During a meeting of the Saline County Commission on August 5, it was announced a lease agreement has been signed, however the commission did not sign the lease, for a piece of property at Marshall Junction.

Bill Stouffer, the county’s lobbyist with Flotron & McIntosh and also a lobbyist for the National Steamboat Museum, which is tentatively planned to be placed at the Marshall Junction on the southwest corner- further south than where the Countryside Palace was located- was said to have signed the lease.

Stouffer later clarified it is actually a memorandum of understanding signed by Stouffer and Greg Swift.

At a special meeting of the Marshall-Saline Development Corporation (MSDC) Board on Friday, August 20, Stouffer said a lease agreement will not be signed until closer to time for construction to start.

Stouffer says the intent of the lease will be a 99-year agreement.

The memorandum of understanding is with the landowner that covers 18 acres m/l of farm land near the Countryside Palace.