The Aberdeen City Council will consider a Public Works Committee recommendation Wednesday that would give Mayor Erik Larson or a designee authorization to make bids on property offered up at the Grays Harbor County tax title property auction Sept. 15.
Included with the agenda was a list of 17 properties that could be considered by the city. Larson was quick to point out, however, this list was put together to show the council all the properties that are up for auction in Aberdeen. There have been no decisions made on which properties the city might target at the auction.
A few of the properties on the list lie north of the Chehalis River, like the empty lot at 303 E. Market, across from the Bank of the Pacific at North H Street, with a recommended starting bid listed by the county at $37,125. But many are across the Chehalis in South Aberdeen. One is the old Saginaw Mill site, often used as a camping area by the homeless, where there was a fire last week. That piece of ground has a starting recommended bid of $3,260. Another lies nearby at 1010 W. Cushing with a recommended minimum bid of $2,250.
The reasoning behind the City Council recommendation that Larson be authorized to make bids at these auctions is to ensure more city involvement in their development. The property can be purchased by the city, which can then formulate a plan as to the best use of that property for the community. As Larson put it, at the last City Council meeting, rather than waiting for somebody else to come along to build the community, the city can take a more active role of its own.
The proposal reads, in part, “State law provides that the proceeds received by the county from the sale of such property will be distributed pro rata (proportionately) based on the taxes foreclosed on, which would include he city’s levy for its abatement costs. The distribution of proceeds would off set a portion of any successful bid made by the city.”
As Larson told The Daily World in an email Tuesday, “At this time we are not able to comment on how this may affect our bidding strategy, due to the impact it would have during the auction if such information were public.”
The recommendation also stated, “The rules of the auction require that bids made by the city be authorized by the City Council but the city’s bidding strategy should not be publicly announced prior to the auction.”
There are 13 additional properties in Hoquiam on the auction block. The remaining 10 include one in Montesano, one in McCleary and eight at Roosevelt Beach.
