The Junction City Land Bank Board of Trustee’s passed the motion authorizing staff to begin the process to announce the sale of the first 25 lots of the Land Bank along with a proposed schedule for the sale process.

The 25 lots identified include five lots from the Doc Hargreaves Hilltop, two from Ehlers Addition, seven from Sutter Highlands, and eleven from Sutter Woods.

“It will be a sealed bid process, with the intention to accept sealed bids up through the 10th of September. The idea would be to present them to the Land Bank (Board of Trustee’s) on September 15th, for them to make the decision whether they accept any of the bids,” said Dave Yearout, Zoning and Planning Administrator.

If the City does approve the bids on September 15th, the goal would be to have the closing of sale on October 31, or earlier if possible.

The City Commission did approve the re-structuring of the Neighborhood Revitalization Program Tuesday night to include all of the lots within the Land Bank.

“Presuming that it gets blessed by the County and the School District, yes the Land Bank lots will be added. That will be part of the disclosure that we do so that the potential buyer can also apply for NRP on their home.”

The 25 lots identified already for sale are lots they were able to receive clear title on from the Title Companies the quickest. Yearout noted that they’re also close to receiving clear title on another 70 plus lots.

The schedule for sale is also dependent upon the completion of the work by Geary County officials to remove the previous taxes, liens and other similar encumbrances statutorily required to be removed, and the completion of “abating” the past Special Assessments for public improvements as required by Ordinance No. S-3134. These actions will be necessary for the Title Company to provide a Title Commitment that does not show any taxes as being unpaid and delinquent.