Mille Lacs news — Izatys auction, McGrath meltdown

I think most people in the room at Izatys were surprised that the place went for $2.9 million ($3,080,000 including the auction company's fees). Probably a few were kicking themselves for not trying a little harder to buy the place themselves.

Apparently nobody really wanted it. It'll take a lot of money to bring it to the next level. Everybody thinks a really nice hotel with a water park etc. etc. would be great for the area, but apparently nobody with deep pockets was willing to take the risk.

The guys who bought it don't alleviate the fears of those dependent on the Izatys amenities and name for their property values or income. The most strange and shocking thing about it was that the partnership was formed on the spur of the moment. One of the partners didn't know another one's name.

Questions remain. Will the bankruptcy court accept the result? Will someone sneak in and make the owners a better offer? Will the financing of Christenson et al. pan out?

Read about it at www.millelacsmessenger.com or www.millelacs.us. There's also a video that gives you a flavor for the proceedings.

I'm surprised that the Band wasn't involved, as far as we know. (I don't know the identity of the mysterious phone bidder yet, but a lot of people were guessing it was the Band. One guy said he was told it was Ruttger's. I'll try to get the answer tomorrow.) I would've thought the Band would want the land as an investment. It's smack dab in the middle of their homeland, what they consider their reservation. Apparently they looked pretty seriously at it before Kramber and company bought it, and the numbers didn't add up. Two Band officials told Bob Statz they weren't interested, but I thought they were just keeping him off the trail. Why would they tell the truth to a newspaper reporter? 

Rob went to the McGrath City Council meeting tonight, a day after his "McGrath meltdown" story hit the newsstand. The meeting lasted nine minutes. The city clerk and city attorney quit. Mayor Bullen accused Rob of lying or misquoting him. Crazy stuff.

We're also working on a story about how Sheriff Brent Lindgren is investigating a theft of the undersheriff's gun. We reported that the undersheriff, Alan Marxhausen, had left his gun in a bathroom and was picked up and brought to the Milaca Chief of police. How that's a theft is beyond me. The guy was apparently trying to do the right thing.

Seems to me the sheriff and undersheriff should've come clean, apologized, and moved on. Trying to turn this into an investigation of the guy who turned in the gun seems crazy, but maybe I don't know the whole story.