New twist in sale of city lot
McCOOK, Neb. -- The City of McCook received a bid late last week which has disrupted, at least for the time being, the sale of city property to City Councilman Mike Gonzales.
The Gonzales family had planned to pay $1,540 for a 3500 sq. ft. partial lot just south of their Norris Avenue home. City Council approved earlier this month the second of three required readings to authorize the sale before receiving a bid from Eugene Morris recently. The Morris bid came in at 20 percent higher than the amount the Gonzales family planned to pay and has reset the process of selling the property back down to a first reading.
Morris contacted the Gazette Friday afternoon and said he would like to construct a military veteran's memorial on the property which could be viewed by individuals parked in the library parking lot.
City Manager Nate Schneider said Monday morning the bid was being treated as a high bid and would be scheduled for a first reading of a new ordinance, authorizing the sale of the property to Eugene Morris and/or Nancy J. Morris. The item is scheduled to be presented during City Council's December 1 meeting.
Schneider said he also plans to establish parameters related to bidding on the land in an effort to avoid last minute bids and bid amounts from going up in fractional amounts.
Schneider indicated he would recommend a drainage study to City Council as a possible way to determine costs related to mitigating drainage concerns raised by the Gonzales family.
Schneider and Councilman Gonzales have previously described the sale of the partial lot to the Gonzales family as a win-win scenario for both entities involved. Selling to the Gonzales family would allow the city to avoid the expense of addressing drainage issues on the property while providing the Gonzales family with control over the future of property directly adjacent to their home.
Schneider said in early November the property was too short to use for additional library parking stalls and city maintenance of landscaping on it didn't make a lot a sense. He said selling the property to the Gonzales family would provide them with the opportunity to utilize it to address water pooling issues which began after the library parking lot was constructed.
Schneider said the Gonzales family would be the only other entity besides the city with the ability to build on the lot, given its size and setback requirements.