December 6 – The Hagerstown Mayor and City Council have a work session this afternoon with six items on the agenda.
Wes Decker, Communications Officer with the City of Hagerstown, joined First News this morning for a preview of the meeting.
To begin, mayor and Council will discuss a proclamation and a special recognition.
From there, the group will hear the annual audit presentation for the 2022 fiscal year.
Decker said, “So put on your glasses, get out your pencils and get ready for that particular presentation. It’s one that shows that the city is managing its money the way that it is supposed to do it, going through the proper practices. It’s not so much about looking at expenses versus revenues. It’s more about SB & Company, which audits the City of Hagerstown, indicating not only to the city and its staff and mayor and council, but also to the general public that the city did everything the right way during the fiscal year that has just gone by.”
Mayor and council will also look at two properties on the competitive negotiated sale property list. The city owns the properties.
Decker said, “A couple of entities are coming in saying that they would like to make purchases of those properties.”
One is at 216 South Prospect Street. It’s a vacant lot.
Decker said, “There was a fire on that property I believe about a year and a half ago and the house that was there was burned down.”
The owner no longer wanted the property, so the city took it and removed the house.
Decker said, “Now one of the neighbors has come on and said we’d like to make a purchase of that because it is right beside our house.”
The second property is 239 North Locust Street. It’s known as the Alms House.
Decker said, “That’s the one that was built a long, long time ago and the city has actually owned it since 2009. Going back in the files, looking at the records, for last occupancy of this particular property was back in the 1970s. So we’re talking 50 years ago. Now we’ve had a request to make a purchase on this property.”
It is in an historic district, so there may be some regulations.
Decker said, “Staff feels that this is a good offer that is being made here by this particular individual. They would be looking at turning it into a mixed use facility with a commercial laundromat on the first floor and then some two-bedroom apartments above it, but just to be able to get this property back on the tax rolls after all of this time would be a major coup. That’s really what the competitive negotiated sale process is all about. Not to have these properties hanging out there that long, but to return them to the public.”
The work session will be held at 4 p.m. in Council Chambers at 1 E. Franklin Street, Hagerstown. You can also view it on the city’s Facebook Page or YouTube Channel. For the agenda, click here: https://hagerstown.novusagenda.com/agendapublic/MeetingView.aspx?MeetingID=1144&MinutesMeetingID=-1&doctype=Agenda
