How quickly we forget especially when it serves our purpose. John is the one that brought up the idea of selling the ranch in his very “first email.” The Sweatt’s came up with a workable plan to save the ranch and keep it in one piece which was rejected out of hand by John without the slightest idea what the plan entailed. That suggested to me he had no intensions of leaving the property and likely thought it could be avoided if he could just persuade the Sweatt’s to sign on to the J&J plan. In our first meeting, the four stockholders along with attorneys on BOTH sides, agreed together to sale the ranch as John suggested. His “story” continues to evolve over time to best support his case depending on the current situation. In fact there is a 99 year leases between Alpha and Freedom Ranch. It was put in place primarily to allow Alpha to continue to operate on freedom Ranch corporate property. That lease was for $5,000 per month as stated “here” by John. That lease was for the middle parcel where the pavilion and main building are located. That piece is just over 15 acres and was set aside by Bill Sherman in the Okeechobee County property appraiser’s office for the church. John is fully aware of this but once again John has vacillated and now is trying to make the case that the 99 year lease covers the entire 138 acres, or all three parcels. Alpha paid that lease for a period of time until John decided it was unnecessary and then stopped paying it to force foreclosure. John and some of his board members did set up an agreement between Alpha and Freedom Ranch that would allow Alpha to stay on the property in return for the $5,000. He believes “his” 99 year lease entitles Alpha to stay on the property regardless of whether or not it is sold. He told the realtor, and I’ll paraphrase “let anybody he shows the property to know that Alpha has a 99 year lease”. Does that sound lucid to anyone or is just me?
“Your plan”
Note: If you care to check me on the above, just go to the county GIS map site HERE and type “freedom ranch” in the search box next to “owner’s name”. Click “run search” about midway down the page and it will take you to the page showing the three parcels. All the way to the right of the one marked FREEDOM RANCH INC (CHURCHES) you will see in small blue letters “GIS map”. Click that and you will then see the middle parcel outlined in red, 15.84 acres.