City to bid on property

Seymour will pay up to $5,000 to buy property it already uses as part of Shields Park at an upcoming tax sale.

City officials agreed to bid for two small pieces of property at a public auction Wednesday, one on the north side corner of the Shields Park Pool parking lot and the other on the southeast corner of the park near the Little League baseball diamond.

That decision came after Parks and Recreation Director Jeff Vance explained the situation during a meeting Thursday morning of the Board of Public Works and Safety.

"These are not very big pieces of property," Vance said. "It was railroad property at one point and then was purchased by someone else."

Vance said he thought there was roughly $3,600 in taxes owed on the properties. Basically the park is shaped like a square and these are just two corners, he added.

"There's not enough land there to do anything with it," Vance said. "But if someone came in and bought it they could block off some of our parking to the pool."

The two pieces were never purchased by or donated to the city. According to minutes from an April 2007 board of works meeting, William Waldman of Railroad Properties LLP addressed the board about donating the property to the city. Board members decided to table the action until the parks board voted on the matter. At the May 2007 parks board meeting, officials unanimously approved the property transfer.

"We met with a representative of the owner and they were going to donate the property for a tax break," Vance said. "The park board agreed to accept the property but the donation never came to fruition and now it's up for sale."

Mayor Craig Luedeman said because there are property taxes owed on the land it was put up for sale, otherwise it probably would never have become an issue, he said.

"I think we still need to pursue having it donated to the city," Luedeman said.

Seymour Board of Public Works and Safety also on Thursday:

Agreed to seek for sewer repairs in the Eastside Industrial Park as part of the Third Street Sewer Project.

Approved to advertise for construction of the extension of Elsner Drive and the addition of a sanitary sewer lift station in the Eastside Industrial Park to access more than 20 acres of property for future industrial development.

Approved a request to close Robin Hood Drive and provide city barricades for an annual block party on Aug. 16.

Approved a request from Steve Doyle with the Fraternal Order of Eagles in Seymour to use the B&O Parking Lot behind the Eagles building on Second Street for the organization's annual picnic.

Approved a request from Toby Milroy of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Seymour to hold the annual V-J Day parade at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 10. The board also gave the VFW permission to hang a VJ Day banner across Chestnut Street.