City owned properties reviewed at recent meeting

Kimball City Council members reviewed the status of six properties owned by the City of Kimball during the recent Kimball City Council meeting, on Feb. 21. Each of these properties have been used in the past for a variety of purposes and may be used or sold in a variety of ways.

Since 1996 the Community Gardens area, located on East 7th Street, were once used as a place for several families to use to grow vegetable gardens. This worked well for many reasons, but in recent years, participation has dwindled.

Pictured below.

Potential reasons for the decrease in use at the garden is as varied as the families who once used it. These may include a lack of someone to plow and till the ground, or a lack of someone to maintain walkways and communal spaces.

“I think it has been lacking a ramrod,” council member Kim Baliman said. “Without a spark, I think people forget about it.”

These leaders were volunteers.

Kimball’s Special Projects Coordinator Amy Sapp sought council’s permission to market the gardens and was granted permission to do so.

“I don’t want to volunteer to take it on,” Sapp said. “I will market it and see if we can get the right people in play to bring something out of it.”

Janicek Dam is, perhaps, the City’s most well known property. This area, which is in a flood plain, has been looked at for a horse pasture recently, but has also been the site discussed for a future dog park and even a walking trail.

“We have to secure at least part of it,” Warner said.

“They wouldn’t be touching the shape; they wouldn’t be moving dirt, just fencing it for horses,” Sapp said.

While Kimball Area Foundation is currently revisiting the idea of a walking trail in the area, other options for this property may include a lease, but because it is in a flood plain, some of the land must be secured.

Several years ago a meat packing plant considered Kimball for their new home, though the land they were considering had no ingress/egress from city streets. The City of Kimball purchased a lot, less than 2 acres in size, on West 9th Street, to provide accessibility for that business.

Now that the company has moved on, the City must decide what to do with that land.

Council member Christy Warner said, “Unless we have a specific piece we are holding them for, we need to be marketing them. If they sell, great!”

Council discussed retaining a right-of-way in case the land to the south is developed.

The old waste water treatment plant was also discussed.

“We took a drive out there with PADD,” Sapp said. “I don’t that could ever be redeveloped into anything, however, it seemed like it could be a danger and we may need some phase one/phase two assessments done on it.”

The property has some old structures on it, and consensus among council members is that something must be done with it soon.

A piece of land measuring 30 by 65 feet on North County Road that once held a pump station. After discussing the property with supervisors from all City departments, it was found that no one had a potential use for the small piece of land.

It could be put up for sealed bids in the future, or for this particular property, the City may choose to hold a public auction.

The final property considered is a small tract of land along Highway 71 near the Jehovah’s Witness Meeting Hall that holds a welcoming sign with a garage behind it.

While the City owns the land, the garage is owned by a private citizen. That garage will be bequeathed to the City upon the death of the citizen.