Russ said the June 2008 contract finalizing the sale of the land did not contain any kind of clause that allowed it to revert to the county if the property was not developed. He said realistically Rentech will probably keep a significant portion of the site.

But Grennell said company officials have expressed willingness to work with the county and local economic development to market portions of the property for other industrial endeavors.

“We want (the property) and will actively work with Rentech to put the property back into play,” Russ said. “Initially, if you can get the right terms and conditions for selling the property, then you go that route. If the terms and conditions (of the sale) are so stringent that you start eliminating 75 percent of the clients that might need it, then the cost benefit gets to where you need to look at other options.”

What kind of details can be worked out with the company on the front end of negotiations will ultimately determine if county ownership of the property will be necessary to market it, Russ said.

Lessons learned

Hindsight is always 20-20, but the sale of the property, and the industrial stagnation of the land since then, may have provided a lesson for future industrial recruiting.

“You learn from experience, and maybe (a reverter clause) was something that we should have looked at in the process of the acquiescing of the International Paper (property),” Grennell said. “You definitely learn from it.”