The Platte City board of aldermen is expected to approve a plan to buy a piece of blighted property when it meets again this month.
City officials have negotiated a contract to purchase the property located at 208 Fourth Street. The property is about 0.63 acres and has a house that was built in 1947.
The property is located next to the former Lions Club building and once combined the total land area will be about 1.7 acres.
Platte City administrator DJ Gehrt told the Citizen the city began talking about the property after the former Lions Club property and building were donated to the city in 2019. Gehrt said not much got done on the subject last year for obvious reasons concerning the pandemic. The city had interest in the property because it could be combined with the Lion’s Club property. The city also saw the property acquisition as a chance to remove a blighted property in the city. The house has not been occupied in more than 20 years.
The city has negotiated a price of $65,000 with the property’s owner Tonia Best after the board discussed the issue in November of last year and told Gehrt to move forward.
The city did not contract with an appraisal service and used a recent appraisal to a similar property as a baseline to begin the negotiations. Best is responsible for the 2020 taxes. The city will be responsible for the closing costs that are estimated at around $1,500.
Once the city closes on the property the house will be demolished by one of two methods. City crews will demolish the building as part of its heavy equipment operators’ training program or work with the Central Platte Fire District to use the house for training.
The city budgeted $125,000 this fiscal year for such purchases.
Gehrt said the property will be added to the city’s parks inventory when the city updates its comprehensive plan later this summer. Gehrt said currently there are no plans for the property and the property will go through the proper planning.
“Although the end result will be some type of public use, the planning process will allow more residents to provide their ideas and thoughts before any final use decisions are made,” Gehrt said.