Washington cancels property auction
Published August 15th, 2006
Washington’s City Council will not auction 16 city-owned parcels.
Instead, the council decided to pull two lots from the list of 16 lots the city intended to sell at auction and ask for auctioneers to submit bids on the pared list. The council will further explore its options at its Sept. 18 meeting.
During its meeting Monday, the council was expected to declare 16 city-owned parcels as surplus property and authorize the sale of those lots by Country Boys Auction & Realty Co.
A proposal, by the Rev. David Moore, chief executive officer of Metropolitan Housing and Community Development Corp., that the city donate two parcels (which could be subdivided into seven lots) to Metropolitan caused the council to hold off on selling the 16 parcels.
Earlier this year, Washington officials began looking at selling several lots the city owns in an effort to help cut recurring expenses associated with the lots and add some money to the city’s revenue stream. During budget sessions in the spring, council members discussed the possibility of the city divesting itself of the lots. In addition to bringing in additional revenue, the city would save money because it would not have to maintain those lots, council members said. That maintenance includes mowing vacant lots and keeping them clean.
The lots’ are valued at $121,392. The parcel with the highest value — $22,878 — is located on East Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. The parcel is part of the area where the John Small Elementary School once stood.
