Motion Adopting City Council Policies - Purchase of Property

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September 16, 2021 TO: Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe & Decatur City Council Members FROM: Scot Wrighton, City Manager RE: Recommended Change in City Council Policy Concerning Land Acquisitions Current city policy allows the city manager to sell property valued at less than $20,000 without formal approvals from the City Council;and it allows the city manager to make most budgeted purchases of goods and services valued at less than $20,000 without City Council approval. Current city policy, however, does not allow the city manager to purchase real property valued at less than $20,000 without formal approval from the City Council.The recommended policy change will extend the$20,000 approval rule to real property purchases as well. In the past,the City Council has routinely approved the purchase of many tracts of real estate, and the existing process of obtaining approvals has not been a barrier to any acquisitions. However, now that the city has become more actively engaged in acquiring properties as a strategy in support of demolition, clearing and redevelopment projects,there are circumstances when the city government may wish to secure selective tracts more rapidly, or acquire properties as part of a larger effort to assemble bigger redevelopment sites. In some of these property assembly cases, it would be important to temporarily maintain greater confidentiality while terms of adjacent parcels are negotiated.