The Owen Planning Committee met on Wednesday, July 2 to discuss two items, possible land for the fire department and an agreement with Solutions for Affordable Housing LLC.
Jason Thornton gave the committee some background on what the fire department is looking for. He said they are interested in the front lot of the acreage the city owns just before the overpass on the east side of the city. He talked about the feasibility study done by CBS Squared. He also explained that the reason they were looking at a potential new building was because they rent the building in Curtiss and were basically told by the village to either buy it or get out before January 1, 2027. The fire department decided to look at the possibility of building new instead as it would allow them to house everything in one location. They can sell their current building in Owen. Thornton said this is all still in the early planning stages. They are looking at a drive through building like the one in Curtiss. The Owen Council has said it will hold the land for the fire department until January 1, 2026.
Thornton said he thought the current station in Owen had been there since the 1970s. He said the department is anticipating full-time firefighters staying at the station in the future. They also don’t want to be landlocked. The fire chief would also like enough land so that they can put up some training props.
The drainage ditch in the center of the land was brought up and the location of the road was discussed. Current drawings show the road going up the center of the property. There was discussion about running it along the edge of the property or possibly doing a curve in the road from the current driveway and then running it along the edge of the property. This would allow them to keep the driveway already there as well as leaving about three acres near the front of the property that could be sold to a small business.
It was noted that the fire department was initially looking for 10 acres of land. A stormwater detention pond would be needed but that can possibly run into the wetland area. The price of the property would be up to the city council.
There was also a question of how much room would be needed for a turn radius if the building were drive through.
The back section of the lot was discussed with the consensus being it will be hard to sell it to anyone. There was a suggestion not to extend utilities beyond where the fire department needed them. DPW Chad Smith said they could maybe do a gravel road to the back section of the lot and continue to rent it as cropland. Committee chair Ray Kilty said in the alternative maybe it could be traded to the county for an equal number of acres adjacent to the business park on the south side of Highway 29. The Clark County Rehabilitation & Living Center would be able to get road access to the back section of the lot from their land.
The committee approved sending it on to the council to set a price for the land. DPW Smith will also prepare a rough drawing of the site adding the curved road. That will be sent to CBS Squared to see how the building might fit.
Discussion then moved on to Countryside Estates. Solutions for Affordable Housing LLC would like to build modular homes on a foundation on possibly 10-12 lots. Their attorney felt this design would meet the covenants. They would start by building a few, and then build more after those were sold. There were concerns about them wanting first dibs on any lots available if a new road were added. The homes would be three bedroom, two bath and the projected cost to the buyer is $275,000-$300,000.
Kilty said they also don’t want to pay for the lots until a house sells. He said the city could maybe set a timeline within which the lot needed to be paid for. There was some question about how this would work if the six months to start building on the lot doesn’t start until the deed is transferred. The city wouldn’t transfer the deed until the lot was paid for. Kilty said the agreement would give either party the right to terminate it with six months’ notice.
He also said that Solutions for Affordable Housing LLC was looking for some involvement from the city, but dropped that idea after learning there was already water, sewer, and power available to the lots. Forward Bank will be doing the financing. The group also looked at property in a number of other communities.
A concern was expressed about them possibly holding on to lots so others can’t build. It was felt that this would be taken care of by the fact that building had to start within six months of purchase and if they don’t build within two years, the city would get the land back.
The committee recommended sending the agreement to the city attorney for his approval.
It was also noted at the meeting that the city of Owen is one of the few places that has land available, but in some cases a lack of access to it. They would have to borrow to put in any new roads.