Keweenaw County accepts bids on houses
Keweenaw County accepts bids on houses
By KURT HAUGLIE, DMG Writer
EAGLE RIVER — Despite their disappointment at the response to the offerings, the Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners accepted bids Wednesday on some of the buildings they put up for sale at the former U.S. Air Force radar station on Mt. Horace Greeley.
The county owns the tracts.
Although there are about 50 two, three and four-bedroom houses on the property, commissioners decided to first offer 10 of the houses and several detached garages for sale to determine what the level of interest in the buildings would be.
The houses were built in the 1950s to house officers and their families. The Air Force installation closed in the early 1980s, and sat unused for 12 to 14 years. Then in the 1990s, Youth Services International established an academy for delinquent youth, but clients were housed in the enlisted barracks.
Most of the youth who stayed at the site were from downstate, particularly Wayne and Macomb counties, and it became too difficult to transport them. So, YSI closed after two and a half years.
There were six bids received for garages and two bids received for houses. Bids accepted were: from Dave Sladek of Calumet for four double garages at $350, $318, $310 and $300; from Roberta Jacques of Calumet for a two-bedroom house at $500; from the Calumet Keweenaw Sportsmen’s Club of Calumet for a three-bedroom house at $1,550.
The new owners must move the buildings within 90 days of Aug. 1 at their own expense.
During discussion on the bids, Commissioner Don Keith said although one man bid $1 for a garage, he said the board should consider accepting that bid because he intended to keep it in Keweenaw County, which means he would be paying taxes on it.
“It’s going to cost him $2,200 to move it to Gratiot Lake,” Keith said.
However, the rest of the board wanted to accept the highest bids for all the buildings and that’s what was done.
Board Chairman Frank Stubenrauch said even if people move the buildings out of Keweenaw County, the county still benefits from the sale.
“If they make a successful move at a reasonable cost, (maybe) they’d be inclined to bid the next time we offer (the other buildings),” he said.
Houghton Township Supervisor Jim Vivian, who had volunteered to oversee the sale of the buildings, was at the meeting Wednesday, and he said some of the people looking at the houses were discouraged by the fact that some of them had broken windows and other structural problems.
Vivian said if the board decides to sell the remaining houses, it would be a good idea to pick one house to be used for parts.
“That way we have one shell instead of several,” he said.
They discussed, also, what to do with some equipment at the station, such as tables, chairs, desks and filing cabinets.
Keith wanted to accept a bid of $218 from Keweenaw Krayons community parks program for children because he said it would benefit the residents of Keweenaw County, but Vivian said the offer was too low.
“For $218, you’re giving away a lot of stuff,” Vivian said.
The other commissioners didn’t like the fact that the list of items Keweenaw Krayons didn’t state exactly how many of each item was being purchased. Commissioner Clyde Westcoat made a motion to offer that equipment and other items first to non-profit organizations and local governments from Keweenaw County then whatever remained to any groups or individuals.
That motion passed unanimously.
Stubenrauch said although the commissioners were disappointed in the response to the offering of the houses at the base, it was somewhat expected.
“We realize moving those houses is intimidating,” he said.
Kurt Hauglie can be reached at khauglie@mininggazette.com
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