Peoria City Council on Aug. 5 approved an amendment to council policy 3.1 that authorizes the city manager or a designee to bid for state trust land at upcoming state auctions when the parcels are tied to projects already included in the council-approved Capital Improvement Program (CIP). The motion passed 7-0.

City Manager Henry Darwin said the change is “an administrative” amendment meant to give staff the necessary authority to participate in the state land auction process without requiring every council member to attend an auction. Darwin said state land auctions have particular procedural requirements and that the proposed language would limit the delegated authority to purchases that are included in council-approved CIP and budget documents.

Darwin noted the city has budgeted $4,800,000 in the current fiscal year related to a planned purchase in the Pick area (referred to in materials as part of the Peoria Innovation Corps project) and said the amendment would give him authority to act on the city’s behalf at the state-land auction. He said that if the city needed to exceed that $4.8 million figure, it would return to council for additional budget authority.

Council members and members of the public asked for clarification about the scope of the delegation and its limits. Resident Paul Smith asked whether the amendment gave the city manager broad authority; Darwin and staff said the new subsection (section f) contains the restriction tying the authority to council-approved CIP projects and that the council communication omitted that phrase by mistake but the proposed policy language retains the limitation. Resident John Forsyth said he’d received citizen emails expressing distrust and suggested a time limit on the delegation; Forsyth later addressed recall topics in public comment.

Supporters also spoke. Joe Clore, a Mesquite District resident, said he supported the amendment and described it as a necessary logistical step to allow the city to participate in auctions and said “the guardrails” are council votes. Kelsey Rudin said she reviewed the materials and would vote yes, saying she did not want the city to lose an opportunity for economic development.

Council discussion emphasized that the authority is limited to CIP-approved projects and that any expenditure above the budgeted $4.8 million would require council approval and a budget amendment. Council voted to approve the policy amendment (agenda item 22R) 7-0.

Staff said the step is procedural to allow the city to participate in a state auction scheduled later in August for multiple parcels and to consolidate state land within city jurisdiction as part of longer-term planning for the Peoria Innovation Corps. Darwin and staff reiterated that the purchase authority is limited by the CIP budget and would require further council action to exceed the budgeted amount.