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Commission discusses appraisals and remediation for former jail and adjacent electric plant site
Summary
City staff told the Columbia City Commission that appraisers are reluctant to value the former jail and nearby electric plant, that appraisals will likely return a range rather than a single number, and that environmental remediation planning is underway with counsel and an environmental firm; staff said insurance recovery or settlement may cover some cleanup costs.
Columbia City commissioners heard updates on efforts to appraise and prepare the former jail and adjacent former electric light plant for reuse, and staff said environmental cleanup planning is underway.
City staff reported difficulty finding appraisers willing to value the property and cautioned that appraisals may produce a range of values rather than a single market price because there are few comparable properties. A figure of $568,250 was cited in the discussion as an example of an appraised amount, but staff said that value is unlikely to reflect sale price for a structure that may be hard to reuse and that demolition costs would reduce net value.
Staff said the city will issue a request for proposals to solicit redevelopment options, including full redevelopment, partial reuse or a public–private partnership. "I need this. I need this," a staff member said, describing the urgency of obtaining appraisals and proposals. The staff member added that appraisals are intended to give the city "a general idea of what it's worth," not to signal buyer interest: "they don't actually have interest in purchasing it. They're just giving us a general idea of what it's worth."
On environmental matters, staff said the city has a meeting set with the city attorney and the environmental attorney, Angela, and that an environmental firm (referred to in the discussion as Stevens) has been working through remediation options. Staff relayed that the firm provided a rough remediation cost described informally as a "six or seven digit" figure and said the city will pursue further study to identify issues and remediation steps. Staff emphasized that the remediation process may be pursued through insurance recovery or an environmental settlement but that the city needs "some form of site control" before moving forward with cost recovery.
The commission did not take a final vote on disposition or remediation at the meeting; staff said they were working to obtain three appraisals and expected to circulate a draft RFP and appraisal results to commissioners for further action. The next procedural steps described were: obtain the remaining appraisals, issue the RFP to attract a range of redevelopment proposals, and complete additional environmental study to refine cleanup costs and options.
