Otsego city is now considering selling a different property to a local businessman who wants to build a storage facility.
City commissioners authorized the sale of the former Co-Gen property on Helen Avenue in July, but the potential buyer has changed his mind, city manager Thad Beard said.
“He’s discontinued his interest in the south part of the property,” Beard said.
Now, the buyer is interested an adjoining lot also owned by the city.
Beard said, “He had issues there he decided he didn’t want to deal with, regarding the wells, the county drain and things there.”
The city, he continued, had a purchase agreement with buyer Ken Bleeker, who still wants to create a facility to store motorhomes and similar-sized vehicle. The city amended its zoning to have such facilities as a permitted use in an industrial zone.
What it needs is to complete the paperwork to get the property split to let Bleeker buy the part he wants.
“The only things to hold this up are commission approval and the new legal description,” Beard said.
The purchase price is about $35,000, Beard said, thought he city will have to pay about $1,800 for the process to subdivide it.
“The good news is the proceeds would go into the general fund, rather than the special projects fund,” he said.
The property in question was formerly part of the Rock Tenn mill property, but the city acquired it for back taxes after the mill closed. At the time the mill shut down, the city had been in discussions with the company to acquire it in a trade for another property.
Contact Dan Pepper at dpepper@allegannews.com or at (269) 673-5534 or (269) 685-9571.
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