City begins process to acquire property

After being unable to reach an agreement through several years of negotiating for the purchase of a property located at 326 West Sixth St., the city of Concordia will begin the eminent domain process.
The Concordia city commission adopted a resolution during its regular meeting on Wednesday that authorizes the city to appropriate, through the exercise of eminent domain, the property located at 326 West Sixth St. for the purpose of improvements and creation of a parking lot, and grants authorization to obtain a survey and description of the land or interests to be condemned.
A tax increment financing (TIF) redevelopment plan calling for the demolition of two dilapidated houses in the 300 block of West Sixth Street, and the construction of a public parking lot that would benefit local businesses and the Brown Grand Theatre, was approved by the city commission back in August.
The city already owns the property located at 330 West Sixth St.
City attorney Justin Ferrell informed the commission on Wednesday that the city has been attempting to acquire the property at 326 West Sixth St. for many years.
“At one point in time it did appear that we had a deal in principal. That deal now appears to be in jeopardy, or just is really no longer valid,” Ferrell said. “Essentially what has happened is there has been a demand for a larger sum of money than what the home is worth.”
Ferrell said that there are two options at this point in time.
“We condemn the structure, which it really, truly should have been condemned, in all honestly, years and years ago, but we don’t end up getting the property it is on. So then we have to look at an eminent domain type of situation,” Ferrell said. “Which is something we can do. It will be used for a public purpose and for public interests.”
Ferrell said that eminent domain is a very thorough process. It assures that when taking private property the owner is justly compensated.
The passing of the resolution by the commission begins the long, tedious process that first includes a land survey of the property. Ferrell said that would likely take until the next commission meeting, which will be November 4.
The commission would then need to pass an ordinance which states that the city believes the property condemnation and taking is in the best public interest and directs Ferrell to petition for eminent domain.
The petition is filed and the city will need to ask the court for permission to serve notice by publication.
During a hearing, a court will determine if the city has the power and proper purpose for eminent domain. If so, the court will appoint three people to make an appraisal on the property; two must have appraisal experience.
A public hearing will be set by the appraisers during which the city and interested parties can state their case regarding the value of the property. That is usually done within 45 days of the court’s appointment of the appraisers.
After the appraisal process, the amount is determined and filed with the court. The notice of the filing of the report is sent to all interested parties.
Fees and appraisal costs are paid by the city.
If an appeal is filed after the report is filed, there will be a jury trial. It could be 30-60 days before a trial occurs.
If the amount is not appealed, the city pays the amount and files documents to obtain the title to the property.
Ferrell said that the process would more than likely be finished next spring.
Prior to voting to approve the resolution, commissioner Chuck Lambertz said that he is personally conflicted on the issue.
“I don’t like eminent domain,” Lambertz said. “It remains my hope that the parties involved will find that it is much more agreeable to enter into a private agreement. That is certainly my hope. I don’t like the idea of big, bad government taking someone’s property. But we had a pretty square deal that has not been responded to since then. So my hope is it won’t come to this.”
In other action taken during the meeting, the commission approved an addendum to the water tower lease agreement with Nex-Tech Wireless.
Nex-Tech Wireless and U.S. Cellular lease space on the city’s east water tower for an antennae and equipment at a rate of $750 per month. That creates a revenue stream for the city of $18,000 annually which goes to the water fund.
The city has contracted with Suez to repaint the water tower this fall.
In order to complete the work, both cellular providers will have to re-mount their equipment and cabling as not to interfere with the repainting and subsequent maintenance by Suez.
Suez provided both companies a price to perform the necessary work.
Nex-Tech has requested that the city grant temporary relief of the lease payment to recoup a portion of the expense incurred by the necessary work. Two options were provided which included reducing the lease payment $400 per month for 14 years or paying nothing for seven years.
The city countered with an offer to do away with the payment for four years.
Nex-Tech management agreed to the option offered by the city.
Creighton Remus, site acquisition/project manager for Nex-Tech, met with the commission during the meeting.
Remus said that the addendum that was agreed upon would offset about half of the Nex-Tech’s expense for making the upgrades.
“We have been with you for a long time, and we felt it would be better to stay if we could work out this addendum to offset some of that price. We were really surprised on how much it cost to make these changes,” Remus said.
Under the addendum, the Nex-Tech payments will go back to $750 per month on September 20, 2024.
The commission also approved a resolution to adopt changes to the city’s employee handbook.
Following up on a discussion during the October 7 meeting, the commission adjourned to study session on the city’s animal control ordinance.
Issues discussed during the study session included proposed ordinances to deal with animal bites and local licensing for the fostering of animals within the city limits.