The Union Board of Aldermen has approved an agreement allowing Mayor Bob Schmuke to complete the purchase of the remaining property on a downtown block the city is seeking to transform.
The city is planning to buy property on Washington Avenue, across from Union Furniture & Flooring and just north of City Hall, from Stanley and Janet Bolzenius, of Union. It is the last parcel of property on the block to be purchased by the city.
The agreement, approved at the aldermen’s Nov. 14 meeting, calls for the city to pay $175,000 for the land. Schmuke previously said closing on the property is expected in December. The sale will bring the total Union has paid for the block to $470,000.
In addition, aldermen approved a resolution at the meeting in favor of a federal grant Union is seeking to improve the block just north of City Hall, which also includes property Union purchased for $300,000 from the Susan C. Reed Trust in August. American Rescue Plan Act grant funding is being sought through the Missouri Department of Economic Development to develop the block.
The resolution said the city plans to turn the lot, which is mostly vacant with buildings in the southwestern corner of the lot, into a farmers market pavilion and public gathering space “to revitalize the downtown business district.”
The resolution authorizes Schmuke to sign the grant application, which is expected to be submitted by Nov. 30, and commits the city to providing “the necessary financial resources to operate and maintain the project in a safe and attractive manner for the benefit of the public.”
In a report to City Administrator Jonathan Zimmermann that was included in the aldermen’s agenda packet, Assistant City Administrator James Schmieder wrote that the Franklin County Commission and state Rep. John Simmons, R-Washington, had already sent similar letters of support for the grant application and other letters were expected from state Sen. Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, the Union Area Chamber of Commerce and private companies.
The city plans to seek around $700,000 from the grant, which would also require a match from the city of 30 to 50 percent of the project cost, Schmieder said previously.
The area around the lot is already seeing some festivities that would seem to be enhanced with a public gathering space. On Nov. 18, Union Furniture held a Christmas Block Party that took up a block of Washington Avenue between the store and the property the city is buying.
