By DANIEL SUDDEATH
A deal for the city to acquire the former Coyle Dodge property along Spring Street is not dead, New Albany Deputy Mayor Carl Malysz said Monday.
“We are preparing a specific proposal to establish terms for the purchase and source of funding,” Malysz said.
Such a purchase would have to be approved by the City Council, which Malysz said initiated the Coyle proposal. In September, the council defeated a measure that would have placed the Coyle property in a tax-increment financing district.
A few days after the vote, the Coyle family agreed to cap New Albany’s portion of environmental cleanup costs for the site at $150,000 if the city purchased the property.
A city-funded assessment placed cleanup costs at between $250,000 and $350,000 for the property. The initial offer asked New Albany to pay for all the cleanup.
The first offer of $1.1 million plus the cleanup cost came through the New Albany Redevelopment Commission, though the funding for the purchase would have to be approved by the council.
The Spring Street property has been appraised at $1.8 million. Chris Coyle, owner of Coyle Dodge, said in September the $150,000-cap for city cleanup expenses was meant to show good faith.
There are various thoughts about the reuse of the property including using the site for a new city-county building or redeveloping it for commercial use.
Malysz said more details — including which funding source will be proposed for buying the Coyle property — will likely be presented at the Dec. 9 meeting of the redevelopment commission.
Councilman Steve Price said a city purchase of the Coyle site is on the back burner for him. Acquiring the property would be a major investment, as the city would have to decide what to do with the existing Coyle buildings, Price said.
“Until we get our financial house in order, I would not support it at this time,” he said.
City still trying to move Baptist Tabernacle
Two “unnamed parties” have expressed interest in purchasing the city-owned Baptist Tabernacle property, Malysz said.
The redevelopment commission asked for offers on the site — located at 318 E. Fourth St. — last month but didn’t find any takers for the suggested price. The lack of offers during the initial phase frees the commission to work a different deal.
“We are now beyond the date for [the minimum asking price] which was $75,000,” Malysz said. “We can now negotiate something else.”
The city paid $98,000 for the Baptist Tabernacle, purchasing it at a sheriff’s auction last year. That acquisition came into question when a State Board of Accounts audit released in October ruled the council should have voted on the Baptist Tabernacle purchase instead of the administration making the buy preemptively.
The city has already been more than reimbursed for the purchase of the building. New Albany received a $201,398 reimbursement check for the building due from its insurance company due to damages incurred during the September 2008 windstorm.
