Cole County commissioners seek clarity from bank before auction of late farm owner’s land; was intended to become county park

COLE COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A late Cole County farmer owners' land is set to be auctioned on Feb. 7, even though he intended it to become a county park.

After a large group of family, friends and neighbors of Lawrence Renn Jr. showed up to continue their fight to stop the sale of the Elston farmland at Tuesday’s commission meeting, commissioners voted unanimously to reopen talks with Renn's trust bank.

Renn created a trust that stated 178 acres of his farm -- located off Route T and Elston Road in Elston-- would be leased to the county after his death for $1 a year. He died in 2021. But the county broke the 99-year lease after the bank told them how much money was available to develop and maintain the park.

“When we asked if there were going to be some funds available to help us develop this, we were told no," Presiding Commissioner Sam Bushman said. "The land was basically his gift and that would be like $15,000-to-$20,000.”

Bushman said taking that much money out of the county parks budget would not be doable.

“We did not have the funds to do it, so that is why we notified Hawthorn trust that we respectfully declined this gift,” Bushman said.

The county then went to court and withdrew from the trust, and the bank put the land up for auction.

But family and friends insisted millions was in the bank, specifically intended for the park.

“There's some miscommunication between the bank and Cole County about the amount of funds available for the development of this park,” neighbor Tony Brenneke said.

Bushman said he reached out to the bank last week about the money available.

“It's the same amount last week they gave me that they gave us in 2024," Bushman said. "The $3-to-$4 million, I don't know where it is or what it can be used for, but it's not being offered for the park."

And that's the issue commissioners are hoping Hawthorn Bank will sit down and clarify for them before the land is sold.

“If they say, ‘No, this $3-to-$4 million is going to be used for this or something else and it's not available for you,' then so be it," Bushman said. "A lot's going to hinge on what conversations we can perhaps have with Hawthorn Bank before Feb. 7.”

Tony Brenneke said there is one glaring concern that could cost them the land.

“One big question that we're left is is kind of why Hawthorn Bank not being 100% forthcoming with the county about what assets are available to develop this park,” Brenneke said.

The group at Tuesday's meeting left clapping and thanking the commission, hopeful the bank will be receptive to talks.

"Conversations between the bank and grantor, Lawrence Renn, before his passing as well as certain language in the trust, mandated that the trust was not to be the sole source of funding for the development and maintenance of the park and that it be a collaborative effort between the trust and the county," Hawthorn Bank said in a statement.

The bank said its worked over the past few years to exhaust all options, while still maintaining the language in his trust.

"Ultimately, both the Cole County Commission and Missouri State Parks declined to accept the gift of the conveyance of the land for the park, citing insufficient personnel and funding to undertake such a project," the statement said.