(Atlantic, Iowa) – A public hearing will be held during this Wednesday evening’s City Council meeting, in Atlantic. The hearing is with regard to the sale of city-owned property at 901 Birch Street, a dilapidated home with a large retaining wall, broken windows, a bad roof and other issues. City Administrator John Lund notes the Personnel and Finance Committee has met with the potential buyer, Charles (CJ) Adams, who proposed buying the lot and building for the fair market value of $5,350. The Council meeting takes place 5:30-p.m. inside their Chambers at City Hall.

Mr. Adams intends to “flip” the property (rehabbing the home to make it saleable and profitable). Lund said selling the lot would yield a triple-profit for the City: Cash up-front; Increased property value if Adams chooses to sell it; and a serious liability property would be removed from the City’s books. He recommends the Council approve the sale.

In other business, a representative with Fox Engineering (designers of the City’s wastewater treatment plant) will present Councilman Jim Behrens with a check for $500. Behrens won the funds during the annual Iowa League of Cities Conference in Coralville. The Council will hear a presentation from Kristine Stokes, Community Development Specialist with the Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO), with regard to a Community Development Block Grant – CARES (CDBG-CV) opportunity for the City’s Food Pantry, to help them pay for food in 2022.

The Pantry currently serves more than twice the number of people it did before the pandemic, and more than tripled their food expenses. SWIPCO would serve as the applicant on behalf of the food pantry, which makes the pantry a sub-recipient of the grant funding. If the Council approves the opportunity, the food pantry would be on the Council’s meeting agenda in December to conduct a public hearing for the food pantry’s application for the CDBG-CV.