Even in Receiving Gifts, Doing Your Homework Usually Pays Off Many public-minded donors love their communities and have the best of intentions. Still, towns and cities should use caution before accepting gifts, and should be clear about the intended use. By Stephanie Bouchard Everybody loves receiving a gift, right? Well, that depends. For most, getting a gift is a simple pleasure, but gifts are much more complicated for towns and cities. Take for example the Charlotte Rhoades Park and Butterfly Garden. Today a popular town park and cherished butterfly garden overlooking Norwood Cove that draws people from all over the country, the Charlotte Rhoades Park and Butterfly Garden was gifted to the town of Southwest Harbor in 1970. The trust agreement had several conditions, including directives about the home, called the Rhoades House, on the property. The trust also named the Sierra Club as a beneficiary of the property.
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Over the years, the condition of the home, built in the late 1800s, deteriorated. By 2013, the town realized that the cost to maintain the house was prohibitive and sought to demolish it and replace it with a structure that would enhance the park and butterfly garden, said Donald Lagrange, Southwest Harbor’s town manager. “We didn’t want to change the purpose of the gift,” he said, just remove the dilapidated building. But removing the building required an amendment to the trust agreement, a situation that required a formal legal process and approval from a judge. Amending or breaking the conditions of gifts given to municipalities is usually not an easy thing to do, said Attorney Shana Cook Mueller, of Berstein Shur, the law firm that represents Southwest Harbor. Because municipalities generally agree to the conditions in perpetuity, courts are reluctant to make changes without the consent of the donor or the donor’s heirs, which can be difficult, if not impossible, to get, she said. But because it is also impossible to predict the future, courts do allow amendments under certain
SOUTH DAKOTA MUNICIPALITIES
