Cordova council votes 4-0 to negotiate hillside lot sale instead of taking bids

The Cordova City Council voted 4-0 Wednesday to dispose of a 6,740-square-foot hillside lot by negotiating directly with the single party who filed a letter of interest, setting aside the Planning Commission's recommendation to seek sealed proposals.

The interested party is Michael Schumm, who bought the two lots next door in 2019 and built a house straddling their common line. He wants the city lot, on the hillside above Davis Ave, as yard space, and told the city he has no current plans to develop it.

Council Member Lee Collins made the motion. Collins said the parcel has sat on the city's land disposal map as available for years. "It makes more sense just to go and would agree with the interested party rather than try to put out another RFP to see if other parties are interested when we already have somebody here interested in purchasing it," he said.

The Planning Commission recommended the opposite on Sept. 8, voting 6-0. Vice Chair Mark Hall argued sealed bids protect the city from later questions about the sale, saying the city "got in trouble years ago" when it did not use them. Commissioners agreed the lot is hard to develop and should be on the tax rolls.

Council Member David Zastrow said he normally would want a sealed bid process so everyone gets the opportunity, and called inconsistency his only hesitation. He said this parcel differs: the interested party already owns two adjacent lots, holds an easement with a neighboring landowner for access, and the land is steep and undeveloped after seven years on the market. He voted yes.

Three of the seven council members were absent. "4-0. Motion passes," the presiding officer said.

City code requires disposals of city real property for no less than fair market value. Price and terms now go to negotiation rather than public bidding.