Within a few weeks Fountain Hills firefighters will be packing up their belongings at Fire Station #2 on Saguaro Boulevard and moving up Shea Boulevard to the new Station #2 on Fountain Hills Boulevard.

That will leave a vacant town-owned building and property on Saguaro Boulevard. At the Town Council’s Jan. 15 regular session, Town Manager Grady Miller and Public Works Director Justin Weldy outlined options for disposing of the property.

Miller said the town has two options; one is to sell the property with the building in place, and the second is to demolish the building and on-site improvements at a cost of $50,000 to $75,000 and sell the vacant lot.

Miller noted that there is state law that defines how a municipality must dispose of property and it must be done in a competitive manner.

The law states that the sale shall not be made until an invitation for bids for the purchase has been published and posted.

Vice Mayor Art Tolis wondered why the law made it necessary to call for bids. Town Attorney Aaron Arnson said he believes an auction would be acceptable, but he would need to research that option. Tolis asked whether the town could ask for a minimum bid and Arnson said that would be included in his research.

Weldy said the town had already completed a comprehensive asbestos survey as required by state law and preliminary results indicate there is no issue, but they would wait for a final report.

The town parcel is just slightly more than one acre and is zoned R-3 for multi-family residential. Miller said that would allow for about 14 units on that acre, depending on design. However, there is a vacant parcel adjacent to the town property that would more than double the available land for development. The second parcel is owned by Maricopa County and currently there are some facilities on the site used by the Fountain Hills Sheriff’s Posse.

Miller said he had spoken to the person who handles real estate transactions for the county early last year and at that time he was told the county had no interest in selling the land. Miller said he would follow up to see whether that has changed.

Miller has suggested and there is some consensus that any money from the sale of the property would be placed in the town’s capital reserve fund to partially replace funds used to build the new Station #2.

Councilman Dennis Brown said, based on the options available, he has no interest in the town having to pay out up to $75,000 to demolish the existing building. He proposed the property be sold as is with a new owner left to decide what to do with the existing structure.

Councilman Mike Scharnow asked whether staff had considered town use of the building for something other than a fire station. Miller said the only consideration was as a street department facility, which he said they decided was not appropriate. He said the property is not large enough and there could be considerable noise that is not conducive to the residential area.

The council voted 7-0 on Brown’s motion to sell the property as is.