CHANDLER — More than two months after city officials here voted to purchase 29 acres near Winchester Park from Stanley McCurley, the parties still have not closed on the deal as attorneys for both parties examine the legal implications for transferring temporary ownership to the Texas Parks and Recreation Foundation.

“The city is not taking ownership of the property,” city administrator Jim Moffeit said. “The foundation is actually going to own it. It’s like a trust. The foundation will hold the title, but the city can get the title back any time it requests it.”

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department grant programs are a motivating factor in Chandler’s acquisition of the land. The agency’s “small community grant” program offers money to state municipalities and counties with populations under 20,000.

The grants provide 50 percent matching funds, with the maximum amount awarded $75,000.

Moffeit said the state agency allows the assessed value at purchase to be used as matching funds in a parks grant. However, state law prohibits Chandler from using that program if it owns the property, according to the foundation.

“State regulations do not allow the use of govermentowned park property as an in-kind match for park development grants,” the foundation’s Web site says. “By holding title to property during the grant review process, the foundation makes it possible to (use) the value of the property and maintain its eligibility for grant assistance.”

Park land typically remains with the foundation for five years, Moffeit said. The cost to use the program is $100 a year.

McCurley and the city have agreed on contract terms, but their attorneys are reviewing contingency scenarios in the event Chandler defaults on its payments.

“I can’t envision the city ever defaulting, but Stanley’s attorney wants to be sure his client is protected if that happened.”

Agreeing to transfer the land to the Texas Parks and Recreation Foundation is the final step in negotiations before buyer and seller set a closing date.

They’ve already agreed on a sale price of $585,000 on the property at 802 Martin St., with a $200,000 down payment. The remaining $385,000 will be paid at 6 percent over the next 10 years.

The two sides also reached a compromise on early payoff. If Chandler satisfies the debt in five years, the penalty would be about $18,000.

At closing, McCurley would have four months to vacate the property, which includes a house, swimming pool and other buildings.

“Once the contract is signed, we could close within 10 to 20 days,” Moffeit said. “We’ve got to get everybody on the same page. And that’s proven to be difficult.”

The proximity of the property to Winchester Park on Farm-to-Market Road 315 makes it attractive to city officials for possible recreational expansion or a government complex that would feature a community center, City Hall, chamber of commerce, and police department.

Moffeit has said all four departments, housed in one building on State Highway 31, are cramped and running out of space.

Planning Concepts, a consulting firm in Tyler, has been retained to draft plans on how to best use the land and Winchester Park as Chandler prepares for what is projected to be substantial growth in Smith and Henderson counties over the next 30 years.

Chandler officials initially discussed purchasing 14 acres of McCurley’s land before an offer was made on the entire property. Mc- Curley’s asking price was $650,000.