City sells 3 of 4 lots in Everly
Remaining lot will be sold at auction
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Lot 9 will be sold during special auction between the only two bidders, Cody Dirks and Rick Beck.
And then there was one.
The Everly City Council on Monday approved the sale of three East Wilson Street lots, but a kerfuffle on the fourth property forced the council to hold the gavel on its sale. It will instead be sold during a special auction to the highest bidder of the two interested parties who originally bid on it.
According to council discussion, the legitimacy of a bid submitted on Lot 9 was questioned. It was allegedly accepted after the 3 p.m. deadline Monday, which wasn't allowed as per stipulations of the bidding process.
"If we messed one up, we just want to make it right with the parties involved," said Mayor Ron Thompson.
Cody Dirks and Rick Beck submitted bids for Lot 9, with Beck's bid receiving further scrutiny. City Clerk Kristi Fliss said she didn't have an exact timestamp on when the bid was submitted as it was allegedly received mere moments after the clock rolled over to 3 p.m.
Four city-owned lots were up for sale on East Wilson Street. The council previously agreed to hold a silent auction-style bidding process, with interested parties allowed to view previous bids and submit higher offers until the 3 p.m. deadline on Sept. 18.
The council had hoped the process would create a competitive bidding market. According to discussion, it had the opposite effect. Interested parties held their bids until the last moment in the hopes of winning the lots at bottom dollar instead of upping their offers throughout the weeks-long bidding period.
"We tried a different way of bidding and found out there were glitches," said Council Member Shaun Iske.
Dirks and Beck will be invited to a special meeting for an auction on Lot 9. Opening bid will start at the lowest price of the final two bids received on Sept. 18. If either party withdraws their offer, the lot will go to the other. Dirks bid $502 on Lot 9 while Beck bid $1,055.
The council originally set the minimum bid for each individual lot at $250. Dirks bought Lot 10 for $502, while Randy Mitchell bought Lot 11 for $350 and Lot 12 for $400.
The city has owned the East Wilson Street lots for several years. The council this year decided to sell them in the hopes of getting the properties off the city's books and back on the tax rolls.
