By DAVID CAMPHOUSE
Submitted photo
A special Village Board meeting held Wednesday, December 11, the Village the Bluffs purchased the Mueller General Building and the lot it occupies, along with an adjacent empty lot south of the General Store and north of the Village Hall. In return, the Village paid property owner Lance Mueller $130,000 and transferred to his ownership an empty city-owned lot at 204 West Wilson Street.
In a brief but productive meeting on Wednesday, December 11, the Village Board of Bluffs convened to discuss and approve a real estate exchange with local business owner Lance Mueller.
The meeting, which began promptly at 12:04 p.m., saw the attendance of board members Kathy Brooks, Chuck Pine, Brenda Kauffman, and Tim Welch.
The primary agenda item for the meeting was a public hearing on the proposed exchange of real estate between the Village of Bluffs and Lance Mueller. The proposal involved the Village purchasing the Mueller General Building and the lot it occupies, along with an adjacent empty lot south of the General Store and north of the Village Hall. In return, the Village would trade an empty lot it owns at 204 West Wilson Street and pay Mueller $130,000.
Despite the opportunity for public input, no members of the public were present to comment on the proposal. The board discussed the exchange and found no need for modifications, agreeing to proceed as initially presented.
Tim Welch made a motion to adopt Ordinance 510, which approved the real estate exchange and authorized Village officers to take all necessary actions to complete the transaction. Chuck Pine seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.
Further, Welch proposed the immediate payment of $1,000 in earnest money to Mueller, with the remaining $129,000 to be paid at closing. The funds would be sourced from both the General Fund and the TIF Fund, in the amounts of $19,000 and $110,000 respectively. This motion was seconded by Pine and approved by all board members.
Bluffs Village President Linda Sapp said that the purchase of the Mueller property was an exciting development for the Village. Sapp went on to say that the fast timeline of the purchase of the property had not allowed the Village government to come to a consensus on uses for the building that was purchased.
“It’s a future vision for the Village,” Sapp said. “We have several possibilities. It all came about so suddenly that we haven’t really had time to talk about it too much.”
In the short-term, Sapp stated that the addition of the adjacent property to the Village Hall would make things more efficient for Village employees and more convenient for residents.
“We had been hoping to add more parking,” Sapp said. “Right now, we’ll be able to store our trucks with salt in the back of the property.”
Sapp indicated that the Village Board would continue to discuss best uses for the newly acquired property.
“We just had a vision of how this could enhance the Village for the future.” Sapp said. “We’ll continue to discuss how best to utilize it.”
Sapp also stated that she would be seeking grant funding to assist the Village make improvements to the structure and property acquired from Mueller.
Wednesday’s special Village Board meeting concluded with a motion to adjourn at 12:12 p.m., made by Kathy Brooks and seconded by Chuck Pine, with unanimous agreement from the board.
