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Parks board hears city due diligence on possible open-space purchase; council could consider contract Dec. 4
Summary
City staff told the Wilmington Parks and Recreation Advisory Board that the city is performing due diligence on a parcel reported in media accounts, that county and city allocations of $1,000,000 each and a conditional endowment grant have been identified, and that a contract could appear on Dec. 4 city council agenda if due diligence is complete.
City staff told the Wilmington Parks and Recreation Advisory Board on Nov. 19 that the city is conducting due diligence on a parcel reported in recent media accounts and that any public reporting about a purchase remains speculative while reviews continue.
"Anything that you're seeing in the media is just rumors and speculation," said the staff member (S5), who told the board the county previously approved $1,000,000 toward the project, the city has a resolution approving $1,000,000, and an endowment has conditionally awarded a matching grant. S5 said there is not yet a contract and the city has not announced the parcel's location because due diligence is ongoing.
The board pressed staff for clarification. A board member (S2) asked whether the city planned to purchase the parcel; S5 said the purchase is still only at the diligence stage. S5 told the advisory board that, if the paperwork can be completed in time, the contract to purchase could be placed on the Dec. 4 city council agenda; otherwise it would be considered in January.
Staff also walked members through a publicly shared map tool that shows acreage, tax value and ownership flags; S5 explained ways to bypass a pop-up login prompt so board members could access the map and return in January with parcel addresses for the board to review in detail.
Board members emphasized they would limit their formal recommendations to a small set of candidate sites. S5 asked members to suggest up to three parcels for staff to evaluate, noting the city has limited budget to buy private land without outside funding.
The advisory board took no formal action on a land purchase at the meeting. S5 identified existing steps in the purchasing process — due diligence, council consideration and potential funding sources — but did not name the parcel or provide a timeline beyond the possible Dec. 4 council agenda item.
Next steps: board members agreed to use the map, verify ownership of candidate sites (including Tenth and Fifth) and bring specific parcel information back to the board in January.
