If their offer is accepted, the Village of Oxford will acquire yet another piece of property to help expand downtown parking.
At their Oct. 28 meeting, council voted unanimously to direct village attorney Bob Bunting to make a purchase offer “not to exceed $175,000” for the property located at 20 Husdon St.
Barbara Kammerer, the property’s owner, contacted the Oxford Community Development Authority in July about the possibility of either it or the village purchasing her home as it was her understanding its location is desirable for future parking expansion outlined in the Master Plan.
The property in question is located on the east side of Hudson St. and is contiguous with the southwest downtown parking quadrant.
An appraisal of the property conducted by North Oaks Appraisal at the OCDA’s request determined its value to be $180,000.
Council voted unanimously Sept. 23 to direct Bunting to begin negotiation for the possible purchase.
When asked why council voted to offer $175,000 to Kammerer, village President Steve Allen replied, “Council carefully examined all of the available information and deliberated until reaching what we considered to be a fair offer.”
As for how the village intends to pay for the property if the offer is accepted, Allen explained, “Council has suggested that the OCDA obtain a short term, interest-only loan to make the initial purchase. Long-term financing is under discussion, with no solid determination at this time.”
Allen noted that “fund balance monies are available for this, but council felt that this may not be the best usage of this funding.”
At the Sept. 23 council meeting, Allen explained that acquiring 20 Hudson St. “would set up for the future expansion” of the southwest quadrant, “about 60 or 70 additional parking spaces.”
“Although that parcel of land is very small, it’s a very important parcel of land if you look at the Master Plan for downtown parking,” Allen said Sept. 23. “That’s one of the key pieces of property that would need to be acquired in time.”