Payette council OKs land bid plan

By JESSICA KELLER - ARGUS OBSERVER
Tuesday, October 2, 2007 12:21 PM PDT

The Payette City Council elected Monday night during its regular meeting to approve a motion to put surplus property near the Payettet Airport (above) up for a public bid.

PAYETTE - The Payette City Council approved a motion to put surplus property adjacent to the Payette Municipal Airport up for public bid during its regular meeting Monday night.

Payette Mayor Doug Henderson said after the meeting the city will accept bids on the property southwest of the airport for 30 days from the first day the bid notice is published in the Independent Enterprise, Payette’s weekly newspaper.

Henderson said he is not sure when the notice will be published, but said it will most likely be either tomorrow or the following Wednesday.

“If we accept the bids, we have to accept the highest bid, but we also have the right to not accept any bid,” Henderson said. “If we award the bid, we will require a development agreement to go along with that bid.”

Earlier in the evening, prior to the council meeting, the city held a public meeting regarding the approximately 66 acres currently owned by the city.

ADVERTISEMENT

Payette City Councilman Jeff Williams began the discussion by asking what the city intended to do with the funds the sale of the land would generate.

Payette City Coordinator Mary Cordova told the council, it would be up to their discretion to decide where the money would go within the General Fund, and Henderson said, at this time, there are no assumptions regarding where fund would be placed.

Payette City Councilwoman Vallery Klitch then requested some of the history behind the issue and how the sale would benefit the city. Henderson said the City Council decided to declare the land surplus because it is currently not being used for anything and isn’t benefiting Payette.

Also, he said, there have been numerous inquiries to sell the land by various developers, including the most recent inquiry regarding the construction of a private airpark on the property.

The floor was then turned over to members of the public, some of whom addressed Klitch’s questions.

At the recommendation of Williams, real estate agent Karen Hollis addressed the council members, telling them she was in favor of the sale and a proposed airpark.

Hollis said she knows the land has been of some interest by developers, and thinks an airpark would benefit the city more than regular subdivisions.

“I think that would set us so far above other communities,” Hollis said, adding it would be the first time the city took an aggressive look at something different that didn’t “follow in the footsteps of others.”

“And I think this is a real positive for the city,” she said.

Hollis said in the area as a whole, there are 300 to 400 lots from several projects waiting to be sold, and while the housing and lot prices in subdivisions went up in the past, they have now dropped because they are not selling as fast as they have been. She said an airpark would appeal to a different clientele then a typical subdivision, and it would be beneficial to both the airport and the nearby Scotch Pines Golf Course.

Darcy Maag, president of Highland Appraisal Inc., Caldwell, who said he was speaking not only as an appraiser, but also as a consultant to the airpark developers, Cartell, Inc., Huston, Idaho, said an airpark would bring more tax dollars back to the city than an average subdivision.

He said just by selling the property at the appraised value of approximately $789,000, the city would receive about $7,890 on its tax roll. Factoring in the appraised estimates of the land if Cartell, Inc., carries out its proposed plans to develop the area into 75 lots, Maag said the value comes to approximately $9,375,000. He said 1 percent — or approximately $93,000 — of that would come back to the city. Maag said those figures were very rough, and could be adjusted up or down by 30 percent.

Maag said one of the reasons to sell is to receive the extra tax dollars the city is not getting now by letting the land stay vacant.

Williams pointed out the city collects a fixed amount of property taxes, or 2 percent, each year, so the city would not be getting additional taxpayer dollars from any development on the property. Henderson said adding the land to the city’s tax roll would spread out the tax base.

Maag agreed with that assessment, and pointed out the city would be receiving additional funds from new construction, however.

When asked to weigh the benefits of an airpark or regular subdivisions, Maag said, by selling to a developer interested in putting in subdivisions, the land could probably be broken into more lots, which might almost hit the approximately $9 million appraisal value, but he doubted that.

Echoing Hollis, Maag said, Payette County already has 300 to 400 lots ready to be sold, with an estimated 300 to 400 more lots planned in the next two and a half to three years, and the sales value of an additional 125 to 150 subdivision lots near the airpark would depend on the area’s market, whereas the value of airpark lots are typically dependent on what other airpark lots are selling for.

Based on preliminary numbers from Cartell, Inc., the 60 or more houses with airplane hangars could be priced in the $250,000 to $300,000 range.

Rick Miller, Cartell, Inc., Huston, Idaho, also spoke in favor of selling the land, stating he could see some very positive benefits for Payette, if the land could be turned into an airpark.

He said a high caliber of occupant would purchase and build on the land because the aviation community is a “tight and special” group of people who wouldn’t place an extra burden on the city services and who would contribute greatly to the economy of the city and its tax base.

“And I think it will just blend into what’s going on out there,” Miller said, adding an airpark would complement the nearby golf course.

Councilman Mark Heleker asked Miller if he saw a need for the expansion of the airport. Miller said the preliminary airpark plans already incorporated a 500 foot extension to the runway, which the city already addressed in its airport comprehensive plans.

“I have a real concern for the golf course and the land around it,” Heleker said.

Miller said, however, he doesn’t see the airpark or the additional airplanes butting into the surrounding land because the Payette airport, even with a runway extension, would only be able to accommodate smaller, personal aircraft.

Ray Turner, Scotch Pines Board of Directors president, then voiced his support for the sale and the development of the property. He said the board of directors was satisfied the golf course’s current operations wouldn’t be affected by any development, although he mentioned a review and possible adjustment of Scotch Pines’ lease agreement with the city for use of the property may be in order. Miller said as the process moves forward, the Scotch Pines board of directors would welcome working with the city and developers to produce something that would benefit everybody.

Miller added, he hopes when the city works with developers, some consideration is given for the support of the golf course. The golf course, he said, needs a lot of work done to its infrastructure, and an increased membership from new development means a higher demand on the system.

Steve Higgins, Nampa, and a potential investor of an airpark, was the last person to speak out in favor of selling the land. He said his business gets lots of calls from prospective people in the aviation community interested in building airparks.

Higgins said, although the economy is slowing down and 2008 is expected to have only a shallow economic boost, he sees this as the right time to move forward with an airpark project in Payette.