Prairie Grove gains substation site at auction for $155,005
Posted on Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Prairie Grove managed to get a new fire substation location at a foreclosure auction at the Washington County Courthouse on Monday morning.
City Business Manager Larry Oelrich said the bidding opened at $ 155, 000 and the city paid $ 155, 005 for the nearly acre and a half.
Oelrich said actually utilizing the property at 1114 Little Elm Springs Road would take a while. The Prairie Grove Fire Department might slowly phase trucks and personnel to the new warehouse over time, he said, but not immediately.
"We probably won't use it in the near future," he said.
During a special meeting Friday, the Prairie Grove City Council unanimously authorized Mayor Sonny Hudson to pay up to $ 175, 000 for the 4, 032-square-foot building originally used by a honey jarring company. Hudson said he's just happy the city has an answer to its looming substation question.
The city originally wanted to build the substation on donated land off Giles Road, but the city's growth direction changed after the nearby Valley View subdivision was annexed into Farmington.
"I think it's great and that we're moving forward," Hudson said. "(The building ) is going to be large enough to do what we need, and we can expand on it in the future."
Hudson and Oelrich said there has only been an initial visual inspection of the building. A more detailed look needs to be done to see if any repairs or upgrades are needed immediately, they said.
Oelrich said most of the money for the purchase came from the city's 1 / 4-cent tax fund, otherwise known as the capital improvement fund. He said the tax is permanent and that even though the substation purchase would nearly deplete the balance, it would build itself up again quickly.
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