Troy approves ballot measure for 2nd Street
On Monday, the Troy City Council unanimously adopted a resolution to place the acceptance or rejection of the sale of a portion of Second Street on the November ballot.
The resolution empowers Mayor Dallas Carr and City Clerk/Treasurer Tracy Rebo to “take all action necessary to place” the issue on the ballot.
The council also approved a purchase and sale agreement and a measure accepting a donation from Town Pump tied to the sale.
The council agreed to the charitable donation as a means for receiving the cash portion of the exchange with Town Pump in concession to a Town Pump request.
The company requested the cash portion to be a donation rather than as part of the purchase in order to make it tax deductible, Carr said in a previous council meeting.
The details
In the purchase agreement, the property that could be sold is defined as a 60 foot by 125 foot portion of Second Street between Highway 2 and the alley that runs parallel to and is located between Highway 2 and Spokane Avenue.
The sale would maintain a 20-foot utility right of way for the city.
The resolution stipulates that the transfer of ownership to Town Pump would occur “on approval of the electorate of the City of Troy.”
The purchase price in the agreement is the removal and replacement of 340 feet of sidewalk along Spokane Avenue nearest to Highway 2, and running from Second Street to First Street.
The nominal price is $15,000, but the agreement obligates Town Pump to any costs of the project in excess of that amount.
The council also approved an agreement for charitable donation, which will result in $60,000 donated to the city by Town Pump “to be used exclusively for public purposes.”
The agreement states that the donation is “conditioned on City’s consummation of the (purchase and sale agreement) and conveyance by warranty deed of the property referenced therein.”
Being sure
Council Member Crystal Denton asked Hayden to clarify what “exclusively for public purposes” would mean, and whether the money could be used for infrastructure improvements around the council had been discussing.
“I don’t want to go off an assumption we can do that, without knowing for sure,” she said.
Hayden confirmed the money would go to the city’s general fund, and could be used for anything the general fund can be used.
Council member T.J. Boswell asked about adding language to indicate Town Pump has no interest in placing a casino at the location. He asked Hayden to speak with Town Pump’s lawyer about adding a guarantee.
Council Member Shawna Kelsey said that the school may not always be at that location, and it would be good to have assurances that the legal restrictions are not the only reason Town Pump would not put a casino there.
When Hayden called back after consulting with Town Pump’s attorney, he said they had no objection to including language acknowledging it is not legal to place a casino at that location.
However, Hayden said he was not certain whether he could get them to agree to a binding obligation in the deed that would keep a casino from ever being on that land.
Hayden told the council he would add the acknowledgment to the agreement and to the ballot summary as well.
Town Pump project manager Dan Sampson responded by email Thursday that if the company wanted to develop a casino, they would have bought property suited to that purpose.
“Even setting aside the fact that a casino cannot by Montana state law be developed at this site, we have no intention nor desire to develop a casino at this site,” he said.
Wait and see
The $60,000 came up during budget discussions Wednesday, after Rebo told the council valuations for Troy. Similar to a grant that may or may not be received, Rebo said the $60,000 is included in budget figures, though notated differently from forms of revenue such as from taxes.
If the sale is approved, the city would have $532,000 in the general fund to budget for next year, rather than $472,000.
After hearing Rebo’s clarification of the budget figures, the council agreed unanimously to ignore the $60,000 in their budget discussions. As of Wednesday, the council had reduced general fund budget requests to $462,000.
Budget discussions will continue into August. All general fund requests have been discussed, but some could change before it is finalized.