County plans to sell quarry at Palouse

An unused former county rock quarry at Palouse will go on the auction block at the courthouse Feb. 19, after a Palouse resident asked Whitman County commissioners to put the county-owned land up for sale.

Palouse resident John Eastburn asked the county to offer the land.

Kathy Lemon, revenue officer in the treasurer’s office, said this particular site was acquired by the county in the 1930s thorough tax foreclosure. The county has used it as a rock quarry and never put the property up for bid, the normal process required when the county moves to collect overdue taxes.

Eastburn made a minimum bid of $1,500 on the site. The site is adjacent to the Breeding’s Addition in Palouse, property owned by Nicole Wood.

Wood’s partner Jim Farr has been in ongoing discussions with the city over the installation of utility lines. In the past, Farr has referred to Eastburn as his “representative.”

A Gazette call to Eastburn’s home was not returned by press time.