Medical Lake council declines Dollar General offer

MEDICAL LAKE -- The City Council voted unanimously at its Feb. 16 meeting to decline an offer by national retail firm Dollar General to purchase city property at the intersection of West Brooks Road, State Route 902 and North Lefevre Street.

Dollar General originally approached the city offering to purchase the property, site of the former Ball and Dodd Funeral Home and used for a variety of purposes by the community, in early January, offering $200,000 for the land. The city originally purchased the property in 2002 for $175,000.

The council was slated to receive an appraisal of the property at the meeting Tuesday night, but when City Administrator Doug Ross contacted the firm preparing the report, he said he was told it wouldn't be ready until next week. Council members said they had been contacted by a number of residents about the possible sale, with many expressing a desire to keep it in the city's hands.

The move still doesn't prohibit Dollar General from contacting a private landowner in the city with an offer to purchase property if it meets their needs. But the chances of another business making an offer for the Ball and Dodd property have been all but eliminated since not only did the council decline the offer, it also voted unanimously to remove the property from the surplus list.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].