The District 205 Board of Education approved a resolution to sell the Nielson Elementary School property in a sealed bid auction at Monday night’s meeting. The rules governing the sale of a school building are very strict, according to the school district’s attorney Luke Feeney.
For starters, after the board approves the resolution to sell, the district is required to post a notice for three consecutive weeks in the local newspaper, the Register-Mail.
The board opted to do a sealed bid option, at Feeney’s recommendation, and choose to set a minimum bid. He told the board that sealed bids are submitted and opened and the top three bidders that meet or exceed the minimum bid can then up their bids to buy the property.
“If you have three bids at or above minimum and those bids attend the opening then they can raise their bids,” Feeney told board members Monday night. “That’s solely designed for the district to scratch a little more return out.”
The board would have the option of choosing not to accept any bids if they wished.
If no bids meet or exceed the minimum bid, then the board can then engage a realtor to list the property. The property would be listed for 120 days. However, the property would still have to sell at or above the minimum bid amount.
Superintendent Dr. John Asplund recommended a minimum bid at around $550,000.
“Last month, you asked me to get a recommendation from two realtors. Believe me, it wasn’t from a lack of trying, we only got one realtor to give us a hard opinion,” Asplund told the board. “But, we did get a hard opinion from one very respected realtor in town who said that the price should be $562,900.”
Some board members were satisfied with setting that as a minimum bid, others felt the price was too low and argued for starting it at a higher price.
Board member Rodney Phelps suggested starting it at a higher bid and bringing it lower if the property doesn’t sell, “You can always come down. You can’t go up.”
In the end, the board approved setting the minimum bid of $826,740. The board is hoping to accept a bid at next month’s meeting.
