The Nampa City Council voted to repeat statutory steps and schedule a public hearing on Dec. 1 concerning the city's intent to convey the Fort Idaho Center campus to the College of Western Idaho, after staff identified and cured title irregularities found during the transaction closing process.

City attorney Preston Rudder explained that as the city moved into the due-diligence and closing period for the conveyance, title review flagged two issues: (1) an unrecorded deed tied to larger parcels and (2) an omnibus transfer document recorded previously without a usable legal description. Staff worked with the county and with the urban renewal agency and on Oct. 29 recorded a corrective quitclaim deed and recorded a replacement instrument to remove the cloud on title.

Because a question could be raised about legal title as of the prior council votes (Sept. 15 and Oct. 6), Preston recommended redoing the statutory sequence (step one declaration of underutilized property and step two public hearing) now that title defects have been addressed. The proposed hearing will focus on the same property (the full Fort Idaho campus) and the same declaration that the property is underutilized and not being used for public purposes; the hearing will be limited to the proposal to convey to the College of Western Idaho following prior broader consideration.

Council members debated public trust, fiscal impacts and precedent. Some council members said repeating the steps is an unfortunate but necessary measure to remove any legal doubt given a recorded irregularity that dates to two decades earlier; others expressed concern about public perception and the effect on future legal challenges. The council voted to proceed and set a Dec. 1 public hearing. Mayor Klink cast the deciding voice in favor of moving the rehearing forward.