Resident asks to acquire 908 North Main; council members dispute prior email consent

Catherine Vance, a resident, told the Kennett City Council she lives next door to 908 North Main and asked about acquiring the property, which she said the city obtained through a tax-lien purchase. Vance said she would maintain the lot and proposed a five-year agreement to incorporate it into her yard; she suggested paying the amount the city paid at the tax sale so the city would not incur an additional outlay.

Council discussion showed the property’s recent history is unclear. One council member said the parcel had been intended to be given to the city by a previous owner, Edna Castleman, but that another buyer approached and acquired the property before the city took possession. Several council members said they were contacted individually in December about approving a sale to a private buyer and that they had declined to approve by email. Those members said they expected any sale or transfer to be ratified at a public council meeting.

A council member said an email subsequent to the December contacts indicated the sale had been approved, but other council members said they never voted in a public meeting and that the paperwork was not returned. No formal action to transfer the property or to approve Vance’s proposal was recorded in the meeting transcript.

The council did not vote on Ms. Vance’s request during the public participation segment. Council members noted tax deadlines and procedural requirements as factors in the December communications, and one speaker said the city had discussed taking the property out of county ownership but that formal documentation had not been completed.