Mayor (unnamed) said the city council voted to approve his proposal to offer the vacant Helen Mae Sauter school building at 130 Elm Street for sale through a request-for-proposals process.

The action matters because the building has been vacant since 2022, the mayor said, and the city aims to avoid becoming an absentee landlord while seeking a redevelopment plan that returns the parcel to the tax rolls and preserves the building where feasible.

The mayor described the RFP process: his office will work with purchasing, the city assessor, and the city legal department to prepare a bid package. He said a committee of three to five reviewers will evaluate technical proposals first — not simply the highest bid — and look at planned uses, renovation plans and proof of financing. "Now those technical proposals include, this is what I'd like to do with the building, this is how I plan to do it, this is the renovations I intend to make to get to that intended use, and this is how I've secured financing to be able to do that," the mayor said. He said potential uses range from senior housing to office space or condominiums and that the city can reject all proposals and keep the building if none are acceptable.

On the related parcel-by-parcel ownership, the mayor said the city will retain the Big Chair and the playground parcel. He said other features, such as the retaining wall and areas in front of Stonefield, were treated as separate parcels during the parcel-creation process.

This was described as a formally approved city-council action to proceed with an RFP; the mayor said the RFP itself had not yet been released and that his office would announce it when ready.

Less critical details: the mayor thanked staff coordinating the work and said the RFP is the same process the city has used previously when selling non-GRA city properties.