This time auctions turned out better

It appears two recent auctions of high profile land in Custer County have turned out well for all parties involved.
On Friday, Feb. 12, the remaining 133 acres on the former STAR Academy property south of Custer was sold to two local couples in the construction business for $1.325 million. Local couples Mark and Kim Nielsen and Haylee and Paul Vershure say part of their plan is to subdivide the property and construct residential homes on lots ranging in size from three to five acres.
This project will provide a much-needed boost to the depleted inventory of housing units in Custer and Custer County. Currently, as real estate agents can tell you, there is a significant shortage of homes on the market to meet an unprecedented demand. The state has received its share of positive national publicity due to the fact that we were never shut down during the recent and ongoing virus pandemic in the country. This certainly put South Dakota on the map and raised its profile significantly.
The Nielsens do business as Nielsen Enterprises, LLC and have experience in the truck hauling and excavating business in the area. The Vershures are residential housing contractors and do business as Alpha Builders. The matchup seems to be an ideal one because they have worked well together in the past. We look forward to the property being developed into much-needed residential housing.
Congratulations to the Nielsens and Vershures for stepping up to meet this need!
The second auction held Thursday, March 25, involved the 140 acres of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints compound about 25 miles southwest of Custer. Three former FLDS members, Patrick Pipkin, Andrew Chatwin and Claude Seth Cooke, purchased the property for $750,000. They did so to satisfy in part a $1.7 million in judgments owed them from successfully filing a federal lawsuit against the FLDS.
The three claimed they were illegally arrested and harassed by FLDS members in the towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., after severing ties with the FLDS. The two towns are FLDS strongholds. The three will not have to pay the $750,000 because it will go against the $1.7 million owed to them from the FLDS, which will still owe them nearly $1 million.
Pipkin said there is another side of the FLDS whose members do not follow the teachings of former “prophet” Warren Jeffs who is serving a life sentence plus 20 years for two counts of child sexual assault. He said he was not religious and did not “believe any of the teachings or nonsense they taught.”
It was encouraging to hear Pipkin declare, “It’s a good thing to see justice served and this kind of corruption come to an end. We want the people to know it’s changing and coming to an end.” We hope he and the others who are buying back the property are men of their word and things will change at the property which has been a haven for FLDS polygamists since 2006.
Let’s hope these important auctions will have a significant impact on a more positive future for Custer County and its citizens.