By Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


A property survey has been authorized by the Howell City Council to hopefully aid in selling vacant property located surrounding a fire station.

The City owns several properties downtown but one of the largest vacant properties is the land adjacent to the existing fire station at 1211 West Grand River that totals roughly 6-acres. It is directly adjacent to existing residential neighborhoods so the City has been looking to partner with a developer on a project that can work collaboratively with the surrounding neighborhood. It was originally being eyed for a new U.S. Post Office but those plans fell through.

A memo stated that staff felt it was critical to get the survey work completed so the City can provide accurate information to potential purchasers. Once the boundary work is done, then staff can bring forward options and recommendations for marketing the property to increase outreach to potential buyers.

Mayor Nick Proctor commented that they’ve had some interest but because they didn’t have s survey and couldn’t identify where the boundaries were, the party decided to back out. As a selling entity, Proctor said he thinks they should have the survey to help make a potential sale easier.

The boundary survey proposal from Hubbell, Roth and Clark was approved at a cost not to exceed $6,250.