Bids sought for old Alpena jail property
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ALPENA -- A request for proposals is being issued by Alpena County seeking bids for the old jail on Johnson Street.
At the Facilities, Capital & Strategic Planning Committee meeting Wednesday, the commissioners voted to issue the RFP with the minimum bid being set at $150,000.
A proposed plan to renovate the old facility into an animal shelter appears to have been abolished, as the committee issued a directive the animals housed there be moved before an open house for potential purchasers.
The committee also voted not to lease the property, but a vote of the full board of commissioners is still needed on the committee's recommendation.
"This is our one shot to get as many responses as we can, and once we get them, we will do something with that building," commissioner Don Gilmet said. "Hopefully that means the building goes away and we don't own it any more."
The old jail was replaced with a brand new one last year. In 2017, voters approved a 1-mill, 20-year property tax -- costing the owner of a $100,000 house about $50 a year to have the new sheriff's office and jail built on M-32 near the airport.
Besides the animal control operations, which is headquartered in a small facility at the Alpena County Fairgrounds, there is still some police equipment and other items at the old jail.
The committee instructed Sheriff Steve Kieliszewski and Maintenance Superintendent Wes Wilder to tag items that are not to be sold with the building and then remove them before the final sale takes place.
Gilmet said several local developers have expressed interest in the land and one inquired about leasing it. Commissioner Brenda Fournier was adamant that a lease option not be considered and that the county just sell the property.
"People can break their leases and things can become a mess,"she said. "The building needs to be sold, we need to be done with it and wash our hands of it. We are not in the business of owning property."
Potential bidders can tour the facility on May 24 and the deadline for bids will be June 21. The committee will review the bids and make its selection the following day.
Closing on the sale would likely take several months after the commissioners selected the bid and began the sale process with the winning bidder.
Animal control must have the animals removed from the facility before the open house.