Council weighs explicit sale language, asks staff to add clarity to bond resolution

Council members raised repeated questions about whether a future sale—or sale of part—of the Crescent parcel would be allowed under the draft resolution and how sale proceeds would be treated. "I would like the option to sell a portion or sell the land be explicit in the resolution that we may adopt next week," Councilmember Nichols said, asking that the resolution and accompanying materials explicitly preserve the option to sell land if that becomes the preferred future path.

Bond counsel and administration replied that the resolution's broad language—authorizing acquisition, construction, improvement and related purposes—does not necessarily preclude later sale, but agreed to consult bond counsel and return with suggested wording. Staff said they could add preamble or caption language and bracketed options for the caption and Section 2 that would make the potential for sale explicit without changing the ballot-summarized question. A resident speaker during public comment also asked that any sale of property require that bond proceeds be retired and not reallocated to unrelated projects; staff acknowledged that disposition-of-proceeds language can be added and will be reviewed by bond counsel.

Why it matters: transparency about whether the city might later sell any portion of an asset voters helped authorize influences public trust and voting behavior. Council asked staff to come back with redlined resolution language and legal advice.