SALAMANCA — More than 25 properties formerly owned by the city of Salamanca have been sold to the respective highest bidders after the tax foreclosure auction held June 1.
At the Salamanca Common Council’s regular meeting June 12, the council officially approved the sales, which were comprised of 27 separate parcels with several sold as one unit for 19 individual transactions.
In total, $14,546 were paid for the properties.
“The list is public,” said Mayor Michael “Smitty” Smith. “We sold half of the available properties. Some at good prices, some at scary prices.”
Included in the sale were five addresses with homes on them at 316 Front Ave., 143 River St., 321 Broad St., 14 Linwood Ave. and 104 East St. The rest of the sold properties were vacant lots.
There were two properties bid on during the auction that the council decided they would not accept, said Eric Weyland, city attorney. The properties were not on the approved list of 27.
Additionally, the council also authorized the sale of two vacant lots between 116 Fawn Ave. and 144 Fawn Ave. to the city of Salamanca’s Permanent Firefighters Benevolent Association for $912.50.
“That is at half of the assessed value,” the mayor said. “It is right across the street from the ice skating rink.”
The property is expected to be developed by the firefighters as a park and pavilion for a picnic or community event space, similar to what the Kill Buck firemen’s community park is, Smith said.
“They’ll do all the work, they’ll civilize it, they’ll put grill in,” he added. “I think it’s a great use. Plus, it’ll be parking for the ice pond in the winter.”
In other business, the council authorized amending the employee personnel rules to increase clothing allowance for the Department of Public Works non-union employees from $250 to $400.
Council member Sandy Magiera, D-Ward 4, said the union employees get $600, but the non-union staff also needs some of the equipment the union ones have, so DPW Superintendent Rob Carpenter asked if they could get a little bit more.
During communications, Mayor Smith said he was impressed with this year’s city-wide cleanup and how well the company who came to cleanup the piles did.
Because the cleanup days were scheduled around Memorial Day weekend, some council members mentioned the piles of junk on the curb of the main roads not looking great for the holiday.
Looking toward next year, the council said they would consider moving the cleanup days either a week earlier or for the week after Memorial Day to not interfere with the celebrations.
The next regular Common Council meeting is set for 7 p.m. June 26 in the city hall courtroom.
(Contact managing editor Kellen Quigley at kquigleysp@gmail.com)
