Appraiser hired for Ball and Dodd property

MEDICAL LAKE — City Council members have put off further discussion on the possible sale of the former Ball and Dodd Funeral Home property until after an appraisal of the parcel has been conducted.

To that end, City Administrator Doug Ross told the council at their Jan. 19 meeting that he has completed the process of hiring Valbridge Property Advisors to conduct an appraisal of the 43,475-square-foot property located at 111 W. Brooks Road. The city has been approached by national retailer Dollar General Stores with an offer to purchase the land for $200,000, with Ross telling council members at the Jan. 5 meeting he was “getting pushed” for a response.

Ross also said he was comfortable telling Dollar General the council needed some time in making their decision as it is one that has some consequences to the city. At the Jan. 19 meeting, Ross said he would leave it to the council to either continue discussions about a potential sale or wait until the Valbridge report is presented — with council apparently content with the latter.

“This is a big decision,” Ross said. “It gets a lot of use by the community, by the city. Once it’s gone it’s gone.”

Ross also noted sale of the property and Dollar General’s ability to use it is contingent upon rezoning a portion the land. Most of the site is zoned C-1 (Commercial), although a portion is also zoned R-1 (Residential) and would need to be rezoned in order to meet the purchasers needs.

A rezone would need to go before the county Hearing Examiner as well as the city’s Planning Commission as part of the annual Comprehensive Plan amendment process that takes place between Aug. 1 and Sept. 15. — with no guarantees either entity would approve a change.

“I’m not saying they (Dollar General) won’t pull the offer,” Ross said. “I’m just saying this (appraisal) isn’t slowing them down because again it’s going to all be contingent on that rezone and they can’t file that until Aug. 1.

Mayor Shirley Maike asked the council to weigh all of the implications of what a sale of the property could mean to the community. The Ball and Dodd property is strategically located at the intersection of West Brooks Road, State Route 902 and Lefevre Street, and as such has seen a lot of city and community use since being acquired in 2002 for $175,000.

One of those uses is currently taking place as the city is allowing residents who can’t otherwise dispose of their yard debris created by the Jan. 20 windstorm to bring it to the location to have the city haul it off.

“This is not a given that we’re selling and we’re just worrying about price,” Maike said.

Councilman Tony Harbolt also asked his fellow members to think about impacts to other city businesses who are struggling right now if the city choses to sell to Dollar General. Councilwoman Elizabeth Rosenbeck added that conversation about the property spurred by a Jan. 14 Cheney Free Press article has been taking place on a community Facebook page, with many participants raising other issues that could result from a potential sale such as increased traffic and impact to businesses.

“It’s pretty cool they’re along the same lines as our discussions,” Rosenbeck added.

The city has declared the property as surplus, and has set a purchase price multiple times in the past as offers have been considered, only to fall through. According to Spokane County’s SCOUT property information website, Assessor’s Office has put a value of $130,430 on the land, which no longer has buildings on it.

The Assessor is required to make an exterior observation of properties at least once every six years, and the next inspection of the Ball and Dodd site is scheduled between October 2020 and May 2021.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].