Adams County has all but admitted that it’s signed a contract to buy the former International Paper mill site from Rentech Inc.

County supervisors have publicly said they were interested in the 450-plus acre site for possible economic development use.

Rentech, the company that originally aimed to put a coal-to-liquids fuel facility in Natchez, has kept quiet about the possible sale.

All they’ve said is that the land is up for sale. The public isn’t privy to whether or not Rentech has accepted the county’s offer.

The asking price for the land is $8.5 million, which is nothing at which to sneeze.

Breaking that figure down by the approximate population shows that the purchase of the property — at the asking price — would be a little more than $265 per resident.

While we don’t know the county’s plans — and we think they should make them public as soon as a deal is consummated — we trust the aim of supervisors is to utilize the land to hopefully sell to taxpaying businesses and industries.

If that is the plan, then perhaps the county should engage the services of an industrial land planner to help ensure that the site is used in the best possible manner.

Huge industrial sites such as the IP site don’t come available often, so the county should make absolutely certain that it considers all aspects of breaking up the land.

Land is precious since, as the famous quote goes, they aren’t making any more of it.