

The county's name is on both deeds, but the attorney for the Cape County Board for Developmentally Disabled said the deeds should be in his client's name. James A. Marks said the properties were bought with board money and no general county funds were used. He said Missouri law specifically empowers the board, not the county, to use those funds for the benefit of disabled residents in the county.

Marks said owning the properties is critical to board members being able to efficiently do their jobs. Having to request permission from the commission whenever they would like to do something affecting the property would unnecessarily complicate their job. He also said the commission had "better things to do" than waste resources "micromanaging the activities of the board."

Last week, Marks sent commissioners copies of an easement agreement and a letter addressed to the commission, both from 1991, that he said express the intent to deed the properties to the board.

Marks originally outlined his arguments to the commission at the July 22 meeting. Commissioner Jay Purcell said he was prepared to make a decision in favor of the board at the July meeting. Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones and Commissioner Paul Koeper, however, told Marks they needed more time to research the issue.

Koeper said that since the last meeting, he has been looking at state law, talking to other counties and reading the documents. He wanted to get legal counsel on the situation, but Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle, who the county uses as legal counsel, has not been able to meet with commissioners on the matter.

Koeper said he hopes to be able to make a decision Monday but is still uncomfortable doing so without speaking to a lawyer first.

"I am trying to get guidance from Morley. I hope to talk to him soon. I want it done right," he said.

Jones did not return calls for comment. At July's meeting, he said he planned to talk with other counties to learn how they handled similar situations.

Marks said he expects the commission to convey the properties to the board. He did not say what the board will do if it does not receive the deeds.

The commission will meet at 7 p.m. Monday at the county office building in Jackson.

cbartholomew@semissourian.com

243-8600

Pertinent Addresses

1 Barton Square, Jackson, MO

5616 U.S. 61, Jackson, MO

1330 Southern Expressway, Cape Girardeau, MO