A request by a business owner seeking to purchase 1.9 acres of city-owned land north of the National Guard armory at the Indianola Municipal Airport hit some turbulence and was grounded pending the receipt of a recommendation from the Airport Board.
The Indianola Board of Aldermen decided on Monday night to take no action on a proposal made by T. J. Russell until the information is received. He is seeking the land to establish a crop spraying service.
"We're just wanting to build a permanent facility there to do our ag work out of,” he said.
Alderman Marvin Elder questioned if it was a good idea for the city to sell the property. He first asked, "How much property we own out there?” He then asked, “How much we giving up ownership out there at that airport for private industry?"
Elder also questioned how many other people might be interested in that same piece of property and asked about advertising it.
Acting City Attorney Dean Belk said the first step would be to advertise for competitive bids and get the property appraised by three appraisers. However, he is suggesting that the city sends the request back to the Airport Board to get their recommendation.
He implied that they may prefer a long-term lease with certain provisions over actually selling the property outright. Elder said," I'm really not for selling it. But, I’m for you upgrading something for your use out there, and not a 50-year lease." Mayor Steve Rosenthal said he had concerns similar to Elder’s. He said he would feel better about advertising it.
And although Russell purportedly presented a letter from the Airport Board stating that they were okay with him acquiring the property, the Aldermen, nonetheless, requested that he go back to the Airport Board and get a more specific recommendation in writing on how they think it should be conveyed.
“I would like to see them give us a recommendation. We can choose whatever we want to do as a board,” Rosenthal said. Russell said, “We're willing to offer quite a bit of money per acre.” The proposed purchase purportedly represents a $300,000 investment for Russell.
Elder then raised the issue of the possible future value of the land. "If you were willing to pay that type of money for the property. I was wondering if the value of that property might be worth two or three million dollars cause if you're going to pay this much what is the plan for this property 20 or 25 years from now? We need to know before we sell that property that's why I'm saying hold on to this property,” Elder said.
Although Russell said they were only looking to purchase two acres Elder still replied, "We still want to know what's in that basket."
They also discussed a road that provides access to the section being considered for purchase and Russell said that if the city would sell him the property he would be willing to buy gravel to repave the city-owned road that leads to the North end of the airport if the city would provide the labor.
Rosenthal said they will discuss it at their next meeting and ensured that no documents would be signed without board approval.
In other business,
The city leaders voted to terminate the contract with its current uniform provider Aramark and sign a new agreement with Cintas based on state contract pricing.
They discussed the possibility of providing rewards to citizens who called in on an anonymous tip line to give information about persons discharging firearms within the city limits.
The city has already initiated an anonymous tip line for calling in information regarding crimes with the possibility of receiving reward without identifying who you are. The tip line number is 887-9181.
Chief Edrick Hall is supposed to bring information to the next meeting regarding how the process should work. Rosenthal asked if city funds could be used for the reward and Belk said he would have to check on it.
After a closed executive session, they voted to hire five of the six people recommended by Public Works Director Robert Spurlock.
They also voted to promote Lieutenant William Jones with the fire department to the level of Captain.
They also discussed the 2018 home rehabilitation grant and Rosenthal told the members that eight homes had been selected to be rehabbed, but out of that number, only four have been primarily approved.
According to Rosenthal one has been deemed ineligible and three others may be ineligible because of property liens. He said they would try to hopefully get those cleared up. Alderman Sam Brock asked if additional homes could be added and asked about the criterion used to select the homes that were already selected.
